Backpacker back-track: Rules eased to boost bushfire recovery
The Federal Government has unveiled temporary changes to working holiday visas which it says will make it easier for backpackers to help rebuild fire-ravaged communities and stay in Australia longer.
Under the current working-holidaymaker visa rules, employers can only hire the same working holidaymakers or backpackers for six months at a time and volunteer work is not counted in the system.
To be eligible for a second-year visa, backpackers must complete 88 days of work in regional Australia. For a third year, visa holders must work for an additional six months.
Under the changes, Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge said employers would be able to hire the same backpackers for up to a year in fire-affected areas.
Voluntary work in disaster zones will also count towards the required days for second-year or third-year visas.
Tudge said organisations were crying out for volunteers, with about 30,000 people each year working in a regional area to make themselves eligible for a second-year visa.
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The president of volunteer-based organisation BlazeAid, Kevin Butler, said he was “ecstatic” and the arrangement went together like “peaches and cream”.
“We’ve been wanting this for about two months,” he said.
“It’s the most wonderful thing, it’s a win-win-win for backpackers and for farmers.
“We’re going to have many, many young people from all over the world who have their hearts and minds set on helping Australia.”
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Butler said there was limited paid work on farms at the moment, but many volunteers were needed to help rebuild rural fences.
Volunteers for BlazeAid are provided with four to five meals days and a place to sleep when they volunteer.
Tudge was questioned on reports that only one of almost 300 loan applications around the country had been approved by the Federal Government.
He said he knew there were a number of applications in the system and he “certainly” wanted them to be “processed as quickly as possible”.
“Of course, you do have to go through the right checks because it is a large amount of money handed over,” he said.
“In the meantime, there is an enormous amount of work that needs to be undertaken.”
– ABC / © 2020 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
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