Working Holiday Visa Pause Threatens Harvest Season

Farmers are worried there won't be enough workers to pack fruit and harvest crops after recent changes to visa processing.

The federal government has paused working holiday visa applications coming from 24 of 29 countries, amid a slowdown in processing skilled visa applications. These two quiet changes, made to curb net overseas migration, have raised fears in the agricultural sector.

Worker shortages expected

Operating heavy machinery is a key part of grain and crop harvest across Australia. Victorian contractor Matt Bourke had planned to hire 30 staff members ahead of the grain harvest in just a few weeks, with many coming from overseas on both visas.