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Planning a working holiday in Australia from the UK? A ballot may now decide your second year

News · 2026-09-23 · 4 min read

For years, a gap year or working holiday in Australia has been almost a rite of passage for young people in the UK. Do your stint, tick the boxes, and staying on for longer felt within reach. The Australian government has now announced a change that swaps that predictability for a draw.

Industry groups are busy arguing about lost tourism revenue. This piece looks at the question that matters if you are the one packing the rucksack: what does a ballot mean for your plans?

45,000 and 5,000: the new ceilings explained

From next year, the number of second-year Working Holiday Maker (WHM) places will be capped at 45,000, and third-year places at just 5,000. Compared with 2025, that is a fall of over 21% in second-year approvals and more than 80% in third-year approvals.

Your first working holiday visa should stay fairly straightforward to get. The change bites when you try to stay on. Under the system described, you would complete regional work (88 days for a second year, 179 days for a third) and then enter a ballot, with no promise of a place at the end.

Before you rely on any of this, check the regional work rules for your own passport on the visa's official page, because the conditions are not the same for every country. The Australian visa listing is the place to start.

How it changes the choice of destination

Until now the deal looked simple: put in your regional days, earn the extension, stay longer, save more and see more of the country. Under a ballot, months of farm or hospitality work may not turn into the extra year you had in mind. Anyone comparing Australia with Canada, New Zealand or other working holiday countries now has an extra risk to weigh.

That matters at three different points:

• if you have not applied yet and are still picking a country for your year away
• if you are on your first visa and deciding whether regional work is worth the time without a sure reward
• if you are on your second visa and wondering whether to try for a third year or start planning your next move

The questions nobody has answered yet

The tourism, farming, accommodation and business groups opposing the change have listed a string of open questions, and several land squarely on applicants:

• Start date. The ballot is reportedly due to begin in November, which leaves very little notice.
• How places are shared out. Splitting the ballot by visa subclass, by country of origin or running one pool would change your odds a great deal depending on your passport.
• People already partway through. There is no confirmation yet of transition arrangements for those who finished their regional days expecting the old system.

If you are midway through regional work and counting on the old rules, getting that last point clarified comes before anything else.

A sensible way to plan now

Until the detail is published, treat the extension as a chance rather than a certainty:

• regional work now earns you a place in a draw, not an automatic extra year
• get advice for your own situation before committing to 88 or 179 days of regional work
• keep a fallback ready, such as another visa, another country or a shorter stay in Australia
• watch closely for the transition rules if you are already partway through

If you still want regional or harvest work during your stay, Seasonal Jobs Australia lists farm and harvest roles. This is a live policy with details still being worked out, so rely on current, case-specific guidance rather than general commentary, this article included.

For the wider picture, read our look at what the working holiday shake-up means for farms and workers and whether the farm visa fix will help at harvest time. If you would rather go on a work visa from the start, browse jobs in Australia for UK citizens.

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