00:00Susan Pinoo wanted to provide for her family back in Solomon Islands, so she joined Australia's
00:09Seasonal Worker Scheme. But things quickly took a turn for the worse.
00:14I was left with nothing. Sometimes we're going to leave with a hundred bucks, two hundred.
00:21Susan said she had no choice but to leave.
00:24I feel sad.
00:27Pregnant with her daughter, she found refuge in Leighton in the New South Wales Riverina.
00:33Now on a bridging visa, she is one of more than 7,000 workers who have left the Palm Scheme
00:38and stayed in Australia since 2019. The experiences of these workers is the focus of a new report.
00:46We saw several pay slips that people showed us where they'd received zero take home pay.
00:51They're largely being, you know, exposed to situations that are equivalent to modern slavery.
00:57Locals in Leighton hope the solutions they're trying will become a model for the rest of the country.
01:03We can't walk away when we see people that maybe haven't been treated fairly. They don't really know where to go.
01:10They're frightened. They don't have any real connection. So we fill that gap.
01:15The Palm Scheme is often called a win-win for farmers and Pacific Island labourers.
01:21And many are relying on its success. Experts are calling for changes they say will keep more workers in the scheme.
01:29There needs to be much more flexibility for people as individuals employed on the Palm Scheme visa to actually have their say.
01:37Providing hope and security to those who need it most.
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