Supervisor Auvele works as a personal carer at Bolton Clarke in Bowen, North Queensland. In this video she explains why she enjoys working in Australia and sends a message home to her family.

When this group of 12 Fijian meatworkers arrived in Australia in January 2020, they quickly settled into their new jobs and made connections in their local community. Neighbours gave them furniture and a TV, and they started playing footy at the local rugby club. Then in March, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak escalated into a global pandemic. Like many other Pacific labour mobility workers, Hana Silva from Timor-Leste had to quickly adapt to the new measures.

Ni-Vanuatu men Stanley Pantutun, Knox Taleo, Kensie Wogale and Anory Roslyn were employed in the tourism sector, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced a change. They quickly moved from serving customers and working in kitchens to picking citrus fruit in Monduran, Queensland. In a message back to family and communities in Vanuatu, they speak about how they are keeping safe and making each other laugh while approaching a job that is very different than what they are used to.

Away from their families and working in Childers, Queensland, Wame Serukaitoga and Waisele Nawaqavou send their love back home to Fiji, and let everyone know they have been working hard and keeping safe.

Simfresh employs around 100 Pacific island workers on their farms in Queensland and Victoria. Around 60% of these workers are women who have taken on roles as pickers, packers, line leaders and in quality assurance. Ana from Tonga says, " The experience is incredible... whatever men can do women can do the same thing."

When coronavirus restrictions began, Simfresh – which produces almost 2 million boxes of citrus annually from farms in NSW and Queensland – was “already ahead of the game” in helping its workers stay healthy and happy during the pandemic, operations manager Luke Cini said.

During the uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic, George Brown Bakani and Ratu Duilomaloa sent messages back to their family, friends and villages in Fiji to let them know they were keeping well and they were following the health guidelines to keep safe.

A group of Papua New Guinean (PNG) workers employed at Aussie Orchards in northern NSW have not only helped the farm address its ongoing labour problems, they also stepped up to protect the farm during the bushfire crisis in late 2019.

Simfresh is a family-owned business with farms in New South Wales and Queensland. The company supplies around 1.8 million boxes of citrus each year to the domestic and export markets. After expanding its growing operations, Simfresh found it difficult to source enough workers to meet increased needs.