Australiaʼs Seasonal Worker Program: Working Out Ways to Manage Risk

Border Closures: Experiences of <scp>Ni‐Vanuatu</scp> Recognized Seasonal Employer Scheme Workers

Organised, temporary labour migration from the Global South to wealthier countries is a growing and sometimes problematic phenomenon. This article considers Timorese involvement in the Australian Seasonal Workers Program (SWP) in relation to this trend. Drawing primarily on semi‐structured interviews and participant observation undertaken among an interconnected group of 50 Timorese seasonal workers across Australia and Timor‐Leste between 2016 and 2021, we found that geographical and social isolation and limited leisure all proved challenges while working in Australia. In some cases, it appears that the workers were able to lean upon their own social networks and local churches as a way to mitigate these challenges. We argue that, in considering the welfare of workers in temporary migration programs such as the SWP, it is important to be aware of the role played by informal groups that are formally outside the scheme itself.

Seasonal migration programs are widely used around the world, yet there is little evidence as to their development impacts. A multiyear prospective evaluation of New Zealand's Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) seasonal worker program allows us to measure the impact of participating in this program on households in Tonga and Vanuatu. Using a propensity-score prescreened difference-in-differences analysis based on surveys fielded before, during, and after participation, we find that the RSE has indeed had positive development impacts that dwarf those of other popular development interventions. It has increased income, consumption, and savings of households; durable goods ownership; and subjective standard of living. The results also suggest that child schooling improved in Tonga.

Seasonal migration programs are widely used around the world, yet there is little evidence as to their development impacts. A multiyear prospective evaluation of New Zealand's Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) seasonal worker program allows us to measure the impact of participating in this program on households in Tonga and Vanuatu. Using a propensity-score prescreened difference-in-differences analysis based on surveys fielded before, during, and after participation, we find that the RSE has indeed had positive development impacts that dwarf those of other popular development interventions. It has increased income, consumption, and savings of households; durable goods ownership; and subjective standard of living. The results also suggest that child schooling improved in Tonga.

This In Brief highlights local ni-Vanuatu support structures initiated through workers’ participation in Australia’s Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) and New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme (RSE). It draws on recent interviews with workers, families, recruiters, leaders, chiefs and a support group in Vanuatu. In May 2016, more than 600 RSE workers and 64 SWP workers returned to Vanuatu. During a field trip in April 2016, just before their return, stakeholders insisted RSE and SWP were detrimentally affecting family structures. The social impacts of seasonal labour mobility schemes are described in various academic works; however, they are yet to be investigated in detail.

ABSTRACTCircular migration was one of several enduring themes in Graeme Hugo’s highly productive research career. Although his specialist field was Asian population movement, during the 2000s he became increasingly interested in labour migration in the Pacific Islands. This paper reviews the development of two managed circular migration schemes targeting Pacific labour that emerged following the UN High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in 2006. New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme and Australia’s Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) have attracted international attention as the kind of ‘best practice’ temporary labour migration schemes that Hugo had in mind when he emphasised the positive contributions that circular forms of mobility could make to development in both source and destination countries. The two schemes have transformed mobility between the participating countries and have played a major role in the negotiations over a free-trade agreement between Pacific Forum countries, including Australia and New Zealand. Although the schemes have been in operation for almost 10 years, this paper argues that they are not becoming ‘business as usual’; they embody complex systems of relationships between multiple stakeholders that require ongoing management to ensure that they do not become traps for low-skilled, low-paid ‘permanent’ temporary workers.

This paper looks into an aspect of adaptation, namely the role of the circular migration as climate change adaptation. It focuses on two of the Pacific region’s recently well -known seasonal labor schemes, Namely Australia’s Seasonal Workers Program (SWP) and New Zealand ‘s recognized Seasonal Employer Scheme (RSE), and asks if beyond the current goals the schemes May be reconceptualsed as adaptation programs responsive not only towards developmental and economic Concerns but the wider (and interconnected With the first two) climate change challenges. According to MacDermott and Opeskin, labor mobility schemes, for the sending country focus on the “development perspective “such as (a) Employment Opportunities, (b) Regular benefits of Remittances and (c) skills enhancement, while receiving countries country can meet the challenges posed by labor shortages in seasonal industries where “a reliable workforce is lacking”.

