On 18 December 2011, the Hon Bill Shorten MP, Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations, Financial Services and Superannuation, the Hon Kevin Rudd MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP, the Minister for Tourism announced the Seasonal Worker Program, to begin on 1 July 2012.

This initiative builds on the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme. The program will be open to employers in the horticultural industry and seasonal workers from East Timor, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The Australian Government will also undertake a small-scale, three year trial of seasonal labour mobility arrangements with cotton and cane growers, aquaculture ventures and accommodation providers in the tourism industry.

Further information about the Seasonal Worker Program will be available soon.

• Media Release Pacific and East Timor workers helping Australian farmers and tourism industry - 18 December 2011.

For further information call the Pilot Information Line on 02 6240 5234 or email seasonalworker@deewr.gov.au.

Information About the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme

• I am a Grower or Horticultural Enterprise who is interested in having seasonal workers placed on my property by an Approved Employer.
• I am a Tourism Enterprise located in the Broome local government area of Western Australia, and am interested in employing seasonal workers from East Timor.
• I am interested in becoming an Approved Employer and wish to recruit seasonal workers to work on my own property, or place workers with other horticultural enterprises or growers.
• I am interested in finding out more about Seasonal workers.

Below you can find three videos produced by the Australian Government to provide information on the Pilot.

To learn about the backgrounds and experiences of some of the seasonal workers who have worked in Australia, you can visit Meet a Pacific seasonal worker.

To learn about the experiences of horticultural enterprises involved in the Pilot, you can visit Meet A Grower.

The Australian Government is conducting the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme to examine:

• Whether a seasonal worker program could contribute to economic development in Pacific countries through seasonal workers’ employment experience, remittances and training; and
• The benefits to growers in the Australian horticultural industry who demonstrate they cannot source local labour.

Memoranda of Understanding have been signed between the Australian Government and East Timor, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. Discussions with Nauru and Tuvalu about the Memoranda of Understanding are in progress.