Beyond backpackers: Retaining skilled Working Holiday Makers in Australia

The term “backpacker” may bring to mind short-term travellers moving from hostel to hostel while working their way around Australia. While this may sometimes be the case, for many Australian employers, Working Holiday Makers represent an important and highly flexible part of the workforce.

Whether filling seasonal labour shortages, supporting regional operations or transitioning into longer-term skilled roles, Working Holiday Makers can provide significant value to businesses across a range of industries.

If your business employs Working Holiday Makers, understanding their work limitations, and the exemptions that may apply, is essential to maintaining workforce continuity and avoiding compliance risks.

Many Australian employers already rely on Working Holiday Makers to address workforce shortages, particularly in regional and seasonal industries. However, businesses often overlook opportunities to retain skilled Working Holiday Maker employees through early workforce and visa planning.

The Working Holiday Maker program

Australia’s reciprocal Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program has helped build closer connections between young Australians and their international counterparts for the past 51 years.

Today, the WHM program covers more than 40 partner countries and jurisdictions across two visa categories, namely the Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa and the Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa.

The program gives eligible young people the opportunity to spend up to 12 months holidaying in Australia while also taking part in temporary employment and study opportunities. If they undertake “specified work”, they can also be eligible for a second and third WHM visa.

Although it is not the program’s primary intention, the WHM program plays a significant role in temporarily filling labour shortages, particularly in regional Australia. It is common for Australian employers to employ WHMs. Some may just be passing through, and others may transition into longer-term employment arrangements.

Understanding the six-month work limitation

WHMs are generally subject to a condition that limits them to working for the same employer for a maximum of six months, this is commonly referred to as the “six-month work limitation”.

For employers, this can create workforce disruption unless an exemption applies or longer-term visa planning is undertaken early.

Exemptions employers should know about

The exemptions to the six-month work limitation are, work in:

• Different locations for the same employer (providing work in any one location does not exceed six months);
• Plant and animal cultivation anywhere in Australia;
• Natural disaster recovery work anywhere in Australia;
• Critical sectors, including agriculture, food processing, health, aged and disability care and childcare, tourism and hospitality, anywhere in Australia; and
• Eligible industries in Northern Australia (including fishing and pearling, tree farming and felling, construction and mining).

In some cases, permission to work past the six-month limit can be sought to allow continuity of the WHM’s employment throughout the life of their visa where:

• The WHM has applied for a visa allowing ongoing and full-time work and that visa application is processing; or
• Where it can be demonstrated that the WHM’s employment is critical to the employer.

How the six-month period is calculated  

The calculation for the six-month time frame is often mistakenly confused by WHMs as being the same calculation method required for “specified work” (which is part of the eligibility for both a second and third WHM visa).

However, this is not the case. For the purposes of the six-month work limitation, it is simply calculated by the number of months that have passed from a WHM’s start date of employment.

This rule applies irrespective of whether a WHM works full-time, part-time, casual, shiftwork or even undertakes voluntary work.

As an example, if a WHM employee commences with an employer on 25 May 2026 as a casual, working 15 hours per week, they will reach their six-month limitation with the employer on 25 November 2026, unless an exemption applies.

It is also important to keep in mind that the six-month work limitation applies to each WHM visa separately, including Bridging Visas. This means that the six-month work limit resets when a new WHM visa is granted or when an associated Bridging Visa commences.

Early planning to avoid missed opportunities

Apart from filling an immediate skill shortage in an employer’s business, the benefits of retaining a WHM can include reduced reliance on casual or temporary staff, reduced training and induction costs and building a more stable workforce.

However, in our experience, we have witnessed many cases where businesses employ a skilled WHM, but the continuity of their employment is complicated by a visa expiry with little time left to act.

If they meet certain eligibility, a WHM may hold up to three WHM visas. However, we often see clients seeking advice trying to retain their WHM employees within a short time before their visa expires, which can significantly limit their options.

If you employ a talented WHM and are interested in retaining them, our advice is to seek advice as early as possible in the process.  For example, within their first six months of their employment.  This is because often additional steps such as the WHM taking an English test, undertaking a skills assessment, gathering documents or mandatory advertising periods for the employer must first take place before a WHM may be eligible to apply for a longer-term skilled visa.

May 2026-2027 Budget and upcoming WHM reform

The only constant is change and that certainly applies to Australian Migration Law.

In the 2026-2027 Budget announcements, the Government stated that the WHM program will be subject to reform “to better control numbers, reduce barriers to work, provide a fairer allocation of WHM visas, and support Australia’s national interests. This includes expanding the use of ballots in the WHM program to support better management of the program”¹.

At this stage, details remain limited, so watch this space. However, it appears that the Government intends to have tighter control and selection in the WHM program.

The Government has set the permanent Migration Program planning levels to 185,000 places for 2026-2027.  Notably, in what appears to be an effort to reduce net migration, of  the 185,000 places, 129,590 places will be allocated to migrants already in Australia (for both skilled and family visas).

As such, employers may increasingly see WHMs seeking to transition opportunities into longer-term skilled visas while already in Australia.

Key takeaways for employers

For employers, proactive planning is critical when relying on WHM employees as part of their workforce strategy.

Identifying high-performing WHM employees early can provide businesses with greater flexibility to explore exemptions, further WHM visas or longer-term skilled visa pathways before work rights become an urgent issue.

With reforms to the WHM program expected and ongoing workforce shortages across many sectors, employers who plan ahead will be best placed to retain valuable talent and minimise business disruption.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this publication does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice in relation to any particular matter you may have before relying or acting on this information. The Lavan team are here to assist.

Footnotes

[1] Budget 2026/27 – Budget Paper No. 2. Budget Measures