Seasonal worker programs are increasingly seen as offering the potential to be part of international development policy, in addition to the traditional goal of meeting domestic agricultural needs. New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) program is one of the first and most prominent of programs designed with this perspective. This chapter provides a detailed examination of this policy through the first six seasons. It begins by outlining the background to the launch of the program, and key features of how the program operates in practice. This includes the important role of policy facilitation measures taken by national governments and aid agencies. The evolution of the program in terms of worker numbers is then discussed, along with new data on the (high) degree of circularity in worker movements, and new data on (very low) worker overstay rates. This is followed by a summary of the impacts of the program on New Zealand workers and employers: there appears to have been little displacement of New Zealand workers, and new data shows RSE workers to be more productive than local labor, and that workers appear to gain productivity as they return for subsequent seasons. The program has also benefitted the migrants participating in the program, with increases in per capita incomes, expenditure, savings, and subjective well-being, with some evidence of small positive spillover benefits to their communities in the form of public goods. Taken together, this evidence suggests that the RSE program is largely living up to its promise of a “triple win” for migrants, their sending countries in the Pacific, and for New Zealand, and that it is one of the most successful development interventions for which rigorous evidence exists. As such, both development and immigration policy can benefit from learning the lessons of this program.

Migrants in 2020 stay connected with their homes in ways unimaginable just 10 years ago. In the case of the Australian Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) which facilitates the short term, repeat travel of Timorese to Australia to engage in harvest labour, this connectivity particularly pronounced and important. In this article, drawing on original ethnographic fieldwork in the household of a returned SWP worker in Oecussi, I argue that this connectivity is intense enough that it calls us to reassess what we mean by migration how we think about its impact on development. Rather than thinking of SWP participants as migrants, I argue, it may be more useful to think of them as ‘trans‐national villagers’ whose international labour encodes understandings of work and wealth that are essentially an extension of those prevailing in Timor and definitive in its impact.

PurposeThe past few decades have seen a gradual convergence in corporate governance norms the world over, entailing a discernible shift towards shareholder primacy models. It holds particularly true of developing countries, many of which have steadily amended corporate governance norms to enhance the scope of shareholder rights. This is usually justified through the rationale that increasing protection for foreign investors and shareholders would mean greater investment in capital market and overall financial market development. In India, the shift coincides with a series of fundamental economic and financial policy reforms initiated in the 1990s: collectively and loosely referred to as “liberalisation”, this process marks a paradigm-shift from a tightly controlled welfare economy to one considerably more laissez-faire in its orientation. A fallout of which was that the need to attract and sustain foreign investments acquired an unprecedented significance. The purpose of this paper is to help the readers understand in this larger context the corporate law reform initiatives in India, particularly those pertaining to shareholder rights and allied issues.Design/methodology/approachThis paper empirically tests the hypothesis that enhanced shareholder protection leads to greater levels of investments, and financial developments generally. It then uses regression analysis to detect if the change in corporate governance, making it more shareholder-friendly, has had any effect on growth in financial market. It is divided into two broad parts. The first tracks the evolution of corporate governance norms in India. A robust qualitative and quantitative analysis is used to determine the tilt towards a shareholder primacy regime that Indian corporate governance regime now displays. The second chapter deals with the regression analysis where the outcome variable is financial market growth, and explanatory variable is the change in the governance regime with relevant control variables.FindingsThe authors find that change in shareholder primacy corporate governance has little effect on financial market growth in India. The authors would suggest that instead of changing the law in books, more emphasis should be given to implement those regulations and increase the overall rule of law.Originality/valueThis is the first time that such a wide-scale study has been conducted in India, using Bayesian methods. It ought to be of immense value to professionals and academics both.

Does Governance Cause Growth? Evidence from China

Blacklisting and Reporting in Seasonal Worker Programs

Australia’s Seasonal Worker Program was formalised in 2012, involving nine Pacific island states. Most workers came from Tonga and Vanuatu, many selected by local agents, a situation preferred by employers, rather than by governments, although agents could be biased and exploit potential workers. Employers also visited island states to select workers directly through informal networks and community connections. Initially workers tended to come from rural areas, but, over time, recruitment tended to shift to more accessible and urban areas, where it was easier to recruit and where potential workers could meet the initial costs. Equity was less likely to be served. Employers preferred experienced workers and many returned frequently. Most workers were younger, married men with women being less than a quarter of workers.

This article examines how the interaction of migrant agency and policy arrangements influence different forms of regulated temporariness in Australia’s temporary migration regime. It analyses regulated temporariness under the temporary skilled visa, the Seasonal Workers Program, working holidaymaker visa and international student visa schemes. The findings demonstrate that migrant temporariness is a form of insecurity driven not only by policies governing migrants’ entry and stay, as existing migration studies theories emphasise, but also by the insecurity of their employment and settlement. This highlights the importance of employment regulations and post-arrival support policies in determining whether temporary migrants attain their migration objectives, which is a key factor shaping temporariness as a category of practice.

Australia's Seasonal Worker Program: Potential Contribution to Host Communities