Australia's reciprocal Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program has been fostering stronger links between young people from Australia and around the world since 1975. It allows young adults to have a 12-month holiday, during which they can undertake short-term work and study.
The WHM program now includes over 40 partner countries or jurisdictions in two visa subclasses, the Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa and the Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa.
Specified Work and Conditions
Working Holiday Makers in Australia can work in any occupation or industry while in Australia, generally for up to 6 months with one employer.
Mandatory visa condition 8547 limits you to a maximum period of 6 months’ work with any one employer, unless they fall within one of the exemptions below.
Exemptions to 6-month work limitation
From 1 January 2024, you can work for the same employer in Australia for more than 6 months without asking permission if your work is:
in different locations and work in any one location does not exceed 6 months
in plant and animal cultivation anywhere in Australia
natural disaster recovery work
critical sectors, including agriculture, food processing, health, aged and disability care and childcare, tourism and hospitality, anywhere in Australia
certain industries, including, fishing and pearling, tree farming and felling, construction and mining, in northern Australia only (see Work in certain industries in northern Australia only below).
Work in different locations
You do not need to ask our permission to work with the same employer for more than 6 months if you work in different locations, including working from home. Work in any one location must not exceed six months.
For example, you can work for:
two hotels in the same chain at different premises
independently-owned franchises in different workplaces
State and Territory schools and health care facilities at different addresses
the same business with the one ABN (Australian Business Number) at two different orchards
a subsidiary company (owned by the same parent company) but the ABN on your payslip is different
different businesses (separate legal entities with different ABNs) owned by the same employer
yourself (self-employed) and provide services to the same business for more than six months as long as that business is not the only business you provide services to during that time
independently-owned franchises, even though they operate under the same business name
a business from home or work remotely. A change to or from working remotely or at home counts as a change in location.
Work in plant and animal cultivation
You do not need to ask our permission to work with the same employer for more than 6 months if you work in plant and animal cultivation anywhere in Australia.
For example:
harvesting and/or packing of fruit and vegetable crops
pruning and trimming vines and trees. This must be your primary employment task and directly associated with the cultivation and commercial sale of plant produce, such as fruit and nut crops (commercial horticultural activities)
maintaining crops
cultivating or propagating plants, fungi or their products or parts
processing of plant products
maintaining animals for the purpose of selling them or their bodily produce, including natural increase
processing of animal products including shearing, butchery, packing and tanning
manufacturing dairy produce from raw material.
The following work is not eligible:
general garden maintenance
maintaining animals for tourism or recreational purposes
secondary processing of animal products, such as small goods processing and retail butchery.
Work in natural disaster recovery
You do not need to ask our permission to work with the same employer for more than 6 months if your work relates to natural disaster recovery work anywhere in Australia.
This includes:
construction, farming, or any other work in association with recovery or restitution of land, property, farm animals or wildlife
providing support services or assistance to people living, working or volunteering in the affected areas
clean-up, construction or any other work in association with restitution or restoration of services, land, waterways, property or infrastructure
providing support services or assistance to people living, working or volunteering in the affected areas.
Work in a critical sector
You do not need to ask our permission to work with the same employer for more than 6 months if you work in one of the five critical sectors below anywhere in Australia:
Agriculture
This includes:
all activities involved in farming
food processing, which involves processing of plant and animal products for human or animal consumption.
2. Health
3. Aged care and disability services
4. Childcare
5. Tourism and Hospitality
Work in certain industries in Northern Australia only
You do not need to ask our permission to work longer than 6 months with one employer in Northern Australia if you work in any of the following four industries:
Fishing and pearling
conducting operations relating directly to taking or catching fish and other aquatic species
conducting operations relating directly to taking or culturing pearls or pearl shell.
2. Tree Farming and felling
3. Construction
4. Mining
Note: If your work does not fall within an exemption to condition 8547, you will have to seek permission to work longer than 6 months for the same employer.
How to Calculate 6 months
The 6 months starts from the day you start work. It includes full-time, part-time, casual, shift and voluntary work. It is based on the length of time that has passed since you started working, not how many hours or days you have worked.
The condition applies separately to each visa, including bridging visas. This means that the 6-month period starts again when you are granted a new WHM visa and/or when a bridging visa comes into effect while you are waiting for your application to be processed.
How to count specified work
To be eligible for a second WHM visa, you must have carried out at least 3 months of specified work. '3 months' is taken to mean a period equivalent to the 3 shortest 'calendar' months of the year, that is, a minimum period of 88 calendar days, including weekends or equivalent rest days during your period of employment.
To be eligible for a third WHM visa, you must have carried out at least 6 months of specified work on or after 1 July 2019. '6 months' is taken to mean a period equivalent to the 6 shortest 'calendar' months of the year, that is, a minimum period of 179 calendar days, including weekends or equivalent rest days during your period of employment.
To meet the requirement for a minimum period of specified work you must complete the same number of normal work days or shifts as a full-time employee in that role and industry would normally work in a 3-month (88 calendar day) or 6 month (179 calendar day) period. You can do this in a variety of ways, for example:
working 5 days a week for a continuous period of 3 or 6 calendar months, including on a piecework rate agreement
working less than 5 days a week over a period longer than 3 or 6 calendar months, including on a piecework rate agreement
working multiple short periods of work in any combination of full time, part time or on a piecework rate, which add up to the equivalent of 5 days a week over 3 or 6 calendar months
You do not need to do your 3 or 6 months of specified work all in one go, or all with one employer. You are free to spread the work over the stay period of your current visa. You can also undertake specified work for longer than the required minimum period.
You cannot complete the specified work requirement in a total period shorter than 3 or 6 calendar months.
List of approved industries and areas for specified work
1. Tourism and hospitality in northern or remote and very remote Australia
Work in a range of occupations that directly provide a service to tourists, including:
tourist guides and operators
outdoor adventure or activity instructors
tourist transport services
gallery or museum managers, curators or guides
hospitality workers, such as in hotels or other accommodation facilities, restaurants, cafes, bars and casinos
conference and event organisers
Eligible:
a chef in a restaurant
a dive instructor
a tour bus driver
Ineligible:
cleaning work in a restaurant
driving a school bus
working as a sales assistant in a souvenir shop
2. Plant and animal cultivation
3. Fishing and pearling in regional Australia
4. Tree farming and felling
5. Mining
6. Construction
7. Bushfire recovery work
8. Natural disaster recovery work
9. Critical COVID-19 work in the healthcare and medical sectors
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