The Ultimate Guide to Australia’s Working Holiday Visas

Thinking about applying for a working holiday visa in Australia? You’re not alone! More than 150,000 people from 48 different countries come to Australia each year for a working holiday.

It’s a popular rite of passage, particularly for young people looking for an adventure or an opportunity to improve their English after finishing school or university. The highest numbers of Australian working holiday visa applicants are from the UK, France, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Germany and Italy.

Australia is a huge country, so you’ll need a bit of time if you want to experience everything it has to offer! If you want to stay for more than just a few months, a working holiday visa is a great option because you’ll have the right to live, work and travel in Australia for a whole year. There’s even the possibility to extend your visa for a second or third year.

During your stay, you can earn money by working in Australia. So you don’t have to use up all of your savings!

Australia offers two different types of visas to backpackers. There’s the Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa, and the slightly different Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa. The type of visa you may be eligible for depends on which country you’re from.

This interactive map shows the countries that have working holiday agreements with Australia:

Want to learn more? This comprehensive guide has everything you need to know to apply for an Australian working holiday visa and make the most of your experience Down Under!

What you can do with a working holiday visa

Once you’re issued with a Working Holiday or Work and Holiday visa, you’ll have 12 months to enter Australia.

Starting from the date you first arrive, you can stay in Australia for up to one year. There’s also the option to apply later for a second and third year visa.

During your working holiday, you can:

Travel around Australia
Work in short-term jobs to help pay for your holiday
Study in Australia for up to 4 months
Leave and re-enter Australia as many times as you like while your visa remains valid.

There are no restrictions on the type of work you can do. And unlike with student visas, there is no limit to the number of hours you can work in a week. However, you can generally only work for the same employer for up to six months.

Australia’s Working Holiday (417) visa

The Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa is available to citizens of 19 countries. It is the easier of the two working holiday visas to apply for, as there are fewer requirements.

Nationalities that can apply for a subclass 417 visa

Eligible citizens from the following countries can apply for an Australian Working Holiday visa:

Requirements to apply for a subclass 417 visa

To apply for a first-year Australian Working Holiday (417) visa, you would need to meet the following requirements:

Be aged 18-30 at the time of your application (or up to 35 years old if you’re from certain countries)
Have at least AUD5,000 in savings, plus enough money to buy a plane ticket home from Australia
Be in good health
Agree to the “Australian Values Statement”
Be outside of Australia at the time of your application

You would not be eligible for this visa if:

You have previously held a 417 or 462 visa in Australia (even if you applied using a different passport)
You would be accompanied by dependent children
You or a family member have outstanding debts to the Australian government
You have previously had an Australian visa cancelled
You have a substantial criminal record

See the Department of Home Affairs website for full details.

Australia’s Work and Holiday (462) visa

The Australian government offers Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visas to citizens from a further 29 countries.

This is similar to the subclass 417 visa, but there are a few more conditions (such as education and English language requirements). Citizens from some countries also need to provide a letter of approval from their own government.

Australia places annual caps on the number of 462 visas issued to citizens from each eligible country. Many of these caps are high enough that they are unlikely to ever be reached. However, the annual quotas for Indonesia, Ecuador, Vietnam, China, Brazil, Mongolia, Thailand, Türkiye and Switzerland are often completely filled.

These annual limits reset on 1 July every year. So, if you’re from a country where there’s lots of competition for places, you might want to apply for your 462 visa (and/or the necessary letter of approval from your government) in early July.

You can see the current status of country caps on the Department of Home Affairs website.

Nationalities that can apply for a subclass 462 visa

Eligible citizens from the following countries can apply for an Australian Work and Holiday visa:

The Australian government will add India and the Philippines to this list in the near future.

What you need to apply for a subclass 462 visa

To apply for a first-year Australian Work and Holiday (462) visa, you would need to meet the following requirements:

Be aged 18-30 at the time of your application
Have at least AUD5,000 in savings, plus enough money to buy a plane ticket home from Australia
Have a tertiary qualification (e.g. a university degree) or have completed at least two years of undergraduate study – note, exact requirements vary by nationality
Speak English at a level considered at least “functional”
Be in good health
If you’re from one of the countries where this is required, have a letter of support from your government
Agree to the “Australian Values Statement”
Be outside of Australia at the time of your application

You cannot get this visa if:

You have previously held a 417 or 462 visa in Australia (even if you applied using a different passport)
You would be accompanied by dependent children
You or a family member have outstanding debts to the Australian government
You have a substantial criminal record
You have previously had an Australian visa cancelled

See the Department of Home Affairs website for full details.

