Australian Deputy Ambassador Renee Deschamps and Nguyen
Ba Hoan, Deputy Minister of MOLISA at the event

The Australian government will enable up to 1,000 Vietnamese workers at a time to undertake work in the Australian agriculture sector. Under this arrangement, Vietnamese workers can be employed under short-term (6 to 9 months) or long-term (1 to 4 years) roles in low and semi-skilled roles across primary industries sectors such as horticulture, meat processing, fisheries (including aquaculture) and forestry.

The programme’s implementation arrangements, announced by the two Prime Ministers in March this year, set out the eligibility requirements for Vietnamese workers as well as key roles and responsibilities of relevant stakeholders to ensure worker welfare. 

The selection of the participating Vietnamese recruitment service enterprises and Australian employers will be undertaken in September. Vietnamese recruitment service enterprises will be selected jointly by MOLISA and the Australian Government.

Speaking at the event, MOLISA Vice Minister Nguyen Ba Hoan said that labour mobility cooperation is a key element in the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Australia and Vietnam, and a key milestone on economic engagement and people-to-people links between the two countries.

"The implementation of the Arrangement aims to address Vietnamese citizens’ expectation of working in Australia to improve their English skill, accumulate their knowledge and technical skills in agriculture sector with high income. Then these knowledge and skills can be applied to achieve higher productivity and efficiency when returning to the home country. It is also to help fulfill labor gaps of the Australian employers.”

In the programme’s first year, one non-business state organisation and up to six licensed Vietnamese recruitment service enterprises will be part of the programme. Vietnamese non-business state organisations and service enterprises who are not selected cannot participate and recruit workers for the programme. Recruitment fees will be covered by Australian employers and paid to the non-business state organisation and Vietnamese recruitment service enterprises.

Deputy Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Renee Deschamps, added: “This cooperation is important for both Vietnam and Australia. We look forward to working with experienced recruitment service enterprises in Vietnam with strong ethical, fair and inclusive recruitment practices and policies”.

Vietnamese recruitment service enterprises interested in participating should submit applications to Department of Overseas Labour (DOLAB). Application requirements are available on DOLAB and MOLISA websites. 

The respective non-business state organisation or licensed Vietnamese recruitment service enterprises will recruit Vietnamese workers based on the labour supply contracts approved by MOLISA (DOLAB) and the Australian employers’ recruitment plans approved by relevant Australian authorities. 

Vietnamese workers, who meet the Worker Eligibility Criteria and Visa Eligibility Requirements, will be supported to come to Australia using the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme infrastructure. More details to be shared during the worker recruitment campaign.