brisbane, australia —
Zoe, a French backpacker, has been waiting for a table for months.
By doing so, she hopes to earn the right to stay in Australia for three years. I was hoping that by doing so I would be able to relax and see more of the country.
However, due to rule changes announced by the government on September 17, even the 88 days of work a year required for the new working holiday visa will not be enough.
To have a chance of securing a third year, people must pay hundreds of dollars to vote for one of just 5,000 visas out of 31,000 granted so far.
“Everyone is stressed,” said Zoe, 25, who asked CNN to use only her first name. “Everyone’s talking about it. Feeling depressed.”
Backpackers aren’t the only ones worried about their Australian adventure coming to an early end. Tourism businesses and the agricultural industry are furious at the loss of tourists and key workers in regional areas that are not necessarily as attractive to tourists as some of Australia’s major cities.
Farmers rely on them to harvest fruit and repair fences. This type of work requires minimal training but is essential for operating a business in a sparsely populated area.
The government says the aim is to adjust admissions to favor skilled immigrants, such as construction workers. doctors and nurses. Agriculture and resource experts. and law enforcement officers who are seen as adding more value to the nation’s economy.
But some say first-year backpackers may decide it’s not worth the effort to stay long-term, resulting in a significant decline in the region’s workforce.
Travel industry insiders say Thursday’s announcement did not start the uproar, but rather began two years ago when rules were changed under the Australia-UK free trade agreement.
The agreement allows British backpackers to stay for two to three years without having to spend 88 days on local duty. The age limit has also been raised from 30 to 35.
Since then, the number of young people in Britain on working holiday visas has more than doubled to nearly 80,000 from a previous peak of 35,000, according to Home Secretary Tony Burke.
He said on Thursday that the surge was a “challenge” and that his colleagues would discuss it with their UK colleagues in a “constructive way”.
Meanwhile, the government has adopted a “go-slow” strategy for visa approvals, which was introduced in July without any warning, said Matthew Hayes, founder of the Backpacker Jobs Board.
“The Home Office website was not being updated,” he said. “It still states that visas are usually processed in two to three days.” Instead, it took weeks or even months.
“Backpackers who applied for visas after July continue to have their visas not processed today,” he said.
CNN has reached out to the Home Office for clarification on how this change could affect backpackers already in the country.
Burke said Thursday that processing times will return to normal, but Hayes said it won’t help backpackers who are holding back on booking flights and tours, or employers who were preparing to hire them and waiting for harvest season.
The government says it has the option of hiring workers under the Pacific Labor Migration Programme. The program is designed to help Pacific Islanders support their families back home.
The government is under pressure from opposing political parties over a surge in immigration levels after Australia lifted pandemic restrictions and opened its doors to new arrivals.
Since then, rising interest rates, housing shortages and a cost-of-living crisis have led to growing dissatisfaction with migration levels and calls for permanent cuts.
The issue has been championed by Pauline Hanson’s right-wing party One Nation, which has long been anti-immigration and whose support is rising in opinion polls.
The changes announced on Thursday will ban international students from bringing their families with them and tighten controls on people who overstay their visas.
Critics claim the government risks causing further economic pain by cutting the number of working holiday visas. Just as the number of third-year visas will be reduced to 5,000, the number of second-year visas will also be reduced from 57,000 to 45,000. The total reduction in visas over the past two years is 38,000.
Mahoney Group operates three pubs and five backpacker hostels across Australia, from Melbourne in Victoria to Cairns in the far north.
General manager Max Gibson said his bookings were already down 25% for the rest of the year and the new visa rules would make things worse.
“Many of our members have said the same thing – the last two months have been the worst we’ve experienced since COVID-19,” said Mr Gibson, who is also vice-president of Youth Tourism Victoria, an industry group supporting young travellers.
It’s unclear what the new rule changes will mean for backpackers already in the country, some of whom are already working toward the mandatory 88-day stay.
Laura, 28, from northern France, has worked as a commercial cleaner for three months so far this year and says she hopes to continue working for a third year and, if possible, find a permanent sponsor.
“We’re doing things that Australians don’t want to do,” she said, asking CNN to use only one name to protect her privacy. “Not all Australians want to go into the woods and work in the middle of nowhere. We do it because we want to stay here.”
“Being a backpacker is not easy,” Laura said. “It’s not a simple life… We don’t have a real home… Our life is only in our backpacks.”
Zoe said she was working hard, promising it would pay off later.
“I thought it was worth it because I want to get through my third year safely and have fun. But now I’m not even sure,” she said.
“It’s a little stressful and makes you wonder why you’re doing it.”
