Latest news
Visa condition 8547
From 19 January 2022 to 30 June 2023, WHMs working in any sector anywhere in Australia may continue to work for the same employer or organisation for longer than six months without requesting permission. For details, visit Visa condition 8547 - 6-month work limitation.
Options for Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) supporting flood affected communities
Working Holiday (subclass 417) and Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa holders can count paid and volunteer flood recovery work undertaken from 1 January 2022 in flood affected areas as ‘specified work’ for the purpose of applying for a second or third WHM visa.
This option is available for WHM visa applications lodged from 1 July 2022.
For more information on how the Department is supporting flood recovery, see
Visa options and measures to support flood recovery.
A 30% cap increase for the 2022-23 program year
For the 2022-23 program year only, there is a 30% cap increase to the number of places available to WHMs from countries with which Australia has a capped Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa arrangement. This one-off cap increase will commence from 1 July 2022.
Age limit increase for Italian and Danish Working Holiday Makers
On 1 July 2022, the age limit for Italian and Danish applicants for a WHM visa increased from 30 to 35 years. Australian citizens up to the age of 35 also benefit from these reciprocal arrangements with Italy and Denmark.
Australia has previously negotiated arrangements on a reciprocal basis with Canada, France and Ireland to expand the eligible age range for WHM applicants to 35 years.
Cap increases for Work and Holiday visa arrangements for Hungary, Austria and the Slovak Republic
On 1 July 2022, we increased the annual caps for:
- Austria (to 500)
- Hungary (to 500), and
- the Slovak Republic (to 1,000).
This is separate to the 30% cap increase for the 2022-23 program year.
These reciprocal cap increases will provide ongoing opportunities for citizens of Australia, Hungary, Austria and the Slovak Republic to travel and work abroad.
Recent Work and Holiday arrangements
On 1 July 2022, reciprocal W&H arrangements commenced with Brazil (500) and Mongolia (100).
On 1 January 2022, Switzerland joined the program with an annual cap of 200.
India to access Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa
In the context of the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement(AI-ECTA), Australia has agreed to extend access to the Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa. This will go up to 1,000 Indian citizens each year.
Within two years of the AI-ECTA entering into force, Australia will allow eligible Indian citizens aged between 18 and 30 to apply for a Work and Holiday visa to visit Australia for one year. They can undertake short-term work and study while holidaying. We will provide more information on how to apply closer to the implementation date.
For more information, see the
Minister for Trade and Tourism’s media release.
Processing timeframes
We are currently processing new and older applications at the same time to minimise processing times for as many applications as possible.
Visa applications that contain all required information may be finalised faster than the published
processing times.
Working Holiday Maker visa changes helping COVID-19 recovery
From 22 June 2021, work undertaken in the tourism and hospitality sectors in northern, remote or very remote Australia can be counted as specified work towards eligibility for a second or third WHM visa. This option is available for WHM visa applications lodged from 5 March 2022.
For subclass 462 visa holders, the previous definition of tourism and hospitality continues to apply for applications lodged before 5 March 2022 and to any work carried out before 22 June 2021 (regardless of when the application is lodged).
Australia and UK Free Trade Agreement
On 17 December 2021 the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed but has not yet entered into force.
New arrangements for Working Holiday Makers are expected to be implemented within two years of the FTA entering into force. The new arrangements will allow UK citizens to:
- apply for a Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa up to the age of 35 years
- be granted up to three Working Holiday visas (not including any “COVID-19 affected visa”) with no requirement to undertake any ‘specified work’.
Other partner country arrangements under the WHM program are established through bilateral negotiations and will not be affected by the Australia and UK FTA.
For more information, see New Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa arrangements for UK passport holders.
