Grace* came to Australia to work on a berry farm. She planned to send her earnings back home but once she arrived at the farm, she realised she would only earn $100 per week and would live in a shipping container. She decided to leave and work on a different farm, even though this meant her visa would be cancelled.

Five years later, Grace has a temporary visa without work rights, limited access to financial support or health care and has experienced domestic violence.

People like Grace, migrants who enter Australia through the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, produce much of the fresh food Australians buy from the supermarket.

Our ongoing research speaks to women in the scheme, as well as those who stay behind in their home countries while their partners come to Australia. Their experiences reveal the need for urgent reforms to end exploitation and abuse…

Under the scheme, migrant workers are tied to their employer, meaning their legal right to stay in the country depends on whether their boss is happy with them.

This serious power imbalance can undermine the safety and wellbeing of migrants…

Women who had run away from their employers were most at risk of domestic and family violence …