Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said plans are underway to boost the number of aged care workers coming to Australia under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, noting aged care is a growing focus of the program.
Visiting Fiji as part of a tour of the Pacific, Senator Wong said Australia wants to "improve skills acquisition" from the region.
"That is a growth area and I think Pacific Island people bring a great wisdom when it comes to caring and we value that. But it also is an area where people can be trained and are trained," she said.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told The Weekly SOURCE, "Aged care is an important sector for the PALM scheme, providing jobs and opportunity for PALM workers and responding to critical labour gaps in rural and regional Australia."
Since 2022, the Australian Government has supported more than 660 workers to obtain their Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing) under the the PALM Aged Care Expansion program (2022-26). Originally, the program was intended to bring 500 additional workers to Australia.
There are 1,260 PALM workers in the health care and social assistance sector in Australia as of March 2025.
