Publications
Summary of publication
This paper presents an analysis of the development impacts of the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme in the first two years of operation (2008 – 2010), and compares them to the impacts from New Zealand's seasonal worker program in the same countries.
New Zealand's seasonal worker program, the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) program, commenced in 2007. This was followed by Australia launching the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme (PSWPS) in August 2008. This paper presents an analysis of the development impacts of the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme in the first two years of operation (2008 – 2010), and compares them to the impacts from New Zealand's seasonal worker program in the same countries, namely Tonga and Kiribati.
The Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme was designed to examine whether a seasonal worker scheme 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. The paper uses survey data collected in Australia, Tonga and Kiribati to examine the schemes, including the topics of the selection of workers, economic gains per household and the potentially large economic aggregate effects. Lastly, the paper also provides some evidence on workers' opinions about the program.