From 1 December, fully vaccinated and eligible Brits will be able to enter New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory under working holiday visas 417 and 462 without having to quarantine.
More than 44,000 permits were granted to young travellers from the UK and Ireland in 2019, with working holidaymakers globally contributing $3.2 billion to Australia’s visitor economy – almost 10% of its total visitor spend.
An average, Britons on working holidays to Australia in 2019 spent around $9,900 per trip and stayed in the country for 124 nights.
Following news restrictions would soon be eased, Tourism Australia said it would be targeting travellers from the UK, Japan and France to choose working holidays with new dedicated marketing campaigns.
Partnerships with key distributors will be launched to boost visa sign-ups. In the UK, operators like Trailfinders, Student Universe and Gap360 offer working holiday packages to Australia.
Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison said: “The return of eligible working holidaymakers to Australia from 1 December is welcome news for our tourism industry.
“Working holidaymakers are crucial to the tourism sector as these young travellers tend to stay longer, spend more and disperse more widely as they travel whilst also providing a flexible source of workers by combining their time in Australia with work and travel plans.”
Harrison told TTG the move would once again allow working holidaymakers to experience the Australian way of life, work in iconic locations, travel around the country for extended periods and support Australia’s tourism sector while also working in vital roles sustaining the industry.
"After such a highly disrupted period over the past eighteen months, we expect the opportunity to live and work in Australia be more desirable than ever and though we’re not able to welcome back leisure travellers just yet, we expect that announcements such as this are a positive indication that that time won’t be too far down the track.
Regional general manager UK and Northern Europe at Tourism Australia, Sally Cope, added: “After a period of such disruption over the past eighteen months, an Australian working holiday is a fantastic opportunity to reboot by having an extended overseas adventure by working as well as travelling.”
