Maria Francesca loves Australia’s way of life, environment and friendliness so much that she’s working towards extending her stay here for a third year.
But the 35-year-old, who managed a retail store in Italy, admits she probably wouldn’t have turned to farming if there wasn’t a legislated incentive.
“Well, to be honest, I don’t know how many of those jobs I would choose, if I wouldn’t be forced by the fact that I have to do in order to get a visa,” Ms Francesca said.
“Because, of course, we’re talking about very tough jobs.”
Backpackers have long been the backbone of the horticulture industry. (ABC Rural: Tom Major)
Ms Francesca’s response is one of the reasons the federal government’s regional migration review is sending billion-dollar shivers down the spines of the agriculture, hospitality and tourism sectors.
Australia’s Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa currently attracts more than 200,000 people from more than 40 partner countries to work and travel here every year.
Working holiday makers are crucial for strawberry growers. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
Queensland Farmers’ Federation chief executive Jo Sheppard said to extend their visas, workers must fill specified positions in remote and regional Australia.
“There is an 88-days of specified work that they’ll need to do in a regional or remote area to gain a second-year working holiday visa,” Ms Sheppard said.
“Or, if they want to get a third-year working holiday visa, they will need to complete six months of specified work.”
Ms Sheppard hopes the 88-day visa extension rule will remain. (Supplied: Jo Sheppard)
Visa holders must work in tourism and hospitality, plant and animal cultivation, fishing and pearling, tree farming and felling, mining and construction, or natural disaster recovery.
“So the 88-day rule has been a great way of ensuring that working holiday visa program works for all of Australia, and not just the cities,” Ms Sheppard said.
“Bringing not just skills, but also sharing their cultural and home country experiences, which has added enormously to the social fabric of rural and regional communities.”
Becky Murton, from the UK, worked at the Toompine Pub in 2022, before visa rules changed. (ABC Western Qld: Melanie Groves)
Changes under consideration
Australia’s trade agreement with the United Kingdom has already dropped the remote and regional work requirement for UK visa holders.
Now the federal government’s regional migration review is considering completely axing it.
“To see that taken away would be really, really disappointing,” Ms Sheppard said.
Cities are more popular for travelling workers in Australia. (ABC News: Elinya Chenery)
“If you’re someone from overseas considering a working holiday in Australia, it’s likely that you might have heard of Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, maybe even the Gold Coast.
“It’s highly unlikely that you’ve heard of or thought about working in St George, Bundaberg, Emerald or Rockhampton.”
Submissions for the regional migration review have now closed.
The Department of Home Affairs has not answered ABC Rural’s questions about when it was due to be completed and whether options would be offered to help regional communities if the visa extension requirements were axed.
The National Farmers’ Federation, Australian Tourism Export Council and Backpacker and Youth Tourism Advisory Panel commissioned a report to highlight the potential impact.
It calculated that if 20,000 WHMs no longer left the cities, it would cost regional economies $203 million per year and more than 1,000 jobs.
Workers from many countries sort fresh ginger at a Sunshine Coast farm. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
Hurt for horticulture
The horticulture sector alone estimated the loss of WHM would cost it $6.3 billion and 127,000 jobs along the supply chain.
The 2023 report by Aither said that backpackers have traditionally made up about 14 per cent of all farm workers in Australia, but up to as much as 44 per cent in horticulture, 31 per cent in grains, 26 per cent in red meat, and 25 per cent in cotton during peak times.
“It’s really concerning for farmers across Australia currently, we are, as are all businesses, really challenged by an ongoing very sharp skill shortage,” Ms Sheppard said.
Third generation ginger grower Kylie Templeton fears the impact of the review. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
The Templeton family began farming ginger on the Sunshine Coast in the 1940s, when the world was at war, disrupting maritime trade with China and imports of preserved ginger.
Kylie Templeton, who manages sales, distribution and marketing, feared the impact of any changes to the WHM visa.
“There’s so many different industries out there,” Ms Templeton said.
“If they [WHMs] have a choice that they’d prefer to work in, agriculture’s probably last on their list, because it is very hard work.”
More than 80 years and four generations of Templetons have worked to make the family business the largest ginger-growing operation in Australia, producing and packing more than 3,000 tonnes for retailers and processors every year.
Ginger is air dried after being washed. (ABC Rural: Jennifer Nichols)
Despite being close to the Sunshine Coast’s beautiful beaches and hinterland, Ms Templeton said the seasonal and challenging nature of farming made sourcing workers difficult.
“We recently went through a very high season, and we would have employed at least 40 to 50 extra backpackers that we just can’t get in our local community,” Ms Templeton said.
“About 60 per cent of our workers are locals, but we struggle to fill our whole capacity with locals, so we rely on those international workers.”
Growcom chief executive Rachel Chambers says many growers rely on the 88-day rule. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Owen Jacques)
Workers at risk of exploitation
Growcom chief executive Rachel Chambers — part of the Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers — said WHM visa changes would impact food production.
She said while the Pacific Islander Mobility Scheme or PALM was helpful, it did not suit many small to medium growers.
“If we take away the working holiday visa arrangements, that’s almost like taking away a leg of a chair,” Ms Chambers said.
A Four Corners investigation found exploited workers were being employed on working holiday visas. (ABC: Four Corners)
The government’s migration strategy noted that successive reviews and inquiries have shown the 88-day, 179-day and specified work requirement was a key driver of exploitation.
“Visa holders have been subject to an increased dependency on employers, underpayment and non-payment of wages, sexual harassment and workplace health and safety problems,” it read.
“Worker exploitation hurts backpackers, as well as Australians, and it damages Australia’s international reputation.”
Ms Sheppard said that all workers, whether they were Australian residents or visiting, must be provided with safe and appropriate work conditions.
“The vast majority of businesses do this; it is the minority that don’t,” she said.
“To discriminate against regional, rural and remote Australia under the guise of responding to inappropriate treatment of workers is wrong.”
