How this Visa Works

The purpose of this visa is for you to holiday and travel in Australia. Any work should be temporary to supplement your funds. Periods of work should be broken up by periods of holiday and travel.

If you are referred by an agency or labour supplier to a business, you can work 6 months for that business. The same agency or labour supplier can later refer you to another business where you can work for another 6 months.

Working beyond 6 months with the same employer may result in your visa being cancelled and you may be required to leave Australia.

Applicants

You can apply for a Work and Holiday visa if you:

• are aged between 18 and 30 years (inclusive) on the date you apply
• hold a passport from a country that has a Work and Holiday arrangement with Australia
• meet health and character requirements
• have approval from your government (not required for applicants from the USA)
• have relevant education qualifications
• are able to speak English at a functional level

Accompanying family

You cannot include family members in your application for this visa. If a family member or partner wants to come with you to Australia, they must apply for their own visa to Australia.

Employers

For this visa, the department regards the employer as the organisation or business for which you are working directly.

Working

You can undertake any type of work on a temporary basis. If you intend to work in your own occupation you should check if registration or licensing is required.
See:
Australian Skills Recognition Information (ASRI)
National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition
Trades Recognition

Working beyond the 6 months with the same employer, without the required permission, may result in your visa being cancelled and you may be required to leave Australia.

This means that you cannot work for longer than 6 months in the same position, in the same location, doing the same work.

If your main reason for coming to Australia is work, you should consider applying for a business visa.
See: Employer Sponsored Workers

Studying

While in Australia as the holder of a Work and Holiday visa you must not study or train for more than 4 months. If you want to study for longer than 4 months, you should apply for a student visa from outside Australia.

Visa validity period

If granted a Work and Holiday visa, you have 12 months from the grant date to enter Australia. The visa is valid for 12 months from the date you first enter Australia.
Note: If you leave Australia during your 12 month stay, you cannot recover the period of time spent outside Australia.

Activating your Work and Holiday visa

If you applied for your Work and Holiday visa outside Australia, your 12 month stay period starts when you enter Australia. This includes entering Australia as a transit passenger, on an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA), Crew Travel Authority (CTA), or a Maritime Crew Visa (MCV). When you have started the stay period on your Work and Holiday visa, it cannot be delayed or deferred.

If you do not want to start your 12 month stay on your Work and Holiday visa, and you plan to transit through Australia or enter on an ETA, CTA or MCV, you should consider cancelling your Work and Holiday visa. You will then need to apply for an alternative visa before you travel to Australia. Information about visa options when transiting through Australia is available from the departmental website.
See: Transiting through Australia

To have your Work and Holiday visa cancelled, contact the office that processed your Work and Holiday visa. You may apply for another Work and Holiday visa in the future but will need to pay another visa application charge.

Note: If you want to travel to Australia on an ETA, CTA or MCV before activating your Work and Holiday visa, you should first cancel your Work and Holiday visa. Cancelling your Work and Holiday visa after obtaining an ETA, CTA or MCV will also cancel the ETA, CTA or MCV.