Data for the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, including information about participating workers and employers, is published here and is updated monthly.
For workers, information is provided about their country of origin, the industry they are working in, their participation in the short-term or long-term PALM scheme streams, and the Australian state or territory they are based in.
For employers, information about the number and type of employers is available.
Data users should note PALM scheme activity may be affected by seasonal patterns, including the nature of work in agriculture or workers returning home for holidays. Worker and employer participation may vary from month to month. Conclusions about long-term program trends should not be made based on monthly movements.
Review of PALM scheme data 
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) has completed a review of the data sources and methods used to calculate worker numbers. The review uncovered issues that resulted in inaccuracies in reported worker numbers. DEWR has implemented a new methodology for calculating PALM scheme worker counts. Any PALM scheme worker numbers reported prior to March 2024 are superseded by this reporting.
DEWR has also recalculated historical data. The first set of data for January to June 2024 was published on 31 July 2024. Remaining historical data (prior to January 2024) was published on 30 September 2024.
PALM scheme quarterly data report
The quarterly data report presents longer-term trends and analysis of PALM scheme data. The September quarter 2024 PALM scheme quarterly data report was released on 27 November 2024 and can be downloaded here.
PALM scheme key monthly data
Source: DEWR, PALM scheme, October 2024.
PALM scheme worker data
In October 2024:
- there were 30,800 workers participating in the scheme
- 13,825 were short-term workers and 16,975 were long-term workers.
PALM scheme workers by state and territory
Figure 1: PALM scheme workers by state and territory, October 2024
Source: DEWR, PALM scheme, October 2024. State and territory data is unavailable for some workers – these have been excluded from the above.
PALM scheme workers’ country of origin
Figure 2: PALM scheme workers by country of origin, October 2024
| Fiji | Kiribati | Nauru | Papua New Guinea | Samoa | Solomon Islands | Timor-Leste | Tonga | Tuvalu | Vanuatu |
| 5,915 | 1,505 | 50 | 2,005 | 2,575 | 4,830 | 4,390 | 2,995 | 295 | 6,240 |
Source: DEWR, PALM scheme, October 2024. All cells have been rounded to the nearest 5. As a result, the sum of values may not add to other totals.
PALM scheme workers’ participation by industry
Figure 3: PALM scheme workers by industry, October 2024
Source: DEWR, PALM scheme, October 2024. Industry data is unavailable for some workers – these have been excluded from the above.
PALM scheme employer data
In October 2024:
- there were 489 approved PALM scheme employers
- 389 employers were direct employers and 100 were labour hire companies.
More information
Published PALM scheme data is sourced from administrative records captured by DEWR. It includes workers on the Temporary Work (International Relations) visa (subclass 403), Pacific Australia Labour Mobility stream. Workers on the relevant Subclass 408 visa holders (pandemic event) have been included where possible.
PALM scheme data is also available on data.gov.au, the central source of Australian open government data.
Data is published monthly, usually in the last week of each month. Publishing dates may change due to the impact of public holidays or short months.
Expected publishing dates:
| Data period | Expected publishing date |
| November 2024 | 10 January 2025 |
| December 2024 | 31 January 2025 |
| January 2025 | 7 March 2025 |
Published PALM scheme data is rounded to the nearest 5 to ensure individual privacy is protected.
For more information, contact (pacificlabourdata@dewr.gov.au).