X
  • Horticulture
PALM scheme data

On this page

Data for the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, including information about participating workers and employers, is published here and is updated monthly. Horticulture

For workers, information is provided about their sex, 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 where they work. 

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. 

Changes this month

Inclusion of sex disaggregation

The PALM scheme data publication has been recently updated to include PALM scheme worker data by sex. For more information, refer to the glossary in the monthly data publication. 

Note that the addition of the new variable has required some reformatting of the monthly Excel tables. Users should exercise caution as the structure and presentation of the data in the tables has changed.

PALM scheme quarterly data report

The quarterly data report presents longer-term trends and analysis of PALM scheme data. The September quarter 2025 PALM scheme quarterly data report was released on 27 November 2025 and can be downloaded here.

 

PALM scheme key monthly data

Key PALM scheme worker and employer data - December 2025

Source: DEWR, PALM scheme, December 2025.

PALM scheme worker data

In December 2025:

  • there were 28,535 workers participating in the scheme
  • 14,485 were short-term workers and 14,050 were long-term workers
  • 6,080 were female and 22,455 were male. 

PALM scheme workers by state and territory 

Figure 1: PALM scheme workers by state and territory, December 2025

PALM scheme worker data by state and territory - December 2025

Source: DEWR, PALM scheme, December 2025.

PALM scheme workers’ country of origin

Figure 2: PALM scheme workers by country of origin, December 2025

FijiKiribatiNauruPapua New GuineaSamoaSolomon IslandsTimor-LesteTongaTuvaluVanuatu
4,3551,375252,1202,4104,0104,7702,6802506,540

Source: DEWR, PALM scheme, December 2025. 

PALM scheme workers’ participation by industry 

Figure 3: PALM scheme workers by industry, December 2025

PALM scheme worker data by industry - December 2025

Source: DEWR, PALM scheme, December 2025. 

PALM scheme employer data

In December 2025:

  • there were 532 approved PALM scheme employers
  • 421 employers were direct employers and 111 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. 

The relevant Subclass 408 visa (pandemic event) closed to new applications in February 2024. Workers holding this visa are included in historical data up to December 2024 (where possible). 

See publication table notes for more information. 

Data publication

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 first or second week of each month. This timeframe can vary, usually due to the impact of public holidays or short months. The expected publishing date may also change for a range of reasons including lags in receiving data, or unanticipated resourcing pressures.

Expected publishing dates:

Data periodExpected publishing date
January 202613 March 2026
February 202615 April 2026
March 202613 May 2026

Data notes

Published PALM scheme worker data is rounded to the nearest 5 to ensure individual privacy is protected. As a result of rounding, the sum of totals may not add to other totals.   

For more information, contact (pacificlabourdata@dewr.gov.au).