The world has been through huge changes these past two years. From the get-go Australia used its accessibility to limit overseas travellers by closing borders, when the pandemic started. This meant no new Working Holiday Visa holders for years, until late 2021 when the borders finally opened again.
Throughout these years there’s been some decent changes to the Working Holiday Visas in Australia, which are generally positive. It’s clear, the Australian Government is working to build up the amount of tourists and foreign workers in the country. These positive changes are definitely welcomed by those on the visa, or planning to apply to the visa.
Whether travelling to Australia on a Working Holiday Visa or not is on your agenda, check out this list of changes to the Working Holiday Visas in Australia.
Not familiar with the Working Holiday Visa? This is a temporary visa to travel and work in Australia between the ages of 18-35 (country-dependant). It’s a great opportunity to travel the country and experience the Australian lifestyle. This blog is chock-full of articles specifically related to travelling Australia and visiting on a Working Holiday Visa.
Table of Contents
Temporary 6 Month Work Limitation Suspension
One of the biggest caveats of a Working Holiday Visa in Australia the six month work limitation with one employer. The reason for this is to promote travelling, rather than just working throughout the visa. Though, it does tend to deter employers from hiring people on Working Holiday Visas.
More importantly, it makes it difficult for people on Working Holiday Visas to find reliable work, because most employers don’t want to train someone for only a few months of work. There are exceptions to this rule, and options to apply for an exception—but that’s only in extremely rare cases.
However, in 2022, the government announced a suspension to the six month work limitation rule. From 19 January 2022 until 31 December 2022, the six month work limitation has been ‘relaxed’. There’s no saying if this will be extended or not, but it’s a positive opportunity for those currently in Australia and working. This is a big one of the changes to the Working Holiday Visas in Australia, even if it’s only temporary.
Relocation Assistance for Farm Work
Regional work, commonly called farm work is work that people on Working Holiday Visas can take part in to extend their visas. Most people on Working Holiday Visas in Australia do farm work to stay longer in the country as a visa requirement.
For those who want to stay more than a year, it’s something people strive to complete. Due to COVID and the lack of temporary Working Holiday Visa workers, many farmers have been left without staff.
To address the lack of employees, the Australian Government it combatting the lack of workforce with relocation assistance. Unfortunately, there is less available to people on Working Holiday Visas ($2,000 instead of the $6,000 available to Australian workers), but it’s still a good initiative.
This relocation assistance is for accomodation and travel for people to live and work in regional areas for agriculture and harvest work. This change to the Working Holiday Visas in Australia improves the accessibility for travellers to get to remote locations.
End to Piece-Rate Pay
Piece-rate is a scheme where workers earn based on what they make, prune, pick or plant (to name a few). Sadly, this was also a way employers could exploit workers as they could offer piece-rate, and with the price per earning so low, workers couldn’t even make minimum wage. Although this doesn’t apply specifically to Working Holiday Makers, it is a huge win for all agriculture employees.
Although the true piece-rate hasn’t been completely abandoned, there is now a “wage guarantee“. This means employees will earn whatever is higher. Either the piece-rate for what they earned during the day, or the daily hourly rate for the time worked. This is one of the major changes the Working Holiday Visas in Australia, so people can support themselves throughout their time travelling.
While I worked at a piece-rate job planting trees in regional New South Wales, I earned $0.15 per tree. During a 10 hour day, I hardly earned $100 a day, due to poor planting conditions. Even those more experienced on my team only earned around $120.
With this new “wage-guarantee” we would have been able to earn the hourly rate for the day—regardless of the poor conditions. This is why the wage-guarantee is important. It’s not helping people to be lazy, but rather offering a living wage for agricultural jobs.
408 Visa for the COVID Pandemic
When COVID first broke out in the world and Australia closed their borders, the Australian government came out with the Australian Government Endorsed Events 408 Visa. This helped travellers (who were stuck in Australia) without a valid visa so they could work.
This visa is still around, despite people now able to travel home again. Many have stayed to work and travel longer in Australia. It’s become a bit of an extension to the Working Holiday Visa. Due to long visa processing times (currently, 90% of visas are processed in eight months), a bridging visa guarantees the same conditions as the previous visa.
What’s different and unique about the 408 visa option, is that there’s no age limits. This is really beneficial towards people who have aged-out of the Working Holiday Visa, but want to stay in the country. Despite the long processing times for the visa it is still a good option. It’s the next best way to legally stay and work in Australia. And, maybe take part in different work.
Working Holiday Visa Tax
There’s been a few changes to tax for those on Working Holiday Visas. Current tax regulations of Working Holiday Visas, has changed for visa holders from specific countries. Due to a court decision over the past few years, people from these countries can be taxed as Australian residents. Unfortunately, it’s not every country, but there are quite a few including Israel, Japan, and Germany.
Adding on to more information on the 408 Visa, tax changes have also been made. When it first came out, there were no guidelines around what tax was meant to be taken out. Many people were filling taxes as an Australian resident, due to the ATOs calculator. Now, as of 1 July 2022, there’s been clear information. People on the 408 COVID Visa will be taxed at the same rate as a Working Holiday Visa.
Clear information is always welcome, but noticeably in Facebook groups, people are upset at the changes.
Working Holiday Visa Application Fee
It costs just over A$500 to apply for a Working Holiday Visa in Australia. Many of which people could not activate during the COVID pandemic. In 2022, the Australian government has announced two initiatives to welcome more people on Working Holiday Visas in the country.
One option has been for people to apply for a Nil Visa Application Charge (VAC). Whereas, there’s also been an option to access a VAC refund. This is more targeted towards people who can no longer enter Australia on a Working Holiday Visa due to age-requirements or other circumstances.
Head over to the Australian government’s website to find out more about a refund or visa without charge.
Interested in more? Check out my complete guide on Getting Started in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa.
