In October 2022, the Australian Government announced that long-term PALM workers will have the option, where supported by their approved employer (AE), to bring their families to Australia for the duration of their work placement from 2023-24. This policy will allow spouses/partners to live, work and study in Australia, and for their children to go to school.

Commonly referred to as “family accompaniment”, the policy is meant to address the social issues faced by families due to long periods of separation caused by long-term labour mobility. These issues were documented in the “Rapid Analysis of Family Separation Issues and Responses” study and included extra marital affairs, leading to relationship breakdowns and welfare concerns for dependent children.

Family accompaniment is expected to commence with an initial cohort of 200 families from the fourth quarter of 2023. This approach is being taken to allow settings to be tested and adjusted where necessary to ensure a positive experience for PALM scheme families.

Currently, details on how family accompaniment will be implemented are minimal. This FAQ outlines the high-level parameters of the policy, with further details to be released once an implementation framework has been developed.

The PLF requires a Service Provider to develop an implementation framework for a family accompaniment stream in the PALM scheme. “Stream” in this case refers to modifications made to existing PALM scheme business processes in each phase of the worker and AE journey through the PALM scheme. The implementation framework will be informed by a series of consultations with relevant PALM scheme stakeholders as well as research/analyses to be undertaken by the contractor.