British backpackers in Australia could face rural work visa requirement

British backpackers in Australia could be forced to spend more time in regional areas under proposed changes to the country's working holiday visa.

The Australian government has raised concerns that the visa in its current form has led to an explosion in the number of British backpackers, who often choose to stay in Sydney's beachside suburbs.

Andy Burnham will this week meet Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in the Caribbean to discuss proposed changes to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that removed the regional work requirement.

Signed in 2021 under Boris Johnson, the FTA also increased the age limit for the visa to 35 and extended the maximum period to three years.

The changes resulted in the number of British working holidaymakers increasing to 87,000 in the last financial year, a significant jump from the 40,000 the year before.

The Australian government has become increasingly concerned that the current settings have increased Net Overseas Migration (NOM), without addressing rural workforce shortages.

Concerns have also been raised that British backpackers tend to move to high-density areas in Sydney, such as Bondi and Coogee.

Mr Albanese will not request a cap on the number of young Britons visiting Australia, but instead push for a requirement to compel UK backpackers to spend more time in regional areas.

But pleas to allow Australia to ignore the key wins Britain secured under the FTA are expected to be a tough sell for Mr Burnham, with the terms of the agreement not open to renegotiation.

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Australians coming to the UK as working holidaymakers have also benefited from the changes, with the maximum period also being extended to three years.

However, the number of Australians coming to the UK on the visa is much lower, with only 9,754 Australians being granted a UK visa in 2024.

Australia's home affairs minister Tony Burke unveiled a plan to reduce working holiday visa num­bers by about 40,000 a year to help the government meet its NOM tar­get of 225,000.

Under changes announced by the Australian government, backpackers from other countries who are looking to stay longer than one year will have to complete their rural work to enter a lottery to extend beyond one year.

The number of places for second and third year visas has also been significantly reduced.

Previously, British backpackers had been required to complete 88 days of regional work in Australia under the visa conditions, as part of a push to plug shortages in sectors such as agriculture.

(c) Sky News 2026: British backpackers in Australia could face rural work visa requirement