Working holiday visa pause leaves farms short as harvest season looms
A migration slowdown on skilled workers and backpackers has farmers concerned their workers' visas won't be approved in time for the upcoming harvest season.
The federal government's recent pause in working holiday visa applications from 24 countries, combined with a slower processing of skilled visas, is causing concerns for Australia's agricultural sector as harvest season approaches. Farmers are worried about the shortage of workers needed for tasks such as packing fruit and harvesting crops.
Matt Bourke, a Victorian contractor, had planned to hire 30 staff members, many of whom would have come from overseas on working holiday visas, but none have been approved yet. The National Farmers Federation estimates that overseas workers make up about half of Australia's peak harvest casual workforce. Agricultural workers predominantly use two types of visas: the work and holiday visa for backpackers and the skilled visa for skilled workers like heavy machinery operators.
The Department of Home Affairs has issued a statement acknowledging that the number of working holiday-makers in Australia is at a historically high level, which may lead to longer processing times for their visas.
Brief written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
