Unemployment in Papua New Guinea

The formal basis for employment placement in Papua New Guinea is the Employment Placement Service Act 1966. The Department of Labour and Industrial Relations, through the National Employment Division (NED) and Provincial Labour Offices, provides the main public job-search pathway. The Constitution recognises freedom of employment and equal opportunity, but no documented enforceable entitlement to a job placement or unemployment payment has been verified. A job seeker who is a Papua New Guinean national or a refugee living in Papua New Guinea can seek registration, screening, processing, pre-selection and referral through NED. The NED headquarters lists service hours from Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 15:00; a Provincial Labour Office may be more practical outside the main centre. NED does not list a job-seeker fee, regular reporting duty, application-proof requirement or activation plan. Employers are expected to submit vacancies, but registration does not guarantee a job or a referral. The service is officially described as operating, while an ILO assessment based on 2024 information described the national employment service as largely unfunded and nearly inactive, so local availability should be checked before travel. The main formal income option is a Superannuation Unemployment Benefit. It is not a new government payment: it allows an eligible member of an Authorised Superannuation Fund (ASF) to use part of existing retirement savings during unemployment. The member generally needs sufficient account savings and three months of continuous unemployment. The monthly payment can reach 50% of the last monthly salary, subject to the fund's rules, and a new application is required each month. After 12 months, the remaining balance may be paid out under the fund's rules and tax treatment. A full withdrawal reduces retirement savings and should not be treated as ordinary long-term income support. PNG citizen employees enter ASF membership after three months of employment under the Superannuation (General Provisions) Act 2000. The stated minimum contribution is 6% from the employee and 8.4% from the employer, with the employer obligation applying where the employer has more than 15 employees. Keeping the account number, contribution history and fund contact details makes a later claim easier. Fund-specific documents can include a statutory declaration and monthly bank statement for follow-up claims with Nambawan Super. Nasfund lists documents such as SF21, a three-month bank statement, SF2, SF6, employer identification or an employer letter, and employer references for claims after 12 months. Requirements can change by fund, so the member should confirm the current list directly. Short-term work and re-entry programmes fill part of the gap but do not create a national unemployment entitlement. The Urban Youth Employment Project (UYEP) Youth Jobs Corps has operated in the National Capital District (NCD) and Lae City Authority for young people aged 18 to 35, with a target of 30 days of work for about 5,700 participants at K3.50 per hour. It combines work and skills support with a transition towards employment, rather than guaranteeing a minimum income. Labour-intensive public works in East Sepik and Sandaun recorded up to 500,000 workdays from January 2020 to May 2025, but those projects are time-limited and cannot be treated as a continuing unemployment payment. Other re-entry pathways include SIYB/SMEC support, National Development Bank programmes, NYDA youth training, Ginigoada Foundation courses lasting about two to four weeks, and City Mission programmes for up to about 300 young men per year in Port Moresby, Lae and Madang. Eligibility, fees, deadlines and places depend on each provider. One evaluation found that comprehensive UYEP support was associated with about twice the rate of formal employment after nine to twelve months compared with public works alone; the difference was driven by provider take-up of about 20%, so the result does not apply automatically to every participant. Family, wantok and community support often helps with food, transport or temporary accommodation, especially where formal services are distant. It is informal, unevenly available and not legally enforceable. Women, young people, people with disabilities, rural residents and workers from informal activities may face greater access barriers. Travel, identity documents, communication and private employment-agent charges can create costs even where a public service lists no registration fee. Private agents should be checked carefully before any payment. Starting a new job ends a Superannuation Unemployment Benefit. The worker should notify the fund, check whether the superannuation account needs to be transferred or updated, and give NED current contact information if registered there. Unemployment figures require careful interpretation: World Bank and ILOSTAT modeled data estimate unemployment at 2.6% of the labour force in 2025, adult unemployment at 3% for ages 25 and over in 2024, youth unemployment at 3.8% in 2022 and the NEET rate at 27.7% in 2022. These measures do not capture all underemployment, discouraged inactivity or informal work, and a current direct national unemployment series from the National Statistical Office was not publicly verified.