Australia Wants Backpacker Rules in UK Trade Deal Revisited
The Australian government wants the backpacker visa rules in the UK-Australia free trade deal revisited, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said the agreement is not fixed. A free trade agreement is a deal between two countries that reduces barriers to trade in goods and services. The UK-Australia deal took effect in mid-2023, and it includes provisions for young British people who want to live and work in Australia on a working holiday visa.
Under the deal, British working holidaymakers do not have to work in regional or remote areas to stay beyond a year. The age limit for British holders of Australian working holiday visas has also risen, from 30 to 35, according to BBC News.
The numbers have grown quickly. Backpacker visas issued to Britons rose from 47,200 in 2023-24 to just over 77,000 in 2025-26, according to Australian government data. Britons made up almost a quarter of the 323,000 backpacker visas issued last year.
Albanese said many British backpackers base themselves in big cities, or in what he called "Bondi or Coogee."
Working holidaymakers from other countries face stricter conditions. They must complete at least 88 days of specified regional work to qualify for a second year in Australia, and six months of such work to stay a third year. That work covers agriculture, fisheries, tourism and hospitality.
Farming is one of the sectors that depends most on these visa holders. The National Farmers Federation says backpackers fill one in seven farm jobs across Australia, with about 52,000 working holiday visa holders doing horticulture work each year.
In September, Australia proposed an overhaul of the working holiday system. Under the plan, places for second-year extensions would be allocated by ballot and capped at 45,000, down from the 57,000 who qualified this year. Third-year extensions would be capped at 5,000.
Albanese said the free trade agreement was not set in stone and that changes could be made "if there are good policy reasons." He said those questions would be worked through over the coming weeks.
