Australia’s new visa rules will force backpackers to join a lottery to stay longer
By Hilary Whiteman, CNN
Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — French backpacker Zoe has been waiting tables for months.
By doing so, she’s trying to earn the right to stay in Australia for a third year, which she hoped would give her the ability to relax and see more of the country.
But under a rule change announced by the government on September 17, even working the 88 days per year required for a new working holiday visa won’t be enough.
For the chance to secure a third year, she’d have to pay hundreds of dollars to enter the ballot to possibly win one of just 5,000 visas – down from the 31,000 previously granted.
“Everyone is stressing out,” said Zoe, 25, who asked that CNN use her first name only. “Everyone’s talking about that. The mood is low.”
It’s not just backpackers who are concerned about a premature end to their Australian adventure. Tourism operators and the farming industry are in uproar over the loss of visitors – and vital workers – in regional areas that don’t necessarily have the same appeal to tourists as some of Australia’s major cities.
Farmers rely on them to pick fruit and mend fences, the kind of work that requires minimal training but is vital to the operation of businesses in areas where few people live.
The government says it’s about adjusting the intake to favor skilled migrants like construction workers; doctors and nurses; experts in agriculture and resources; and law enforcement officers, who are seen to bring more value to the country’s economy.
But others say the outcome could be a steep drop in regional workers as first-year backpackers decide that attempting to stay longer isn’t worth it.
Relaxed rules for Brits
Travel industry insiders say the upheaval didn’t start with Thursday’s announcement, but two years ago, when the rules changed under an Australia-UK free trade agreement.
The deal allowed British backpackers to stay for two or three years without having to do 88 days of regional work. It also raised the age limit from 30 to 35.
Since then, the number of British young people on working holiday visas has more than doubled to close to 80,000 from a previous peak of 35,000, according to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
On Thursday, he described the surge as a “challenge” that his colleagues would be discussing with their UK counterparts in a “constructive way.”
In the meantime, the government has adopted a “go-slow” strategy on visa approvals – one that came in July without warning, said Matthew Heyes, founder of the Backpacker Job Board.
“The home affairs website wasn’t updated,” he said. “It still said that visas typically get processed in two to three days.” Instead, it took weeks, then months.
“We’re seeing backpackers that applied for their visa in July onwards, not having their visas processed still today,” he said.
CNN has reached out to the Department of Home Affairs for clarity on how the changes may affect backpackers already in the country.
Burke said on Thursday that processing times would return to normal, but Heyes said that doesn’t help the backpackers who have held off booking flights and tours, and the employers who were waiting, ready to hire them, for the harvest season.
The government says they have the option to hire laborers under the Pacific Labour Mobility program, a scheme designed to allow Pacific islanders to support families back home.
Why the change?
The government’s been under pressure from rival parties over immigration levels which surged after Australia lifted its pandemic restrictions and opened the doors to new arrivals.
Since then, higher interest rates, a housing shortage, and cost-of-living crisis have contributed to discontent over migration levels – and calls by some for a permanent cut.
It’s been an issue championed by the right-wing One Nation party led by Pauline Hanson, who has long held an anti-immigration stance and whose popularity is rising in public opinion polls.
The changes announced Thursday will see international students barred from bringing family members, and tougher policing of people who’ve overstayed their visas.
By cutting the number of working holiday visas, critics say, the government risks causing more economic pain. As well as slashing the number of third-year visas to 5,000, the number of second-year visas is being cut from 57,000 to 45,000. The total drop over the two years is 38,000 visa places.
The Mahony Group runs three pubs and five backpacker hostels around Australia, from Melbourne in the state of Victoria to Cairns in the far north.
General manager Max Gibson said his forward bookings were already tracking 25% lower for the rest of the year, and the new visa rules will make it worse.
“A lot of our members have said the same – that the last two months have been the worst they’ve experienced since Covid,” said Gibson, who’s also vice president of Youth Tourism Victoria, an industry body that advocates for young travelers.
It’s unclear what the new rule change means for backpackers already in the country – some of whom have already been working towards the required 88 days.
Laura, 28, from northern France, says she’s worked for three months as a commercial cleaner so far this year with hopes to stay for a third year, then hopefully find a permanent sponsor.
“We are doing what Australians don’t want to do,” she said, asking CNN to use one name for privacy. “Not all the Australians want to go to the bush and work in the middle of nowhere. We do it because we want to stay.”
“It’s not easy to be backpacker,” said Laura. “It’s not like simple life… we don’t have a really home… our life is just in a backpack.”
Zoe said she was working hard with the promise that it would pay off later.
“I knew that it was worth it because I would like to get my third year without any problem and be able to enjoy it. But now I’m not even sure about that anymore,” she said.
“That’s a bit stressful, and I’m asking, what am I doing all that for?”
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