Australian Tourism Export Council call to expand working holiday visas to include tourism and hospitality work

Australian Tourism Export Council call to expand working holiday visas to include tourism and hospitality work
Edited by Travel Weekly


The Australian Tourism Export Council has called for an expansion of working holiday maker specified work qualifications to include tourism and hospitality jobs across all non-metro regions in Australia.

The proposal comes as the Federal Government looks at working holiday maker (WHM) visa settings as part of the Review of Regional Migration Settings.

Working Holiday Maker visa holders are a vital part of Australia’s tourism sector meeting a critical shortfall in industry workers across our regions, it says.

ATEC’s recommendations call for maintaining the WHM as a cultural exchange through travel and regional employment for visa extensions while limiting the qualifying period for both the 2nd and 3rd year visas to 88 days.

“Our recent member survey showed just how important WHM visitors are to Australia’s tourism economy with half of businesses saying they are vital employees and more than half saying they are a vital visitor market,” ATEC managing director Peter Shelley said.

“While employing WHM long-term isn’t the essence of the visa, the survey also revealed a strong desire of tourism businesses to employ WHM for a minimum of 6 months given the cost, time and effort required to train them.”

ATEC’s submission calls for tourism to be added to the list of ‘specified work’ across all areas of regional Australia as qualification for the 2nd and 3rd year visa to ensure WHM can holiday and work anywhere in regional Australia. Other recommendations include:

  • The qualifying period for the 3rd year extension of the visa be reduced to 88 days
  • The maximum age limit be revised upwards to 35, unilaterally across all countries
  • A second WHM visa be available to those who first used it under 30 and have spent four years outside Australia
  • Look to expand future age limits up to 40 or 45 to help capture the growing ‘digital nomad’ and ‘career breaker’ trend in global tourism.
  • An additional budget of $5m per annum be allocated to Tourism Australia to undertake promotional activities encouraging WHM to travel and work across Australia.
  • Implement targeted marketing efforts to promote regional dispersion of WHMs to mitigate the impact of the recent changes to the UK WHM visa
  • That the government look to develop technology solutions for WHM job vacancies with employers required to register to increase transparency and accountability.

“The WHM visa is vital to Australia’s tourism export strategy and ATEC believes targeted improvements can work to promote regional dispersal and increase visitor yield which will benefit regional economies.

“We look forward to the Government’s response to industry submissions and to continuing the success of our 50-year-old WHM program into the future.”

ATEC’s full submission available HERE.

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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