Backpackers may avoid bush work in new visa strategy

An “indispensable” rule requiring backpackers to help farmers bridge labour gaps to earn visa extensions is under federal government review.

The Albanese government may remove a requirement for backpackers to work in regional Australia as part of a major overhaul of the nation’s troubled migration system.

Farm leaders have called on the government to “exercise extreme caution” if making changes to the Working Holiday Maker visa program amid a national labour shortage, saying backpackers are “indispensable” to the agricultural supply chain.

National Farmers’ Federation chief executive Tony Mahar added the industry would enter a “world of pain” if the worker pipeline was blocked.

The WHM visa currently allows travellers aged 18 to 35 from dozens of countries to extend their holiday in Australia for a second and third year on condition they work 88 days in a specified regional industry.

Stone fruit grower Angus Ferrier, with backpacker workers Eleanor Smith, 24, from the UK and her partner Kilian Hoeckman, 26, from Belgium. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

A scathing independent review of the migration system released earlier this year recommended the program, which has harboured some worker exploitation practices, be limited to one year only.

However, government sources said an option being considered instead was for the extension triggers to be retained but the 88-day rule to be universally scrapped.

That move would mirror the axing of the three-month work requirement for British tourists as part of the new UK-Australia free trade agreement.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil will hand down the government’s migration strategy in coming weeks.

In the six months to December 31 last year, 91,223 WHM visa applications were granted, with 65 per cent of the 4554 second visas approved in agriculture.

National Farmers' Federation chief executive Tony Mahar. Picture: Supplied

An amendment was also supported at the recent ALP national conference to add a review of the 88-day rule to the party’s national policy platform.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told The Weekly Times that while the current historically low unemployment rate was an “outstanding outcome” for the government, it also meant addressing the nation’s labour and skills shortages had become a priority.

He said the government hoped to fix both long-term with a combination of increased training, ensuring migration systems were “fit for purpose” and opening more pathways to permanent residency to replace the “constant rotation” of short-term visa workers.

“What are the skills that Australia needs, including in the agriculture sector, and what is the desire of people to come to Australia,” he said.

“Now if you had that match it is common sense to say that those two things should be put together.”

There are also at least 37,000 Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme workers currently in Australia.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture: Monique Harmer

Australian Workers Union assistant national secretary Kade Wakefield said the business models of some “unscrupulous” regional employers asked backpackers to take jobs “below Australian employment standards”.

“They know participants are compromised and … overseas workers have accepted underpayment, poor working conditions and substandard accommodation so they can get their employer’s signature,” he said.

Mr Mahar has asked government to create alterative worker pathways before making any WHM changes, or “we’re in all sorts of trouble.”

“Already we’ve seen UK backpackers cut, and the Pacific scheme and skilled migration put out of reach for most farms,” he said.

“We’re sitting here with next to no suitable pathways to overseas workers, despite everyone acknowledging they’re critical to our workforce.”

It is also rumoured mobility rules will also be included in the strategy to make it easier for visa holders to switch jobs, while industry briefings recently revealed the government is considering a sector-specific visa pathway for skilled agriculture workers.