Live: Albanese to seek tighter rules for British backpackers in meeting with UK PM
Anthony Albanese will seek a tightening of rules for British backpackers coming to Australia when he meets his UK counterpart this week. Follow live.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese plans to push for tighter regulations on British backpackers visiting Australia during an upcoming meeting with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua. As part of the agreement, Albanese aims to reverse certain aspects of the Morrison-era UK free trade agreement that currently exempts British backpackers from working in regional and rural areas.
Since 2021, the number of British backpacker visas issued has doubled to nearly 80,000 per year. The government has already implemented a lottery system to control the influx of working holiday-makers and has slowed the processing of UK backpacker visas to curb net overseas migration. Despite the free trade agreement being legally binding, it's believed that the regional work rules could potentially be reinstated with the agreement of the UK government.
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