PACER Plus Parties have come together in Apia, Samoa, this week to talk about how to better understand and address the negative social impacts of Pacific labour mobility.

 The four-day Regional Workshop on Addressing the Social Impacts of Labour Mobility in the PACER Plus Arrangement on Labour Mobility (ALM) opened today and brings together officials from the 11 PACER Plus ALM signatory countries: Australia, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The workshop is being hosted by the PACER Plus Implementation Unit (PPIU), which serves as the Labour Mobility Secretariat.

The PACER Plus Arrangement on Labour Mobility is a regional cooperation framework that sits alongside the PACER Plus trade agreement. It aims to strengthen labour mobility cooperation by promoting good practices and enabling policies that can increase the mutual development benefits of labour mobility for labou receiving and labour sending countries.

A review of the ALM in 2023 highlighted the need to do more to protect workers and ensure that labour mobility delivers positive outcomes not just for individuals, but for their families and home communities. The review found that some workers face difficulties such as poor accommodation, high migration costs, and limited understanding of their rights and responsibilities while abroad. It also found that employers and systems in Australia and New Zealand are sometimes not well-equipped to understand or respond to the specific needs and cultural values of Pacific workers.

This week’s workshop aims to help define what “social impacts” of labour mobility really mean in a Pacific context – and how best to manage them. Participants will also provide feedback on two important draft tools: the Pacific Guidelines on Sustainable Reintegration, and the General Guidance on Pacific Labour Mobility Worker Recruitment. Both tools are being developed by the PPIU to support better worker preparation, safer migration experiences, and effective labour migration reintegration that enhances the economic and social benefits of labour mobility.

“This workshop is a step forward in making sure that the next stage of our work under the ALM responds directly to the needs and priorities of Pacific countries, workers, and communities” said Dr. Alisi Holani, Trade in Services & Investment Adviser and Labour Mobility Specialist at the PPIU.

 “We are bringing together the lived realities of our people and using those insights to shape better regional cooperation. Our focus is to complement, not duplicate, what countries and stakeholders are already doing. This is about building something stronger together.”

Discussions at the workshop will also help shape the new social impacts component of the ALM work programme. The goal is to ensure that it reflects the priorities of Pacific countries and provides practical tools to support ethical recruitment, decent work, and sustainable reintegration of workers.

The workshop will conclude on Thursday, 26 June 2025.