The Pacific migration project focuses on various types of temporary and permanent migration. All subprojects have a focus on economic, cultural, political and social impacts. They examine sports migration, temporary labour migration and permanent migration. Pacific migration to Aotearoa/NZ and Australia is not new. However, new migration pathways have enabled new opportunities as a response to political and economic needs. Nonetheless, the intended and unintended consequences of these need to be documented in order to understand the impacts on both receiving and sending countries, to measure the intended development outcomes. Our research aims at addressing some of these impacts.
Temporary migration labour schemes have been the primary focus of the project. Dr Rochelle-lee Bailey has been conducting ethnographical research since 2007 in Aotearoa/NZ’s Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme (RSE) and the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility schemes. Her current projects are:
- Longitudinal study 2007-now
- Long-term impacts on children of seasonal workers
- Welfare models for seasonal workers and families
- Reintegration
- The culture of migration – children following parents into RSE and PALM
- Material and Social remittances
- Health care access for seasonal workers
- Gendered participation in Vanuatu’s provinces- demography study.
Dr Rochelle-lee Bailey’s previous work has examined permanent Pacific migration to Aotearoa/NZ and its generational impacts. The two main streams of permanent migration examined were 1) the Pacific diaspora in Aotearoa/NZ and Australia and 2) Australia’s newly introduced Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV), which is modelled on Aotearoa/NZ’s Pacific Access Category Visa (PAC): with this latter category the focus is on the support structures in place for migrants before and upon arrival.
Siaosi Gavet is undertaking research examining relocation systems within Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) for Pasifika people from Aotearoa/NZ. He engages with their experiences to assess the importance of wellness and broader support systems.
Lindy Kanan and Dr Judy Putt conducted a research project in 2022 which sought to investigate the safety and wellbeing experiences of Pacific Islanders working in Australia under the PALM scheme. The study involved consultations and interviews with more than 100 stakeholders in five locations in Australia and an online survey of more than 300 PALM scheme workers. A report of the project’s findings will be released shortly.
Telusa Tu’i’onetoa’s PhD research examines disruptions to Tongan households that participate in Australia’s Seasonal Worker’s Programme (SWP) and to analyse changes to care arrangements within Tongan households.
Natasha Turia-Moka’s PhD research explores labour mobility governance arrangements in three districts in Papua New Guinea. It aims to gain a rich understanding of how Papua New Guinea’s decentralised governance arrangements at sub-national level governments, and the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) and Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) schemes cooperatively work together to increase the number of Papua New Guineans working in these schemes.