PNG joins Australian Pacific worker scheme

People from Papua New Guinea will soon have the chance to work in rural and regional Australia for up to three years.

That comes as PNG has become the latest nation to join Australia's Pacific labour scheme, which brings workers into rural areas.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PNG to mark its inclusion in the program, on the sidelines of an event focused on Indo-Pacific Cooperation in Jakarta.

PNG was already part of a separate seasonal workers program, which allows people from the region to work in Australia for up to nine months.

"It will now have the opportunity to build on this, and to provide more Papua New Guinean workers with access to skills development," Senator Payne said in a statement on Wednesday.