Alsey
Australia’s Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme will publish free, detailed data on workers and employers across July and August 2025.
These monthly insights, shared at no cost, help track the program’s impact on Pacific labour mobility, industry trends, and recruitment dynamics.
What Is PALM Scheme Data?
PALM data includes
- Total workers in short-term (≤9 months) and long-term (1–4 years) streams
- Workers’ origin countries, workplaces by state/territory, and industry sectors
- Employer numbers, including host businesses and labour-hire firms
This information is updated as open data monthly by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) on the PALM website and data.gov.au.
July–August 2025 Data Release Schedule
The published dates for mid-2025 are
| Data Period | Expected Publication Date |
|---|---|
| June 2025 | 31 July 2025 |
| July 2025 | 29 August 2025 |
| August 2025 | 30 September 2025 |
Data is typically released in the last week of each month, with adjustments around holiday.
June 2025 Snapshot (Last Published)
As of May 2025 (latest available)
- 31,460 workers on PALM visas
- 15,290 on short-term placements; 16,165 on long-term
- Workers primarily from Fiji (5,320), Vanuatu (6,235), Solomon Islands (5,165)
- 514 approved employers (407 direct, 107 labour-hire companies)
Expect the June 2025 report on 31 July, with July and August data following in August and September respectively.
Why This Data Matters
- Track labour trends: Understand workforce fluctuations in agriculture, meat processing, aged care, education sectors
- Policy insights: Monitor impacts of reforms like minimum hours rules and family accompaniment pilots
- Transparency & advocacy: Enables NGOs and researchers to highlight issues like modern slavery or workers’ rights
- Operational use: Employers and labour-hire firms use data for recruitment and resource planning
DEWR Quarterly Reports
In addition to monthly updates, DEWR releases quarterly reports offering trend analysis:
- March 2025 quarter report released on 11 June 2025
- Look out for June and September 2025 quarterly reports later this year
These highlight long-term shifts and policy effects—not mere month-by-month fluctuations.
How to Access PALM Data
- Visit the official PALM Scheme Data portal
- Use CSV/Excel downloads or API access via data.gov.au
- Explore data by worker origin, industry, region, and participation
The PALM scheme’s data transparency offers vital insights into its labour mobility patterns. With updates in July and August 2025, stakeholders should monitor monthly and quarterly releases to guide recruitment, policymaking, and worker welfare initiatives.
FAQs
Q1: Is the PALM data free to access?
Yes—monthly and quarterly data are publicly available at no cost via the PALM website and data.gov.au .
Q2: Why are release dates end of month?
Data is processed in the final month week, with public holidays occasionally delaying release.
Q3: What changed in data methodology?
From March 2024, DEWR updated counting methods, recalculated earlier data, ensuring accuracy and comparability