1. Presentation to Sixth Australia Vanuatu Business Forum
Opportunities and challenges for ni-Vanuatu workers accessing the Australian labour market
Richard Curtain
Presentation to Sixth Australia Vanuatu Business Forum
28 February 2019

2. My background
Former consultant, now academic researcher at Development Policy Centre, ANU
Have just completed a report for the Government of Vanuatu on options for a new labour mobility policy
Advocate for Pacific & Timor-Leste labour mobility to Australia
But independent and critical where improvement in arrangements needed
See Devpolicy blog run by the Development Policy Centre, ANU

3. Vanuatu continues to lead in SWP visa approvals for Australia (November 2018)

4. Two options for hiring workers from Vanuatu
(1) APTC for workers with post-school qualifications – trade and non-trade
(2) Pacific Labour Facility (PLF) for low and semi skilled workers (ie below trade level)

5. Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC)
The Australia Pacific Technical College (APTC) was set up in 2007 with funding by the Australian Government.
It initially operated from five campuses in the Pacific, Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, PNG and Vanuatu, for over a decade
Has produced more than 12,000 graduates of high standard with Australian qualifications

6. APTC Stage 3 from mid-2018 to mid-2022
Renewed emphasis on labour mobility
Have created a dual track approach to training – the domestic and international tracks
A renewed emphasis on labour mobility is a key strategic shift in APTC Stage 3
And ensuring a ‘net skills gain’ is a fundamental engagement principle of APTC’s approach to labour mobility
Australia has provided significant development assistance (AU$33.5 million annually) to train a potentially mobile workforce with targeted skills in their own countries

7. APTC promoting labour mobility for graduates
Students in the labour mobility (‘away’) track will be given additional support to increase their chances of finding work in Australia
APTC3 is a regional example of a global skills partnership. Working collaboratively with partners APTC is developing strategies to mitigate brain drain, enhance brain gain and achieve a ‘net skills gain’ for the Pacific:
1. Create a dual track approach to training
APTC is working with partners to create a dual track approach to our training that will meet both domestic and international skills needs within our overall training profile. This will be done through an enhanced planning process and strengthened country-specific labour market analyses.
As improved labour market information is determined and demand is identified, a range of full qualifications and accredited skill sets will be delivered by either APTC or other Pacific training institutes (over time) individually or via partnership arrangements:
The domestic track will respond to regional and country Pacific labour markets.
The international track will be broadly determined by employment opportunities in Australia, New Zealand and beyond. APTC will work especially closely with the Pacific Labour Facility (PLF) to ensure the qualifications it delivers on the international track are aligned with the industry sectors and qualification levels required by Australian employers.
Students on the international track will be provided with an additional customized labour mobility short course. This course would include elements such as information about different temporary and circular migration pathways options, additional support for English language proficiency at the level relevant to the job, cultural orientation for life outside their home country, employability and interview skills, work health and safety, first aid and additional financial literacy skills.
2. Support improved quality of Pacific TVET delivery
Increased Labour Mobility can play a catalytic role in improving the quality of TVET in the Pacific. As international labour mobility opportunities, including the Pacific Labour Scheme, expand this will provide additional incentive to improve the standards of training and services available locally.
The Government of Kiribati, for example, has acknowledged that investment in skills development is expected to contribute to a domestic net skills gain with its ambition that the levels of qualifications able to be obtained in Kiribati will be raised to those available in countries such as Australia and New Zealand.
The Solomon Islands’ Labour Mobility Strategy and Policy Framework will require training providers to move towards internationally recognised qualifications and encourage industry to consider innovative ways to use labour mobility to build skills for the domestic economy.
This could also result in an increased domestic take up of TVET education that demonstrate high standards, including by people that either have no intention of migrating or start with the intention of doing so and then don’t for whatever reason.
There is also a spill over effect on the higher skills required for trainers which is in itself a skills gain for the region’s trainers.
For this reason, it is critical that APTC work with local partners and existing regional and national training institutions both, public and private, to support improved TVET delivery. This will include investing in the professional development of trainers, professional exchanges and rotating of short term inputs from external trainers to address technical deficits in training institutions across the region.
APTC will also support key regional initiatives aimed at improving the quality of TVET and the mutual recognition of skills, qualification and competencies, which will become increasingly important in an increasingly mobile region, such as the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Education and Quality Assessment Program (EQAP).
[EQAP provides services in accreditation, recognition of foreign qualifications and registration of skilled persons. EQAP also supports national and regional initiatives on labour and learner mobility by quality assuring and providing information on qualifications and skills.]
3. Explore opportunities for increased co-investment in skills training
There is potential for government-to-government relationships to provide additional investment in skills development in the Pacific through Free Trade Agreements, financial assistance, teacher exchanges and assistance in developing frameworks. Note the PACER Plus side Arrangement on Labour Mobility includes agreement to support Pacific Island countries’ labour mobility aspirations.
[Through efforts to build the labour supply capacity of the developing country Participants through the provision of relevant education and training opportunities for their nationals, and the Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting is responsible for reviewing TVET and other tertiary education and facilitation of recognition of qualifications and registration of occupations.]
There are also examples of private sector programs whereby overseas employers finance pre-migration skills for new hires. The Kiribati Marine Training Centre being an example.
There is also evidence to suggest that the prospect of skilled and semi-skilled migration can increase the individual’s investment in education. More nurses migrate from the Philippines than from any other country, yet there are six times as many nurses per capita in that country than in other countries that have similar incomes. It is difficult to find another explanation for this than the fact that education decisions were shaped by migration opportunities.
4. Invest in returned workers
There is potential for APTC and its partners to also support returnees to apply knowledge gained in their home countries including encouraging diaspora communities to support development projects and for returnees to start their own businesses – exemplified by Pacific countries’ support for end to end “Full Circle Programs” for circular migration.
As part of ‘net skills gain’ this may involve designing a ‘returning workers’ offer that may include: career guidance, RPL to Australian Qualifications with Gap training, small business training, and Life skills (managing finances).
Returnees could be supported to access labour market information about opportunities in home countries, including by way of a dedicated website and the use of ‘reintegration scouts’ to put people in contact with businesses and organisations where there are work opportunities.
The benefits accruing to the individual returning workers can be extrapolated into a wider achievement of ‘net skills gain’ over time and across the economy as a whole.

