PALM: Protection visa pathway being used by more and more workers

One federal MP says the pattern shows a lack of integrity in the scheme and has called on the federal government to address the trend immediately.

Thousands of workers from Pacific countries are applying for protection visas despite the federal government knocking almost every application back.

New data from the Department of Home Affairs shows more than 2600 people who were in Australia on a Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme visa were denied a protection visa in 2023-24, while 10 were granted.

The figures reveal the number of PALM workers who have left the scheme to apply for a protection visa has climbed from around 7 per cent in 2020-21 to almost 12 per cent this year, from an annual intake now of around 25,000.

New data from the Department of Home Affairs shows almost every application for a protection visa is denied to former PALM visa holders.

The majority of workers are from Vanuatu, followed by Tonga, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Fiji.

Mallee MP Anne Webster said the pattern of PALM workers fleeing the scheme to apply for protection had become a “nightmare” and needed to be addressed by the government.

“This application for protection has mushroomed among the workers because they get Medicare, they can disappear somewhere else, they don’t have to stay with their employer,” Dr Webster said. “I think it shows a lack of integrity with the system. It’s been called a scam and I think that’s true.”

She said Pacific worker schemes were designed foremost as an aid scheme.

“I sat in on the training sessions (in Vanuatu) with those men and women considering coming out, some of whom were returning for a second or third time, they’ve been able to build their house, educate their children, this is what the scheme was about. It was not about bleeding islanders out of the Pacific on a permanent basis. We need to be clear-eyed about this. It needs to be nipped in the bud,” Dr Webster said.

Allan Fels is chairman of the Public Interest Journalism Initiative and former chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Picture: Supplied

Former head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and chair of the

Migration Workers’ Taskforce, Professor Allan Fels, said it appeared the government was tightening up on migration given almost every application for protection was being denied.

“They may have been too relaxed in the past and now it looks like it’s being closed down (as a loophole). There’s a strong focus on short-term results,” Dr Fels said.

A Home Affairs spokeswoman said the department closely monitored trends in protection visa lodgements and took action where required. This included changes to risk settings for applications and batching and expedited processing of applications from “cohorts of concern”.

Last year the federal government funnelled more than $543 million to increase visa processing resources to shorten processing times.

“To break the model of misuse of the protection visa system, the Department has also implemented ‘real time processing’ for most high volume caseloads. This approach means the newest applications are processed as quickly as possible,” the spokeswoman said.