Farm labour: Backpackers continue exodus as numbers hit new low
Working holiday-makers are still leaving Australia in droves, prompting calls for a rethink on how the worker crisis is tackled.
BACKPACKER numbers in Australia have hit a new all-time low, with at least 15,000 departing our shores in the past three months.
Official figures from the Department of Home Affairs show there were 44,610 working holiday-makers in the country as of January 31 this year, down from 53,712 at the end of November.
But The Weekly Times understands the current figure is now closer to 36,000 – and, with international flights unlikely to resume in the near future, those travellers won’t be replaced.
The continued exodus comes as Victoria’s summer harvest wraps up, and the need for workers shifts back to Queensland for its autumn citrus season.
Working holiday-makers have long been relied upon for the bulk of casual harvest work. Ordinarily there are around 145,000 backpackers in the country at any time, with many completing three months’ agricultural work to qualify for a second-year visa.
Border closures due to COVID-19 have turned the tap off that labour supply, prompting a shortage of farm workers across Australia for the past 12 months.
The Federal Government introduced visa extensions to allow backpackers already here to stay in Australia a third year if they completed a second stint of farm work – an option that so far has been taken up by 7523 visaholders.
AUSVEG public affair manager Tyson Cattle said the figures continued the trend seen over the past 12 months, arguing the Pacific Island seasonal worker schemes were key to stemming the workforce crisis.
The first of 1500 Pacific Island workers are due to arrive in Victoria this month; South Australia is bringing 1200 over to quarantine at a facility in the Riverland; while a pre-quarantine bubble with Vanuatu and Fiji could allow workers to complete their quarantine before coming to Australia.
“We’ve got to find ways to scale up those numbers,” Mr Cattle said.
It comes as the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance reignites its push for a harvest work visa.
The Government’s recent agricultural workforce strategy dismissed the idea of a dedicated visa for agriculture; however, AFPA chief executive Michael Rogers said a new visa would acknowledge and complement the role visaholders already played in filling the bulk of horticulture’s workforce.
AFPA – made up of 13 of the biggest names in horticulture including Costa Group, Fresh Select and La Manna – wants a nine-month visa capped at 10,000 workers to begin with, with workers allowed to return each year.
Employers would have to be approved to hire the visaholders, undertake labour market testing, and show they have reasonable standards of accommodation available, AFPA proposes.
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