Australia may restore regional work rule for British backpackers

Australia wants to revisit its free trade agreement with the UK so that British working holidaymakers can once again be required to work in regional areas, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said after meeting UK counterpart Andy Burnham at a Commonwealth leaders' meeting in the Caribbean last week. Nothing has changed yet: no immediate announcement was made, and Albanese said the two sides would work through the issue in the coming weeks.

Key facts

• The UK–Australia free trade agreement took effect in mid-2023.
• It exempts British working holidaymakers from regional work rules and raised their age limit from 30 to 35.
• Working holiday visas issued to Britons rose from 47,200 in 2023-24 to just over 77,000 in 2025-26.
• Britons account for almost a quarter of the 323,000 backpacker visas issued last year.
• Other nationalities must do 88 days of specified regional work for a second year, and six months for a third.
• Separate proposals would cap second-year extensions at 45,000 and third-year stays at 5,000.

What could change for British backpackers?

Under the trade deal, British holders of working holiday visas do not have to find work in regional or remote parts of Australia in order to stay beyond a year. Working holidaymakers from other countries must complete at least 88 days of specified regional work — in industries including agriculture, fisheries, tourism and hospitality — to qualify for a second-year extension, and six months to stay for a third year.

Albanese said he had raised a change to the backpacker rules with Burnham, who he said had been "very constructive about it". He added that the free trade agreement was not set in stone and could be adjusted where there were good policy reasons.

Barely a month earlier, Albanese had ruled out forcing British backpackers to do regional work, accepting it as part of the trade deal. The shift followed pressure from businesses in Far North Queensland and other regional communities concerned about a shortage of labour.

Why does Australia want the rules changed?

Albanese has said many British backpackers settle in Sydney beachside suburbs instead of exploring the rest of the country. Mark Olsen, chief executive of Tourism Tropical North Queensland, said the number of young Britons temporarily living and working in the region had fallen from a peak of about 20,000 to closer to 11,000 since the trade deal took effect and border arrangements returned to normal in 2023.

Cairns restaurateur Fintan Rafferty said only five of roughly 180 staff across his four venues were British, compared with about 25 before the visa rule change. Peter Inderbitzen, general manager of Red Valley Farm at Lakeland, about 200km north of Cairns, said British applications had dropped off completely since the rule change and that he would like an incentive for British travellers to head to the regions.

Backpackers fill one in seven farm jobs across Australia, with about 52,000 people on working holiday visas doing horticulture work each year, according to the National Farmers Federation. The federation welcomed the talks but said agricultural worker shortages were far broader than the UK deal.

What else is changing for working holiday visas?

Wider proposals announced in September to cut net migration include an overhaul of the working holiday visa system, with a ballot for backpackers seeking to extend their stay. The plan caps second-year extensions at 45,000, down from the 57,000 who qualified this year, and third-year stays at 5,000, compared with 31,000 this year. The National Farmers Federation strongly criticised the plan.

Those proposals are still out for consultation. Immigration officials have slowed processing rates for some working holiday visa applications and paused them from several countries.

What this means for travellers

British nationals planning a working holiday in Australia should note that no rule change has been confirmed. Under the rules as they stand, they are not required to complete regional work to extend their stay, while working holidaymakers from other countries must complete 88 days of specified work for a second year.

Anyone weighing up a second or third year in Australia should follow both the UK trade deal discussions and the consultation on the proposed ballot and caps, since either could affect how long they can stay and what work they must do.

Albanese said the two governments would work through the backpacker issue over the coming weeks, and that tweaks to the free trade agreement could be made if there were good policy reasons. No start date has been announced for any of the proposed changes.