Australia’s tourism organisation is considering the working holiday visa age cut-off should be raised. It will accommodate a larger spectrum of professionals and skilled workers.
To address the labour shortages in Australia, the federal government is conducting a review of migration. The working vacation visa, which is well-liked by backpacker travellers, is only available to those 35 years of age or younger.
Margy Osmond, chief executive of the Tourism and Transport Forum of Australia, however, claimed that by raising the program’s eligibility age limit to 50, Australia might reap additional benefits from it.
She told ABC Radio that it “opens up to a marketplace of people who have different skills and perhaps more professional skills that we could use within the sector.”
“We need to be a bit more creative in terms of how we fill.”
According to Osmond, other nations were changing their migration policies to attract employees, and Australia should fall in line. Before the summer break, the government, according to immigration minister Andrew Giles, had reduced the backlog of visa applications.
Prioritization and completion of each working holiday visa took less than a day, and 120,000 overseas travellers received approval before Christmas.
Giles stated, “By ramping up processing in the Department of Home Affairs and hiring over 400 extra staff, I’m proud to say that we have now processed over four million visas since coming to government”.
“This has made a huge difference to the lives of Australians reconnected with loved ones before Christmas and to addressing skills shortages,” he added. Changes to the working holiday programme, according to the ministry, will let travellers work for a single employer for the duration of their visa.
Osmond, however, suggested that regulations requiring travellers to work in the agricultural sector for three months in order to extend the duration of their visas be extended to other sectors.
Osmond said, “Not everybody wants to work in the agricultural sector, important as it is, but we would like to see a few more options and a recognition of how difficult times are. We certainly wouldn’t want to make life any more difficult for the agricultural sector, we’re simply raising it as a thought process… other sectors that similarly had skills shortages who could be included in this structure.”
Working holiday visas allow backpackers to work in a variety of industries in Australia, with the hospitality industry being a popular choice. While other travellers work as tour guides during the prime summer months, retail employment is also quite straightforward to come by.
Travellers can also apply for office jobs, however, these are harder to come by and may require particular qualifications. The majority of travellers must currently complete 88 days of farm work in order to extend their working holiday visa.
Fruit picking, caring for livestock on a farm, or packing vegetables for sale are examples of typical jobs. 200 young people were recently given the opportunity to visit South Australia for just £10.
The current requirements for an Australia working holiday visa are that the applicant must hold a passport from an eligible country, must be at least 18 years old and not older than 30 (or 35 in some countries), apply online from outside of Australia, not have any dependent children with them, and not have previously entered Australia on subclass 417 or 462 visa.
Travellers with a 12-month visa are allowed to work part-time jobs in Australia to help pay for their vacations, study there for up to four months, visit Australia as often as they like, and do three months of specific work to be eligible for a second visa.
