When Pesiki arrived in Pottsville, NSW to work in aged care, she joined a growing trend of Tuvaluan women participating in the workforce – and an increasing number of workers from the Pacific and Timor-Leste supporting Australian aged care providers.

Ofa Ulupano has worked in the hospitality industry for most of her professional life and until recently would never have imagined working on a farm in Australia. 

Now she leads teams and trains new staff at one of the largest commercial berry farms in Australia and plans to continue working in horticulture well into the future.

Sesa Metui is one of 9 siblings, and until recently, lived in her family home in Nukuleka, Tonga caring for her parents.

In July 2022 Sesa decided to start supporting her family in a different way, taking up a position at a meat processing site in Australia through the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme to earn more money for them.

When Manuella from Vanuatu first saw the white sandy shoreline and turquoise waters of the Kimberley coast in Western Australia’s far north, it reminded her of the similar yet distant landscapes she had left behind.