Australia Tourism Group Wants to Raise Age Limits for Working Holiday Visa
Are you daydreaming about working your way around Australia on a long term travel adventure, but are past the age limit for a Working Holiday Visa? At the moment only young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 are eligible for the Australia Working Holiday Visa, but the Tourism & Transport Forum wants to change that.
The Tourism & Transport Forum is the peak industry group for the Australian tourism sector and it is urging the government to increase the age limits for the Working Holiday scheme. The group argues that Australia suffers from a desperate need for staff in many regions and that an influx of temporary workers on this scheme could be the solution.
Australia’s hospitality sector has a highly seasonal nature, which means that many businesses have a serious need for workers during the peak periods. If the age limits for the visa were removed, older workers with valuable experience and skills could come to Australia and work for a year.
The National Tourism Alliance of Australia also agrees with the proposal. They have stated that the age limit for the Working Holiday Visa should at least be increased to 35 years.
The tourism groups have also proposed other changes to the Working Holiday Program. They want the government to remove the six month limit on working for one employer and get rid of the requirement for all Working Holiday Visa deals to be reciprocal. They have also proposed expanding the program into Asia and allowing people who have had three or more months of working in regional tourism to get a second year extension on the visa.
The current working holiday visa program in Australia is available to citizens of the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Malta, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Italy, the Republic of Ireland, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Cyprus, Canada and Belgium. It allows these travellers to stay in Australia for up to 12 months and work for up to six months with any employer. For more information on how to apply, see the Australian Immigration Website.
What do you think about the proposed changes to the Australia Working Holiday Visa? Let us know in the comments below?
photo credit: Uluru rock (Australia 2010) via photopin (license)
I absolutely think it’s a great idea to raise the age limit to 35. That being said, I chose Australia for my first working holiday visa because the cut off was sooner. I was very happy to discover that after passing 30, that New Zealand increased their limit to 35! Which meant I still had another one I could do!
The 6-month limit for work is the biggest prohibition though. I had 2 jobs and neither one was willing to give me full-time hours because I could not commit to a full year. They saw it as a loss of time in training me since I would be producing far less for the company. This made it very difficult to keep up with rent and bills in Melbourne.
I still tell everyone I know that it was one of the best experiences of my life and to go there and do it but leaving was definitely difficult.
I would love to go in a work and holiday to Australia, but my age is 37 and I think is diffiicult for me to apply. I am from Chile and I regret, because I should have done this before. I have a degree here and I am also working with a contract in a company, is there any chance or any way to apply to something similar to WAH to people over 35 years old? thank you so much.