Contact Melissa Denning
vegetablesWA Labour Scheme Facilitator
0477 477 044
melissa.denning@vegetableswa.com.au

Harvest Trail Services – Rural Enterprises

• Funded by the Federal Department of Education, Skills and Employment, the Harvest Trail Office is located in Vasse and can assist employers located between Dandaragan and Pemberton
• Free service to growers
• Currently has a database of over 800 workers
• Contact: Bernice: 08 6166 9124 or hts@ruralenterprises.com.au

Seasonal Worker Programme – Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Australian Government (dese.gov.au)

• Growers apply to become Approved Employers by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE)
• Growers must be Pty Ltd companies and pay under the Federal Modern Horticultural Award 2010.
• The Approval process can take up to 9 months
• Checks are made with ATP, Immigration and Fairwork to ensure the employer is of good standing
• Once approved it then takes approximately another 2-3 months to recruit workers
• Employers are responsible for arranging, accommodation, welfare plans and transport for the workers.
• The programme is very regulated and each employer is usually visited by Fairwork at least once in their first year and at least 4 reports on pay rates are required to be submitted.
• Workers are guaranteed an average of 30 hours of work over the time of their contract
• Workers can stay for up to 9 months each year
• Workers can return year after year
• Workers are 20-30% more productive in their 2^nd year

• Some Labour Hire Companies are already approved under the SWP so this can take out the initial approval process period and result in workers arriving quicker.
• The Labour Hire Company will be the employer of the worker so ensures the workers is paid correctly as per the award.
• The Labour Hire Company will also make the arrangement for accommodation, transport and welfare checks on the workers
• Labour Hire companies that currently operate in WA can be found in this link