Pacific Islander workers making as little as $200 a week in Australia seek protection visas for better pay

Pacific Islanders working under Pacific Australia Labour Mobility visas are applying for protection visas due the better working conditions Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

There has been a huge spike in Pacific Islanders applying for protection visas because they offer better working conditions than the government program designed to help workers from nine islands and Timor-Leste come to Australia, advocates say.

Home affairs department figures show 171 seasonal workers from the Pacific applied for protection visas in 2019-20, with the number increasing to 1,002 in 2021-22 and 1,698 in 2022-23.