8. APTC is enhancing Pacific labour mobility policy
Collaborative approach to working closely with other Pacific skills training providers in the region
APTC better able to work with other training providers at Pacific country level
Enhancing Pacific Labour Mobility Policy
In order to minimise the negative effects of an outward flow of critical technical and vocational skills, without having to limit individual choices, the Pacific must address the underlying cause of emigration, expanding skilled workers’ choices in ways that expand their opportunities for employment.
This is not something any one program can fix, but a collaborative, coalition-building approach to complement other migration policies and mechanisms could maximise returns for Pacific Island Countries.
For its part APTC, is engaging with relevant national ministries, national employers, development partners, national TVET providers and the PLF to ensure its support for skills gain is tailored to each context, and responds to national government priorities.

9. Pacific Labour Scheme, since mid 2018
Pathway to Australia for temporary low & semi-skilled workers.
Can work in Australia for up to three years with a minimum of 12 months

10. Pacific labour facility structure
Fisheries
Hospitality
Aged Care
Agriculture
Meat Workers
SUPPLY
Pacific labour facility structure
QUALITY, LEARNING & PERFORMANCE
DEMAND
WORKER WELFARE

11. Pacific Labour Facility
To help workers with all relevant pre-departure and on-arrival requirements
Will oversee ongoing pastoral care and support services in Australia.

12. PLF to focus on specific sectors
Fisheries
Hospitality
Aged Care
Agriculture
Meat Workers

13. Pool of ni-Vanuatu graduates with Australian qualifications
APTC has provided information on all of their graduates who are citizens of Vanuatu, numbering 1,816. for the years 2007 to mid 2018
Four out of five (80 per cent) are aged years, the eligible age for the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS).
The number of Vanuatu graduates in this age group is 1,449 (793 women and 656 men).

14. Skills pool of qualified workers
Qualifications of year old Vanuatu APTC graduates N
Certificate III in Hospitality
263
Certificate III in Tourism
168
Certificate III in Carpentry
111
Certificate III in Children's Services 95
Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care 75
Certificate IV in Youth Work 73
Certificate III in Hospitality (Commercial Cookery) 60
Certificate IV in Hospitality 54
Certificate III in Education Support 50
Certificate III in Commercial Cookery 45

15. APTC graduates 2018

16. Current employment status of graduates
The 2018 Graduate Tracer Survey also shows that 14 graduates are not in paid work (10 women and 4 men).
Their numbers by qualifications are as follows: Certificate III in Hospitality (4), Certificate IV in Hospitality (1), Certificate IV in Community Development (3), Certificate III in Commercial Cookery (2), Certificate IV in Youth Work (2), and Certificate III in Carpentry (1).

17. Need to find an intermediary or go-between
Arrange a visit to an APTC campus eg in Port Vila through the Country Director, Anne Naupa
See the high quality facilities
Meet the Pacific instructors
Meet the students

18. Nick.Volk@thepalladiumgroup.com www.thepalladiumgroup.com
Pacific Labour Facility
Nick Volk

19. Thank you Richard Curtain Richard.curtain@anu,edu.au