Overseas Employment

International employment opportunities are available to KIT graduates and non-graduates under Australian and New Zealand labour mobility programs. Applications for the below programs are managed through Kiribati’s Ministry of Employment and Human Resource (MEHR). All interested students are asked to complete a Job Seeker Application Form. The Ministry will select suitable candidates to undertake training through KIT’s Employment Support Services which will prepare candidates for their interview. Final selection of candidates is by the overseas employer.

Employers who are interested in engaging students into any of the current labour mobility programs listed below or who are interested in discussing how training can be tailored to meet their individual business needs are encouraged to contact Mr Rokobati Tearo, Deputy Director Human Resource on (+686) 7512 6516 or 7512 6517.

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme  |  Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme

The PALM scheme will enable citizens of Pacific Island Countries (PICs) to take up seasonal (up to 9 months) or longer-term (between one to four years) unskilled, low-skilled and semi-skilled opportunities in rural and regional Australia, consistent with the objectives of the Pacific Labour Facility. The PLF;

  • commenced in July 2018 with an initial intake of up to 2,000 workers.
  • Changed from April 2022 with the two separate worker streams (Seasonal Worker Programme and the Pacific Labour Scheme) becoming consolidated into the single PALM scheme

The PALM scheme will focus on sectors and industries that generally match employment projections in Australia with Pacific skills sets initially including:

  1. Accommodation and food services industry (e.g. hospitality and tourism).
  2. Health care and social assistance industry (e.g. aged care, disability care).
  3. Non-seasonal agriculture, meat-processing, forestry and fishing industries.


Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme

The Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme is New Zealand’s seasonal labour market programme which came into effect in April of 2007. The RSE scheme allows the horticulture and viticulture industries to recruit workers from eligible Pacific Island Countries (PICs) such as Kiribati. People employed under the RSE policy may stay in New Zealand for up to seven months during any 11-month period. Exceptions to this are workers from Tuvalu and Kiribati, who can stay for nine months because of the distance from New Zealand and the costs of travel.

International Pre-Departure Training

The Employment Support Services unit at KIT works with the Ministry of Employment and Human Resource to provide pre departure training for I-Kiribati selected as part of the seasonal worker program and also working with the Ministry in screening I-Kiribati applicants for interview preparation and pre departure training. This training enhances their interview skills and English language and prepares them for their interview with overseas employers. For example in the English for Hospitality training, topics covered include English Communication, Interview Skills Training, Driver Training, Responsible Serving of Alcohol (RSA) and a comprehensive Pre Departure briefing. To register your interest in International Pre-Departure training, please click here.