An aid development economist says Canberra should focus less on Pacific aid and more on providing a migration pathway into Australia from the region.

The Australian National University's Professor Stephen Howes said improving labour mobility would be far more valued by Pacific Islanders.

He said the current schemes, which now bring around 20,000 a year into Australia, are good, but limited by their temporary nature.

Howes said if more permanent migration was allowed it would be valuable, for both the Pacific and Australia.

An aid development economist says Canberra should focus less on Pacific aid and more on providing a migration pathway into Australia from the region.

The Australian National University's Professor Stephen Howes said improving labour mobility would be far more valued by Pacific Islanders.

He said the current schemes, which now bring around 20,000 a year into Australia, are good, but limited by their temporary nature.

Howes said if more permanent migration was allowed it would be valuable, for both the Pacific and Australia.

"It would no longer just be - well, the Pacific is over there, the Pacific is here. So I think it is only natural that with a larger diaspora it would be a more natural member, a more authentic member of the Pacific family," he said.

Howes said the Pacific diaspora in Australia constitutes just one percent of the population, compared with nine percent in New Zealand.