Australia moves to ballot system for working holiday visa extensions, slashing available places

Australia will introduce a ballot system for backpackers seeking a second or third year on a working holiday visa, dramatically reducing how many people will be able to extend their stay, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced Thursday.

The change, unveiled during a National Press Club address in Canberra, caps second-year working holiday visas at 45,000 places, down from the 57,000 applicants who qualified last year. Third-year visas will be capped at just 5,000 places, down from 31,000 last year, a reduction of more than 80 per cent.

The existing eligibility requirements for those visas will not change. Applicants must still complete 88 days of regional work to qualify for a second year and six months of regional work for a third year. Meeting those requirements, however, will no longer guarantee approval.

"You will still have to meet the criteria that you currently have to meet in terms of the regional work," Burke said. "Not everybody will get through, because we need to have some control and certainty of what those numbers are."

The announcement comes weeks after the government paused processing of working holiday visas from most partner countries, a move that drew sustained criticism from farmers, tourism operators and hospitality businesses reliant on backpacker labour during peak season. Burke said normal processing would now resume for backpackers who meet the regional work requirements.

Working holiday visas hit a record 321,116 grants in the 2024-25 financial year, according to Home Affairs data, and the National Farmers' Federation estimates about one in seven farm workers in Australia are on a visa.

Opposition and industry figures criticised the cuts. David Littleproud, the Coalition's shadow tourism minister, said backpackers "keep regional pubs, farms and tourism operators running" through the peak season. Andrew McKellar, chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Australia's core problems were "a housing crisis" and "skill shortages," not backpacker numbers.

Nationals leader Matt Canavan defended the visa program, saying backpackers "aren't the ones removing housing options for people in Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane."

The visa changes are part of a wider package Burke announced Thursday aimed at reducing Australia's net overseas migration from 292,100 currently to 225,000 by 2028.