How to apply for an Australian working holiday visa

You can apply for your Australian Working Holiday or Work and Holiday visa online. This earliest date you can apply is up to a year before you intend to arrive in Australia.

Use the links below to the Department of Home Affairs website for full instructions and to apply for:

• Your first Working Holiday (417) visa
• Your first Work and Holiday (462) visa

To apply, you’ll need to create an ImmiAccount, upload the required documents and pay the visa fee.

Both visas have a cost of AUD635 for one year. This is roughly equivalent to USD410, £330 or €385, depending on the current exchange rate.

If you’re applying for a subclass 417 visa and your application is straightforward, it could take less than a day to receive your visa. But if you’re applying for a subclass 462 visa, or your application is a bit more complex, it will probably take a few weeks. A small number of applications may take 1-2 months to process.

The Australian government will contact you when it grants your visa. You can then travel to Australia!

How to get a second or third year Australian working holiday visa

You can apply for a second working holiday visa if you complete at least 88 days (around 3 months) of “specified work” while holding your first visa.

There is also an option to get a third-year visa if, during your second year in Australia, you do at least 179 days (around 6 months) of “specified work”.

The minimum number of days includes weekends and rest days during your period of employment, as long as you’re working the equivalent of full-time hours 5 days per week during that time. You can also count multiple shorter periods of “specified work” towards your second or third year working holiday visa.

UK citizens are exempt from the specified work requirement.

What counts as specified work?

During your Australian working holiday, you’re free to do almost any type of work. But only jobs in approved industries and locations can be counted as “specified work” for the purpose of extending your working holiday.

Most “specified work” jobs are in hospitality or primary industries, and must be in regional or remote areas.

Here’s the full list of approved “specified work” for 417 and 462 visa holders:

Many backpackers choose to work on farms (for example, picking fruit) or in hospitality.

Some examples of jobs that count as specified work in tourism and hospitality include:

Chefs
Waiters
Bartenders
Hotel receptionists
Tourist guides
Outdoor activity instructors
Tourist transport services
Museum or gallery workers
Conference and event organisers

Which parts of Australia are regional and remote?

Most types of specified work only count if you are employed in a regional or remote location.

Most of Australia is classified as regional or remote, except for:

Sydney, Newcastle, Central Coast & Wollongong
All of the ACT (Canberra)
Greater Brisbane and Gold Coast
The Melbourne metropolitan area
Perth and surrounding areas

If you choose to do your specified work in tourism or hospitality, it must be in Northern Australia or a remote/very remote location.

Northern Australia is defined as the entire Northern Territory, plus anywhere in Queensland or Western Australia that’s north of the Tropic of Capricorn (i.e. Rockhampton or further north).

There are specific postcodes that are considered remote and very remote Australia. You can find the full list on the Department of Home Affairs website, along with a complete overview of all the specified work conditions and requirements.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also has a helpful colour-coded map showing which parts of Australia are regional, remote and very remote.

Arriving in Australia

With your visa sorted, it’s time to book your flight to Australia!

If you’re planning to stay for a year or longer, you might need to book a one-way flight. See our tips to minimise the cost when booking one-way flights.

If you want to bring more stuff with you to Australia than you can fit in your bag, you may consider using a service such as Send My Bag. For an affordable price, they’ll pick up your extra bags from your home and deliver them to you quickly in Australia! Working Holidays for Aussies readers can also get 5% off their first order with Send My Bag.

Before you arrive in Australia, it’s a good idea to have a plan of where you’ll stay when you first arrive. Many backpackers stay initially in a hostel while they look for work and/or more permanent accommodation.

Hostels are also a great place to meet other people after moving to a new country.

If you’re looking for shared accommodation in Australia, Flatmates.com.au is the country’s largest website for connecting spare rooms with people.

