Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme

Last reviewed: 29 August 2026. The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme enables eligible Australian businesses to recruit workers from participating Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste when suitable local workers are unavailable.

PALM is a government-managed, employer-sponsored employment program. It is not an open job board or a visa that a worker obtains by applying directly to Orchard Tech. Workers begin through their home country’s government labour sending unit, while Australian businesses participate through an approved employer or an approved PALM labour-hire organisation.

Important: An enquiry, registration or expression of interest does not guarantee a job, sponsorship, placement, start date or visa. Required government, employer, recruitment, placement and visa processes must be completed before work begins.

What is the PALM scheme?

The PALM scheme provides structured short-term and long-term employment opportunities for eligible workers from:

• Fiji
• Kiribati
• Nauru
• Papua New Guinea
• Samoa
• Solomon Islands
• Timor-Leste
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu.

Short-term placements may run for up to nine months. Long-term placements run for between one and four years. Individual eligibility, placement length and permitted stay depend on the approved recruitment, employment arrangements and the worker’s visa.

PALM workers generally use the Temporary Work (International Relations) visa—subclass 403 PALM stream. Only the Department of Home Affairs can grant, refuse or cancel a visa.

Orchard Tech’s PALM status

As at 29 August 2026, the Australian Government’s current PALM employers register lists The Trustee for Suvarnabhoomi Discretionary Trust, with the trading name Suvarnabhoomi Pty Ltd (Orchard Tech), as a Victorian Labour Hire PALM employer.

This public listing confirms the status recorded by the Australian Government on the review date. Approval status can change and should be checked against the current government register before it is relied on.

The listing does not mean that a vacancy, worker allocation, host placement or visa is automatically available or approved. Each proposed recruitment and placement remains subject to the applicable requirements and approvals.

How workers apply

A prospective worker must start with the government labour sending unit in their home country. A message to Orchard Tech or an Australian host business is not an application to join the PALM scheme and does not replace the labour sending unit process.

1. Check whether you meet the requirements set by your participating country and the PALM scheme.
2. Contact your country’s labour sending unit using the details on the official PALM worker application page.
3. Register and follow the selection process specified by your country’s government.
4. If selected for an approved recruitment, carefully review the written offer of employment, duties, location, pay, expected hours, accommodation, transport and proposed deductions.
5. Complete the required documentation and visa process through the authorised PALM arrangements.

The Australian Government states that workers do not need to pay or give gifts to anyone to join the PALM scheme. Workers should report anyone requesting unofficial recruitment payments or gifts.

Registration with a labour sending unit or selection for a work-ready pool does not itself guarantee an Australian job, an offer of employment or a visa.

How Australian businesses access PALM workers

An Australian business may seek to access PALM workers by:

• applying to become an approved PALM employer; or
• working with an approved PALM labour-hire organisation.

Businesses considering a labour-hire arrangement with Orchard Tech can read our information for employers and then contact Orchard Tech to discuss their workforce requirements.

A host enquiry does not guarantee access to workers. Any proposed arrangement remains subject to matters including local labour-market testing, the approved employer’s recruitment capacity, worker availability, suitable work, accommodation and welfare arrangements, and all required recruitment and placement approvals.

Approved employer and host organisation roles

Orchard Tech as the approved labour-hire employer

Under a PALM labour-hire arrangement, the approved employer employs and sponsors the workers and retains responsibility for its PALM scheme obligations. These responsibilities include approved recruitment and placement processes, employment compliance, worker welfare and wellbeing arrangements, and other obligations contained in the PALM Approved Employer Deed and Guidelines.

The Australian business as host organisation

A host organisation receives workers under a Host Organisation Arrangement with the approved employer. The host provides day-to-day work and assistance and performs the workplace, safety and welfare responsibilities allocated to it by the arrangement and applicable law.

A host organisation does not independently sponsor the PALM visa and cannot charge workers fees or make wage deductions. Using a labour-hire provider does not remove the host’s obligations under workplace health and safety, discrimination and other applicable laws.

Orchard Tech’s employer obligations are not transferred away merely because workers perform duties at a host business. Orchard Tech and the host must communicate and coordinate so that the placement remains within its approved scope.

See the Australian Government’s approved-employer and host-organisation responsibilities guide for the official role summary.

Recruitment and placement are approval-based

PALM recruitment is demand-driven. The approved employer works through the relevant participating-country labour sending unit and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Before mobilisation, the required process can include labour-market testing, an approved recruitment application, worker selection, offers of employment, accommodation and welfare planning, and visa-related steps. A worker must not be sent to an unapproved employer, host, worksite or arrangement merely because work is available.

Current official information about this process is available on the PALM scheme’s recruitment page and employer page.

Worker rights and safeguards

PALM workers have the same workplace rights and protections as other employees in Australia. The applicable minimum pay and conditions depend on factors including the work performed, award or enterprise agreement, classification, employment type, hours and any lawful piecework arrangement.

PALM requirements also include specific worker-support safeguards. Depending on the approved arrangements, these address matters such as:

• sufficient work and compliant pay
• suitable accommodation and transport arrangements
• lawful, explained and documented deductions
• workplace induction and safe systems of work
• access to a welfare and wellbeing support person
• ways to raise concerns without retaliation.

Workers can read the official PALM worker-support information and the Fair Work Ombudsman’s workplace-rights guidance for visa holders and migrant workers.

An employer cannot cancel a worker’s visa. Only the Department of Home Affairs can make visa grant, refusal and cancellation decisions.

Getting help or raising a concern

A PALM worker with a workplace, pay, accommodation, safety or welfare concern can speak with their supervisor, Orchard Tech welfare and wellbeing support person, country liaison officer or labour sending unit.

Workers can also use the Australian Government’s PALM grievance information:

• PALM support line: 1800 51 51 31
• Email: palm@dewr.gov.au
• Emergency: call 000

For workplace pay and entitlement assistance, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94. Workers who need an interpreter can call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50 and ask to be connected to Fair Work.

What happened to the Seasonal Worker Programme?

The former Seasonal Worker Programme and Pacific Labour Scheme were brought together under the PALM scheme. The subclass 403 PALM visa stream commenced on 4 April 2022, and the two former programs were consolidated into the single PALM scheme in July 2023.

“Seasonal Worker Programme” is therefore a historical program name, not a separate current application pathway. Workers and businesses should use current PALM scheme information and processes.

For a broader explanation of how PALM differs from Working Holiday Maker visas, read PALM Scheme vs Working Holiday Visa: Key Differences.

Important information disclaimer

This page provides general information only. It is not a job offer, guarantee of recruitment, guarantee of a placement, immigration assistance or personal migration advice.

Visa and PALM settings can change. Check the current PALM scheme website, the Department of Home Affairs and your country’s labour sending unit before making a decision.

If you need help with your personal visa circumstances or application, use a person legally authorised to provide immigration assistance, such as a registered migration agent, Australian legal practitioner or eligible exempt person. See Home Affairs’ who can help with your application guidance.