About 1,000 Pacific Islanders are in Australia on something called the Pacific Labour Scheme.

On their visa, they're allowed to work in Australia, and according to an Australian Government website they're "protected by the same workplace and health and safety laws" as Australians.

But one man, 24-year-old Samoan abattoir worker Faamanu Faamanatu, seems to have fallen through the cracks of the scheme: he has leukaemia, has had to stop work, and now can't afford the potentially life-saving treatment he needs or access it on Medicare.

So has Australia failed Faamanu Faamanatu?

And what does his tragic situation reveal about the Pacific Labour Scheme itself?

Featured:

Tina Mati, Faamanu Faamanatu's partner

Dr Orly Lavee, Consultant haematologist, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney

Dr Tess Newton Cain, Adjunct Associate Professor and Project Leader, Pacific Hub, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane