Tongans employed in Australia’s Seasonal Workers’ Programme should have access to three-year visas.
At the same time there is a need for workers to lift their game in several areas.
These are some of the recommendations made by a team led by Internal Affairs Minister Akosita Lavulavu following from an official visit to Australia to investigate the programme.
Kaniva News reports a three-year visa has been piloted for workers from Kiribati and Nauru.
The Ministry’s report said a three-year multiple visa would reduce the cost and time of having to do health and police checks every year.
The report also recommended changes in the way Tongans are recruited. It said workers were often ripped off by labour agents. They should avoid using middlemen, contractors or labour hiring agents. This would reduce costs for them.
Major areas of weakness in the programme were the recruiting process and pre-departure training, the report said.
However, the report also noted that workers needed to improve their performance, saying that there were major issues with worker attitudes, hygiene and health both during and after working hours.
Employers were also concerned about problems with alcohol and absconding.
The report said family members in Australia influence seasonal workers to abscond and that this often occurred on arrival in Sydney.
It recommended that seasonal workers be made to sign an agreement with the Ministry before leaving Tonga that if they absconded, their family members would not be able to visit Australia until they returned to Tonga.
The report said there was a need for pastoral care and culture change among the workers. It suggested this could be supported by training group leaders in ways to manage the group and handle issues among workers and employers
The report also recommended that workers be given basic training in IT, first aid and English.
In December last year, the Tongan official responsible for the seasonal workers, Fanau’ifo’ou Akau’ola told Radio Australia that appointing Pacific Island Liaison officers in Australia early in 2018 would help provide safe avenues for complaints to be heard.
Akau’ola said the number of Tongans going to Australia has risen to 2690.
It is estimated that the minimum salary for each worker is Aus$600 per week. The Ministry estimates Tongan seasonal workers sent home more than Aus$45m remittances in the 2016/2017 financial year.