To celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence in Papua New Guinea, for the month of September Australian Policy and History is publishing policy briefs written by students studying at Honours, Masters or Doctoral levels who attended a June 2025 intensive workshop on Papua New Guinea and Australia, sponsored by DFAT and run by Deakin’s Centre for Contemporary Histories, at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.
ATTENTION: Minister for International Development – The Hon Dr Anne Aly MP
Purpose
This brief presents strategic options to strengthen Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) participation in Australia’s labour mobility programs, an essential component of bilateral cooperation and regional development. While current arrangements offer short-term placements, they remain largely transactional and disconnected from PNG’s national development priorities. This brief outlines a reimagined labour mobility partnership; one that is bilaterally driven, institutionally grounded, and aligned with long-term development outcomes.
Drawing on three identified policy paths in this brief, the preferred recommendation is to integrate policies that support skilled migration, structured reintegration, and cross sectoral collaboration. This model strengthens governance and delivers mutual benefits by advancing PNG’s prosperity while meeting Australia’s workforce needs and regional engagement goals.
PROBLEM
The disconnect of Australia’s aid to PNG has consistently been criticised for being overly conditional and misaligned with PNG’s development priorities. In a region where strategic competition is intensifying, Australia’s credibility depends on its ability to shift from transactional aid to genuine partnership.
PNG is at a demographic and economic turning point. Over half its population is under 25, however 27.7 per cent of youth are not in education, employment, or training (DLIR, 2021). Concurrently, Australia is experiencing persistent labour shortages in key sectors such as construction, aged care, and agriculture; all industries that Pacific Labour Mobility Schemes (PALM) are designed to address. Despite its size, proximity and shared history, PNG remains underrepresented in these programs, despite being Australia’s largest bilateral development program partner; presenting a major challenge for the state in turning this demographic potential into long-term sustainable economic practices.
The current labour mobility scheme underdelivers for both states. Treated as a standalone program and excluded from broader development planning, it leaves PNG workers facing entry barriers, limited training, and minimal reintegration support, while Australian employers and citizens miss out on a reliable labour source.
POLICY ALTERNATIVES
There are several viable policy paths for strengthening Papua New Guinea and Australia’s labour mobility programs:
One alternative is to expand industry access without structural reform and remove existing transactional models.
This can be achieved by increasing PNG worker quotas under the existing PALM scheme and streamlining visa processing to accelerate placements. This option is politically viable and realistically achievable, especially by targeting rural communities and raising awareness of labour opportunities beyond provinces. Although this approach addresses short-term labour market needs, gaps remain in integration support and institutional capacity, making this alternative most appropriate as a transitional model while more ambitious reforms are developed.
A second course of action is to focus on building PNG’s institutional capacity to manage labour mobility more independently.
By shifting from conditional aid to co-designed and locally directed development processes, this pathway sustains participation momentum while addressing structural gaps. This aligns with PNG’s goal of providing decent, temporary overseas work for at least 8,000 youth and citizens per year commencing from 2025 (DPT, 2025). This approach supports the implementation of PNG’s Draft National Labour Mobility Policy by investing in infrastructure to grow the economy through remittances and the transfer of skills and knowledge to lay the foundation for sustainable domestic industries and a nationally owned framework. The primary beneficiaries of this approach are current and prospective seasonal and migrant workers, specifically women and disadvantaged workers, as well as broader government departments and external stakeholders who would benefit from a more coordinated system.
A third policy path is to embed labour mobility within PNG’s national development strategy, aligning it with employment and youth priorities.
This includes supporting trade qualified workers to access Australia’s Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa and reintegration support such as small business grants and vocational certification (Chand and Dempster, 2021). Reflecting the “dual-track” model (Clemens, 2015), this approach links temporary migration to long-term development. It builds on partnerships with provincial governments, training institutions, and employers would ensure labour mobility enhances employability and community development.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
A preferred course of action is to integrate labour mobility initiatives into PNG’s national development strategy, thus it is recommended to:
- Align labour initiatives with long-term goals and embed its implementation within a defined timeframe, with measurable outcomes, and clearly identify a target audience (DFAT, 2024).
- Position labour mobility as a strategic tool to advance national priorities, by reflecting economic targets, empowering youth, and promoting the benefits of employment. By anchoring labour mobility within existing government structures and policies, and linking it to broader development targets, partnerships with Australia can serve as a catalyst for sustainable growth. This integration ensures labour mobility contributes meaningfully to PNG’s long-term resilience and prosperity.
- Build coordinated partnerships across sectors. Provincial governments can play a key role in identifying candidates, supporting reintegration, and aligning labour mobility with local development plans. Training institutions and employers, both within PNG and Australia, would help ensure that skills gained abroad are relevant and transferable.
This is the preferred option at this time because it offers a strategic, future focused approach that aligns with PNG’s development priorities while responding to immediate labour market opportunities in Australia and advancing both states regional objectives. This approach also builds institutional capacity and strengthens bilateral cooperation, making it both timely, sustainable, and relevant.
Contact: Sian Martin
Student – Master of International Relations student, Deakin University
Email: S222286357@deakin.edu.au
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chand, S. and Dempster, H. (2021). A Pacific Skills Visa: Improving Opportunities for Skilled Migration throughout the Pacific Region. IZA Policy Paper, 183, pp. 1–35. Institute of Labor Economics (IZA). https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/264370/1/1777650488.pdf
Clemens, M. A. (2015). Global Skill Partnerships: A proposal for technical training in a mobile world. IZA Journal of Labor Policy, 4(2), pp. 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40173-014-0028-z
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (2024). Australia–Papua New Guinea Development Partnership Plan 2024–2029. pp. 1–40. https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/australia-papua-new-guinea-development-partnership-plan-2024-2029.pdf
Department of Labour and Industrial Relations. (2021). National Employment Policy 2030: Addressing Unemployment, Underemployment and Sustainable Economic Growth. pp. 1–93. https://www.efpng.org.pg/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CIRCULAR-No.08-2021-NATIONAL-EMPLOYMENT-POLICY-REGIONAL-CONSULTATIVE-WORKSHOP-2.pdf
Department of Treasury. (2025). Labour Mobility Unit. Government of Papua New Guinea. https://www.treasury.gov.pg/special-projects/labour-mobility-unit/