11/09/2023
FIRST 30 SEASONAL WORKERS SENT TO WESTERN AUSTRALIA
The Greater Sepik Labour Mobility Program of (GSLMP) of the East Sepik Provincial Government (ESPG) is pleased to announce that it has sent it’s first 30 seasonal workers to Western Australia in 2023. 18 workers on a 6-month visa to a strawberry farm and 12 workers on a 7month visa to an avocado farm. Of these initial 30 workers, 10 are male and 20 are female. These workers were recruited to the labour mobility program through the Papua New Guinean’s Labour Mobility Unit (LMU) under the Department of Treasury. The National Government aims to send 8000 workers through the labour mobility program by 2025 and this will be done through the Labour Mobility Unit in partnership with Regional hubs established by Provincial Governments and District Development Authorities.
The GSLMP, which is an initiative of Governor Allan Bird, was initiated in May 2020 but due to COVID-19 and the National General elections funding to send workers was not released until December 2022. While the program currently bears the logo of the ESPG the systems developed from the program will assist the Greater Sepik Region. The initial workers who met the requirements and were selected for the program were nominated by their respective ward councilors throughout Wewak District but additional workers who were interested and had the necessary documents and met the requirements were also included.
Governor Bird’s vision is to eventually have 10,000 Sepik’s participate in the program over the course of the next 10 years and this will be dependent on funding availability and the worker demand from farmers in Australia though the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Program and New Zealand though the Recognized Seasonal Employer (RSE) Program. We currently aim to end 2023 with sending off 100 workers and increase that number to least 300-500 workers in 2024 and plan for 1000 workers by 2025.
Apart from the benefits of the program like the employment opportunities, exposure to large commercial farming and associated machinery and remittances being sent back to the province, Governor Bird’s main aim for the program is to give young Sepik’s exposure and opportunity which will help to change mindsets and develop the character and attitude of our people and help bring change to the province (Senisim Tingting, Senisim Pasin, Senisim Peles). In addition, the program aims to create local community leaders so is partnering with the Senisim PNG Program of the PNG Tribal Foundation and the Clean Generation Program of the Voice Inc. to run their programs for all our workers. Additional trainings will be developed for our workers as the program progresses.
The GSLMP is learning from the experience of sending workers and the recruitment process is being further developed in close consultation with the East Sepik Provincial Youth Employment and Rehabilitation Committee (ESPYERC) of the East Sepik Provincial Administration (ESPA), Chaired by Deputy Provincial Administrator Mrs Lynette Sarry. The ESPA DPA SS, ESPA HRM, Divisions of Community Development, Youth Officer, Divisions of Commerce, Education, Planning and Agriculture & Fisheries, CS Rep, Police Rep, Juvenile Officer with Dept of Justice, Tourism Unit, WULLG and DA Wewak District are all part of the committee. The DDA’s, LLG and Ward Councilor’s, Churches, throughout the Greater Sepik Region will also be consulted as part of the development of the program. But should other Provincial Governments or DDA’s have their own program as a recruitment hub, the GSLMP will not interfere within their region.
The program has to be further developed to improve worker requirements, pre-employment training and behavior change, advertisement and selection process, accessibility to requirements, equity of opportunity, sustainability, cost reduction and efficiency of worker mobilization to name a few things. For example, a recruitment pathway will be created for those with trade, technical and relevant skills and work experience. Another pathway will be created for our rural farmers interested in the program and another pathway for unfortunate youths in our settlements and communities. This will take time to develop and is a work in progress but the ultimate goal to give opportunities to our people throughout the region who meet the requirements. The LMU also wants to be inclusive for people living with disabilities but that will take a while to develop.
For those interested in the program the recruitment process will be as follows
1. A recruitment round will be advertised by the East Sepik Provincial Youth Employment and Rehabilitation Committee (ESPYERC) facilitated by the GSLMP for interested applicants to apply.
2. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed by the ESPYERC and GSLMP
3. Selected applicants will be presented to the PNG Labour Mobility Unit to Interview
4. Selected applicants by the PNG Labour Mobility Unit will be put into the work ready pool for Australian and New Zealand employers to select.
5. Selected workers are then sent contracts to sign and the GSLMP will facilitate the mobilization and visa medicals for workers.
6. The LMU will do pre-departure briefings
7. Workers travel to farms.
Basic Requirements for the next recruitment round to be advertised at the end of September 2023 for seasonal workers include
1. You must Be over 21 years of age and under 40 years old
2. You must have a least a grade 10 certificate
3. You must have a trade or technical certificate and a minimum of 3 months of related technical, trade of practical work experience
4. You must have an NID Birth Certificate
5. You should have a passport
6. You must have one work Reference and one character reference.
7. You must have no criminal record
8. You must be of good physical health (wait to be told where to get a medial examination)
9. Having a driver’s license, tractor or forklift license would be a bonus.
Additional requirements may be advertised so wait for the advertisements to see that to prepare for your application.
The logic for getting semi-skilled workers for the program is firstly we want our workers to progress from 6 to 9-month seasonal work to longer term semi-skilled contract work so having a trade or technical skill can provide the opportunity for further training. Additionally, the work experience provides the assurance that our workers can commit to being on time and working on a schedule. Farm work is hard work and the better our workers perform the more workers we can send so we will require and work with our people to develop themselves to do well.
Some of the work the East Sepik Provincial Government has done so far to improve the process and reduce cost include getting Australian Home Affairs approval for East Sepik Provincial Specialist Hospital to be the first and only Offsite Visa Medical Centre. This means the Pacific International Hospital will fly into Wewak to do the Visa Medicals instead of workers going to Port Moresby. Additionally, discussions have commenced with the Immigration and Citizenship Authority to have a Passport office in Wewak.
And finally, to the best of our knowledge only the East Sepik Provincial Government has sent workers from East Sepik Province to Australia in 2023 thorough the Greater Sepik Labour Mobility Program. After the workers were selected and given contracts by respective Australian farmers, the ESPG paid for their tickets to Port Moresby, their Visa Medicals and transit accommodation in Port Moresby for over 3 weeks while waiting for them to receive their visa medicals results, visas and tickets from the respective farmers and fly to Australia. This has costed the ESPG between K4000.00 to K5000.00 per person.
The East Sepik Provincial Government has no affiliations with any groups or individuals apart from those mentioned above and you will not be accepted to the program if you do not meet the requirements and get selected though the recruitment and selection process. As far as the ESPG and GSLMP are concerned there are no short cuts for increasing our numbers over the long term. We have to build a good image by the performance and good behavior of our Sepik workers to increase demand and opportunity for our people and that will depend on the preparation of our workers and our selection process.
Dr. Preston Karue
Program Manager
Greater Sepik Labour Mobility Program