See our guide to surviving the first weeks after moving overseas for more tips on what to do when you first arrive.

Making friends in Australia

As well as hostels, Facebook groups can be a good way to connect with other people from your own country. For example, the “Poms in Sydney” group is for Brits in Sydney. “Backpacker Australien” is a useful group for German working holiday makers, while “Les français en Australie 2024” is a good one to join if you’re from France.

Another great way to both meet people and visit lots of cool places around Australia after you arrive is to join a Contiki tour. Contiki offers lots of tours through different parts of Australia which are specifically designed for 18-35 year olds!

Some of Contiki’s Australian tours include:

The 9-day Outback Adventure tour from Uluru to Darwin
The 9-day North Queensland Adventure tour from Airlie Beach to Cairns
The 16-day Beaches And Reefs tour from Sydney to Cairns
The 20-day Ultimate Australia tour from Sydney to Cairns with an Uluru & Kings Canyon add-on

Plus, we’ve teamed up with Contiki to offer Working Holidays for Aussies readers a 5% discount!

To take advantage of this discount, simply book any eligible tour on the Contiki website and enter the promo code WHFA5OFF at the checkout.

The 5% discount is available on new bookings, for trips of at least 7 days, when you book directly with Contiki. You can combine this discount with ongoing promotions and the past pax discount (FTD), but not other promo codes. You must enter the promo code at the time of booking.

Travelling around Australia

Of course, you can also make your own travel plans!

Buying or renting a vehicle

A popular way to see lots of the country is to rent a car or campervan – or to buy a cheap second-hand car.

Many backpackers drive up or down the east coast of the country, where you’ll find lots of great beaches, towns and cities between Melbourne, Sydney, Byron Bay, Brisbane and Cairns. If you’re feeling really adventurous – and have at least a few months to spare – you could even drive around the entire country!

You can often find cars for sale in backpacker Facebook groups. Or if you’d like to rent a campervan, check out JUCY – they are the specialists and often have great deals on car and campervan rentals.

Buses and trains

Many backpackers use buses or trains to travel across Australia.

Greyhound Australia has an extensive network of coach services. If you plan to take multiple trips, a Greyhound Travel Pass could be a good value option.

NSW TrainLink operates long-distance trains and coaches across the state of NSW, as well as from Sydney to Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane. You can even use NSW TrainLink to get from Sydney to Adelaide by taking a train to the gorgeous outback town of Broken Hill, then a coach the rest of the way.

If you think you might do a few trips with NSW TrainLink, their Discovery Pass gives you unlimited trips and is excellent value.

How to get cheap flights within Australia

Of course, Australia is a huge country! Travelling overland is well worth it as you’ll get to see more of regional Australia. But if you’re short on time, you can also fly between cities.

Australia has four main domestic airlines – Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Rex.

Jetstar is Australia’s largest budget airline. They offer cheap flights to many of Australia’s tourist hotspots. You can get even cheaper flights by booking during their weekly “Friday Fare Frenzy” sales between 4-8pm (AEST) every Friday.

Here’s another tip: You can save money on Virgin Australia flights by using a discount code! Virgin also runs weekly “Happy Hour” sales from 4-11pm (AEST) every Thursday.

Paying tax in Australia

When you work in Australia, you’ll need to pay income tax to the Australian government.

The Australian government taxes most working holiday makers at a different rate to Australian tax residents. As of 2024, this rate is 15% on the first $45,000 you earn during any given financial year. Amounts between $45,001 and $120,000 are then taxed at a rate of 32.5%. (A higher rate applies if you earn more than this.)

Note that the Australian financial year is from 1 July until 30 June.

See the Australian Tax Office website for more information about tax for subclass 417 and 462 visa holders.

Superannuation in Australia

When you work in Australia and earn at least $450 per month, your employer must also pay superannuation for you. This is on top of your salary or hourly rate. The rate is currently 11% but will increase to 11.5% on 1 July 2024.

Superannuation is a system designed to help Australians save for their retirement. Most Australians cannot access their superannuation until they turn 60 years old.

However, if you only worked in Australia temporarily during a working holiday, you may be able to withdraw your superannuation after you leave. This is called the Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP). See the Australian Tax Office website for details.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)