Australia wants British backpackers to leave the cities

Fewer British backpackers in regional Australia

Mexicairns owner Peter McLeay has noticed far fewer British backpackers looking for jobs in Cairns since mid-2023, when a UK-Australia free trade deal took effect.

“You get far fewer British backpackers looking for jobs here these days”

The trade deal changed the rules

The UK-Australia free trade agreement exempted British backpackers from having to find jobs in regional or remote places to stay beyond a year, and raised the age limit from thirty to thirty-five.

British backpacker visas surged

Backpacker visas issued to Brits jumped from forty-seven thousand two hundred in two thousand twenty-three to twenty-four to just over seventy-seven thousand in two thousand twenty-five to twenty-six, Australian government data shows.

Brits are staying in Sydney instead

Without the incentive to go regional, many British backpackers are basing themselves in big cities. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says many choose Bondi or Coogee, two of Sydney's most famous beachside suburbs.

Brits now make up a quarter of all backpackers

British backpackers made up almost a quarter of all three hundred twenty-three thousand backpacker visas issued last year. The Australian government now wants the free trade deal revisited.

Hostel operators see the shift

Dan McConnell, general manager of Mad Monkey backpacker hostel chain, says Brits used to be the largest clientele at its Cairns accommodation. Now French outnumber British three to one.

“We see the Brits get to Sydney, decide it's the coolest place in the world, and stay there”

Other nationalities face stricter rules

Working holidaymakers from other countries must do at least eighty-eight days of specified regional work in agriculture, fisheries, tourism and hospitality to qualify for a second year extension, and six months to stay a third…

Albanese and Burnham discuss backpackers

Last week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met UK counterpart Andy Burnham at a Commonwealth leaders meeting in the Caribbean. Backpackers were on the agenda alongside AI, gender violence online and the AUKUS defence pact.

Albanese signals openness to change

Albanese told reporters he had pushed for a change in backpacker rules and that Burnham had been very constructive about it.

“We'll work those issues through over coming weeks”

Farms depend on backpacker labour

Backpackers make up one in seven farm jobs across Australia, with about fifty-two thousand people on working holiday visas doing jobs in horticulture each year, according to the National Farmers Federation.

Regional towns have lost British workers

Young Brits temporarily living and working in Far North Queensland peaked at around twenty thousand, says Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Mark Olsen. Now it is closer to eleven thousand.

Hospitality venues struggling to replace British staff

Cairns restaurateur Fintan Rafferty says of about one hundred eighty staff across four venues, only five are British.Before the visa rule change, that was closer to twenty-five.