Some 400 participants will converge in Brisbane today for the 2024 Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting (PLMAM).
The event is held under the PACER Plus Arrangement on Labour Mobility and serves as the Pacific region’s premier platform for discussing labour mobility issues, and also foster collaboration among key stakeholders.
The central theme for PLMAM 2024 is ‘Collectively Building Resilience’, and according to PACER Plus, it highlights the importance of regional cooperation to strengthen labour mobility frameworks in the face of evolving challenges.
PACER Plus Head of Implementation Unit and Labour Mobility Secretariat Roy Lagolago said Pacific labour mobility had evolved significantly since the inception of the New Zealand Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme in 2007 and the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme in 2012 under its predecessor, the Seasonal Worker Programme.
“This evolution has been prompted by a number of different factors, including the changing socio-economic structures of the region, the COVID pandemic, and climate change, to name a few,” Mr Lagolago said in a statement.
“In this rapidly changing era, the challenge for the Pacific is to continuously build resilience, and we recognise that successfully building resilience requires a cooperative effort by all involved.”
The four-day meet will feature discussions on how Pacific labour mobility stakeholders can collaborate to build the resilience of labour mobility, with a focus on ensuring mutual benefits for workers, employers and economies across the region, and address worker wellbeing, skills development and social security.
The 2024 PLMAM is hosted by the Australian government and will take place from November 11-14 at the Pullman Hotel King George Square.
Government officials, workers, employers, private sector representatives, unions, civil society organisations, academics and regional institutions will attend the meeting.
The PLMAM is provided in the PACER Plus Arrangement on Labour Mobility as a mechanism to advance regional labour mobility cooperation.