This event is part of the DPA Seminar Series

THIS IS A ZOOM WEBNINAR (ONLINE)

Prior to Australia and New Zealand’s Pacific labour schemes ni-Vanuatu tended to migrate towards Port Vila, Luganville, or New Caledonia for employment prospects that provided families with additional sources of incomes. Often this mobilisation involved families permanently relocating. Since the establishment of New Zealand’s Recognised Employer Scheme (RSE) in 2007 and Australia’s Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) in 2012, new roads to source income have become available through circular labour mobility.

Migration is a social process, and decisions are based on this. Nonetheless, these new forms of mobility have enabled, and at times, created other forms of intended and unintended mobility. This presentation discusses various mobilities of ni-Vanuatu RSE and SWP temporary workers, by examining access to education, new forms of transportation, and relocations of individuals, families, and communities (2007-2021). However, COVID-19 has stalled progress on development goals and the mobility of these workers and their families in various ways, creating new uncertainties for the future.

Upcoming seminars in the DPA seminar series

Research-Policy Nexus: New Developments about Pacific Studies in China by Denghua Zhang

Islands of Hope Project: Pan-Pacific Indigenous Responses to Globalisation and Climate Change from Taiwan to Chile by Regina Macalandag, George Carter, Zag Puas, Anita Togolo and Paul D’Arcy

Re-introducing Traditional Crops for Climate Change Adaptation in the Low-lying Atolls of the Mortlocks by Dr Gonzaga Puas

Envisioning Pacific futures by Leituala Kuiniselani Tago, Jope Tarai, Athaulla Rasheed, Philippa Louey, Jayden Evett