Restart of Pacific worker program to help Australia with the 2020-21 harvest

Due to COVID 19 pandemic the fresh vegetable industry facing a shortage of staff all over the world. Australian government has announced that workforce challenges will be solved through the restart of the Seasonal Worker Program and the Pacific Labor Scheme, which will allow workers from the Pacific to come to Australia and to help with the 2020-21 harvest. 

Michael Rogers, CEO at Australian Fresh Produce Alliance (AFPA), said that the workers from this program make great contributors to the fresh produce industry. “Harvest roles in fresh produce are seasonal, short term and often require large amounts of workers at one time. The Pacific workers under the Seasonal Worker Program are in many instances, returning workers, who are familiar with harvest roles. Allowing industry to access these workers will be critical in ensuring the ongoing supply of fresh produce nationally.”

Around 12,000 visas are issued annually under the Seasonal Worker Program, and these workers able to remain in Australia for up to 9 months at a time and return year after year, often working for the same employer. Now State and Territory governments must "opt in" to restart the program, with subjecting of quarantine requirements to ensure the health and safety of program participants and Australians.

Definitely, the program requires rigorous labor market testing to ensure that Australians have an opportunity to apply for the harvest short-term roles first, which there are approximately 50,000 across Australia, with most roles being located in regional areas.

AFPA's members noted they have local recruitment targets and they know the percentage of applications from Australians drops to only 4% when a job is more than 100 km from a major city. “Industry relies on the ongoing employment of both Australians and Seasonal Workers to continue to supply fresh fruit and vegetables to all Australians,” added Michael Rogers.

The Australian Fresh Produce Alliance was established as the first choice industry body that retailers and governments go to for discussion and outcomes on issues related to the growing and supply of fresh produce. The Alliance is made up of key fresh produce growers and suppliers of Australia.

Visit AFPA’s website to find more about their key issues.