Pacific Islanders seek protection visas for better pay – Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District

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.

	The Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District acknowledges the Yorta Yorta People of the land which comprises the Goulburn Valley. We pay respect to tribal Elders, past, present and emerging and we celebrate their continuing culture and acknowledge the memory of their ancestors.
	The Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District is a peak body whose mission is to promote and represent the social, cultural and economic well-being of ethnic communities in the Goulburn Valley Region through the provision of quality and innovative settlement, refugee support, community development, and information and advocacy services.