Australia and Papua New Guinea have announced a ten-year primary healthcare programme, extra support for the national HPV vaccine rollout and a pilot pathway for Papua New Guineans to join the Australian Defence Force (ADF), following their 32nd Ministerial Forum in Port Moresby.
The announcements span health and defence cooperation between the two countries. The primary healthcare programme is intended to strengthen services in Papua New Guinea, with particular attention to maternal and child health. Australia also announced an additional A$1 million to support the Papua New Guinean government’s nationwide rollout of the HPV vaccine, which helps protect women and girls against cervical cancer.
The defence recruitment plan will begin with applications opening on 16 November. Two cohorts of about 50 people are planned, each undertaking a 16-week course in Papua New Guinea. The first course is due to start in May 2027, with another cohort planned for 2028. The stated aim is to recruit around 100 people over the first two years while testing how the pathway should operate.
Recruitment will initially focus on students at the University of Papua New Guinea, Pacific Adventist University and the University of Technology Lae. The programme will seek representation from across Papua New Guinea’s provinces. Applicants will need to meet ADF entry requirements, including assessment of aptitude, education, health and fitness.
The pilot is separate from an existing route for Papua New Guinean citizens who are permanent residents in Australia. About 40 people in that group were already going through the process. Under the new pathway, recruits would initially hold temporary visas. Successful recruits must apply for Australian citizenship when eligible, as citizenship is required for continuing ADF service. The proposed recruits’ service is intended to build skills and training as well as closer military interoperability.
The health initiatives form part of broader cooperation agreed at the forum. The primary healthcare programme is a ten-year commitment; the announcement highlighted maternal and child services but did not set out a project-by-project schedule or a total funding figure in the conference remarks. The additional A$1 million is for support of the nationwide HPV vaccine rollout, rather than a new vaccine or a separate vaccination programme.
The forum was the first held since Australia and Papua New Guinea became alliance partners. The recruitment pathway follows the Pukpuk Treaty, but the pilot announcement is an initial step rather than an immediate large-scale expansion: the first two cohorts are intended to test the approach. The longer-term ambition is recruitment at a much larger scale, dependent on getting the initial process right.
The arrangement remains a pilot rather than a standing large-scale recruitment quota. A temporary visa is part of the staged pathway and does not itself provide a guarantee of permanent residence.
The plans now move into implementation. Applications for the first recruitment intake are scheduled to open in November. The health programmes are intended to strengthen services and support vaccination across Papua New Guinea, while detailed delivery arrangements remain to be worked through by the two governments.
