Australia eases working visa rules to let Brits help in bushfire-ravaged communities

Backpackers will be allowed lengthier stays if they pitch in with bushfire relief
Firefighters protect a property from bushfires burning near the town of Bumbalong south of Canberra
Getty Images

A month on from Australia’s devastating bushfires, which saw animals, homes and lives lost, the Australian government has announced a new initiative to help revive bushfire-ravaged communities.

Federal government changes to the 417 visa rules will see paid and volunteer disaster recovery work count towards the specified work needed to apply for a second or third year visa.

Currently, Brits or other nationalities hoping to stay in Australia longer than a year need to do three months of farm work if they want to extend their visa to another year in either the plant, forest, fishing, mining or construction industries.

Close to 45,000 young Brits arrive in Australia each year with a working holiday visa and current regulations also state that those on this visa cannot work for an employer in Australia for longer than six months. But the bushfire-based changes will mean that backpackers living and working in the affected zones can stay with the same employer for a year instead of six months.

Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge said in a statement: “These hardworking Australians have been hit by the recent bushfires, but from today they can employ backpackers for six months longer, helping them at a critical time in the recovery effort.

“This recovery will be driven locally, by local workers and communities. But this will be a massive recovery effort and we want businesses and charitable organisations to have as many boots on the ground as they need.”

Visa holders who choose helping out in these communities as their designated work will be able to head to the most affected areas such as in Eastern Victoria, South Eastern New South Wales and Kangaroo Island, South Australia.

For more information on Australian working holiday visas, visit immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/work-holiday-417

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