Childcare workers from Papua New Guinea are helping to fill demand in the Northern Territory under a pilot scheme beginning this week.
PNG educators, who have earned accreditation to work in Australia's early childhood sector, are headed to Alice Springs and Katherine to take up much-needed roles.
The program is part of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, which sees workers from the Pacific and Timor Leste find jobs with Australian employers that are desperate for workers.
While the PALM scheme has been typically involved with the agriculture and meat processing industries, in recent years it has branched out into aged care, hospitality and tourism, and now early childhood.
Pacific Minister Pat Conroy said he was excited for the new cohort to begin.
"PALM scheme workers enrich the culture and society of communities across rural and regional Australia," he said.
"Through the pilot, these educators will make a valuable contribution to the economies of Katherine and Alice Springs and will return home with a range of skills they can deploy to make a positive contribution to the long-term development of Papua New Guinea."
The pilot begins with 14 childcare workers taking up their roles across two childcare businesses.
The PALM scheme oversees 27,260 workers currently engaged in work in every Australian state and territory.
While some workers in the PALM scheme have suffered mistreatment, most derive great financial reward from their participation.
A survey of 2000 past PALM workers found all but two per cent would recommend the scheme to others and 92 per cent wanted to work in it again.
Papua New Guinea Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey said the partnership also addressed unemployment, with 1600 Papuans currently working in Australia.
