PACIFIC SEASONAL WORKER PILOT SCHEME

DATA SUMMARY

FEBRUARY 2009 TO SEPTEMBER 2012

AT A GLANCE

  • 1,623 seasonal workers arrived in Australia under the Pilot.
  • 1,108 (68%) of thoseseasonal workers arrived in the last year[1] of the Pilot.
  • 337 seasonal workers returned for one or more seasons.
  • 22 organisations became Approved Employers for the Pilot.
  • Seasonal workers were placed in 35 locations across all States and the Northern Territory.
  • A total of nine countries were invited to participate in the Pilot. Four countries were initially invited in 2008: Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu. In 2011, the Australian Government announced that Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu would be invited to participate in the Pilot and at the same time East Timor agreed to participate in a small trial of seasonal mobility arrangements in the accommodation sector.
  • Seasonal workers have been recruited from the following countries under the Pilot: East Timor, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.

IN DETAIL

Seasonal workers by country by year (as at 30 September 2012)

Country / 2008/09 / 2009/10 / 2010/11 / 2011/12 / 2012/13 / Total
East Timor / 0 / 0 / 0 / 12 / 0 / 12
Kiribati / 0 / 11 / 18 / 23 / 0 / 52
Papua New Guinea / 0 / 0 / 9 / 73 / 0 / 82
Samoa / 0 / 0 / 0 / 38 / 0 / 38
Tonga / 50 / 56 / 353 / 834 / 30 / 1323
Vanuatu / 6 / 0 / 12 / 94 / 4 / 116
TOTAL / 56 / 67 / 392 / 1074 / 34 / 1623

Data source: Department of Immigration and Citizenship 2012

Return workers by country and number of arrivals in Australia (as at 30 September 2012)

Country / Returned once / Returned two times / Returned three times / Total
Kiribati / 12 / 7 / 0 / 19
Papua New Guinea / 9 / 0 / 0 / 9
Tonga / 251 / 37 / 12 / 300
Vanuatu / 8 / 1 / 0 / 9
TOTAL / 280 / 45 / 12 / 337

Data source: Department of Immigration and Citizenship 2012

1

[1] Includes Pilot workers who arrived in Australia in 2011/12 and those who had visa applications lodged by 30June2012 but did not arrive in Australia before 30June2012.