Increasing the age range and changing the financial requirements of Work Holiday Visa applicants are factors that could boost Australia’s GDP by $700 million in a decade, Australia’s peak tourism body has claimed.
In its paper entitled The Importance of the Working Holiday Visa (Subclass 417), the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has urged the federal government to make five key policy adjustments to the popular visa.
According to the ATEC, if travellers were allowed to get WHVs multiple times and extend them easier, it would create additional jobs and help the tourism industry with some of its labour shortages.
Under existing rules, WHV holders are allowed to extend their visas by 12 months after they complete 88 days of work in a defined regional industry, such as agriculture, horticulture, forestry, mining, construction or fishing. ATEC wants the tourism and hospitality industry added to that list.
Another proposal is for the costs and financial requirements of applying for the visa to be kept constant or reduced.
‘Third is to widen the qualifying age range, which is currently 18-30, so that visitors are eligible until they are 35.
Fourth is to allow travelers to gain the visa multiple times, rather than limiting them to one with a potential second year extension, as is currently the case.
ATEC suggests allowing backpackers to get the WHV once before the age of 25 and once after.
ATEC is also pushing the government to improve its engagement with the tourism industry in an attempt to expand the program to new source countries.
According to the ATEC managing director, Felicia Mariani, the current WHV arrangements do not offer Australia the maximum benefit that the backpacker and youth market can bring.
“Previous research undertaken by the Government found more than 11 per cent of working holiday makers would revisit Australia for work if they were able to do so, and based on this figure alone, Australia could expect a boost to GDP of $275 million over 10 years by allowing multiple visas,” she said.
“It is clear there is a desire, particularly within an older age group, to return to Australia for work and this desire is driven by previous experience. “With around 1.3 million working holiday maker visitors over the past 10 years, Australia stands to benefit from the significant multiplier effect of their return visit.”
She added that backpackers are keen to work in the hospitality industry and are more likely to take short-term and seasonal work in regional areas where this kind of labour force is most needed.
“We also know that for every hundred travellers in Australia under this visa category, 6.3 full time equivalent jobs are created in the wider economy, which equates to almost 12,000 full-time-equivalent jobs across the country,” she added.
A spokeswoman for the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen told the Irish Echo that the government recognises that the tourism sector plays a vital and dynamic role in the Australian economy. However she said the government has already taken measures to assist the tourism industry, including a new labour agreement to help the tourism and hospitality sectors attract workers from overseas.
“The government is committed to supporting the Australian tourism sector and economy by facilitating the entry of temporary entrants with short-term work rights, while maintaining the integrity of the migration program and retaining employment opportunities for local Australians,” she said.
The Department would be working with the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism to identify regional hot spots where competition for labour is intensifying, and consider these for targeting under the Regional Migration Agreement program, she added.
“The Department will be working cooperatively with industry in coming months to determine what support is needed and the form it should take,” she said.
