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Pacific farm workers who breached visas by working for wrong employers fight to get them back

A group of Pacific workers who breached their visa conditions are fighting to get them back, although advocates say it should never have reached this point.

The 24 workers in Bundaberg “absconded” from the Pacific Australian Labor Mobility (PALM) scheme by getting jobs with a non-registered employer when working on the farm they were at dried up.

A spokesman for the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) said officials had met with the employees to discuss their individual cases, but solicitor Dana Levitt said they should have helped sooner.

She said the workers were brought to Australia by an approved employer but there were issues with pay and conditions.

“These workers were faced with overheads that they couldn’t meet because they weren’t getting sufficient work,” Ms Levitt said.

“Unable to make ends meet, these workers were very open and vulnerable to inducement from other employers who were not approved employers in the scheme.

“These workers went with that non-approved employer, fell foul of the program and their visa conditions, and have been trying to navigate their way back into the PALM scheme ever since.”

Reluctance to complain creates vulnerability

The PALM scheme allows Australian businesses to hire workers from nine Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste for seasonal work or longer engagements of up to four years, under certain circumstances.

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