Today the Department of Home Affairs legislated a previously announced amendment to allow working holiday makers in Australia to include bushfire recovery work when applying for their second or third working holiday visas.
This is a temporary change only and relevant work must have been undertaken in a regional area affected by bushfires after the 31/7/2019 and before 1/3/2020. Both s/c 417 and s/c 462 visa holders benefit from this amendment.
Bushfire recovery work has been defined as paid or unpaid (volunteer) work involving:
- construction, farming, or any other work in association with recovery or restitution of land, property, farm animals or wildlife;
and
- providing support services or assistance to people living, working or volunteering in the affected areas.
Regional Australia bushfire affected areas:
NSW:
Armidale, Ballina, Bega Valley, Bellingen, Blue Mountains, Byron, Central Coast, Cessnock, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Cootamundra-Gundagai, Eurobodalla, Glen Innes Severn, Goulburn Mulwaree, Gwydir, Greater Hume, Hawkesbury, Inverell, Kempsey, Ku-ring-gai, Kyogle, Lake Macquarie, Lismore, Lithgow, Mid Coast, Mid-Western, Muswellbrook, Nambucca, Narrabri, Oberon, Penrith, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Queanbeyan-Palerang, Richmond Valley, Shoalhaven, Singleton, Snowy Monaro, Snowy Valleys, Sutherland, Tamworth, Tenterfield, Tweed, Upper Hunter, Upper Lachlan, Uralla, Walcha, Wagga Wagga, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly
VIC:
Alpine, Ararat, Ballarat, East Gippsland, Falls Creek, Glenelg, Golden Plains, Greater Bendigo, Indigo, Mansfield, Mount Buller, Mount Hotham, Mount Stirling, Moyne, Northern Grampians, Pyrenees, Southern Grampians, Strathbogie, Towong, Wangaratta, Wellington, Wodonga
QLD:
Bundaberg, Gladstone, Gold Coast, Gympie, Ipswich, Livingstone, Lockyer Vallev, Noosa, Redland, Scenic Rim, Somerset, Southern Downs, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba
SA:
Adelaide Hills, Coorong, , Kangaroo Island, Kingston, Lower Eyre Peninsula, Mid Murray, Mount Barker, Murray Bridge, Playford, Southern Mallee and Yorke Peninsula
TAS:
Break O’Day, Central Highlands and Southern Midlands
ACT:
All areas
Immigration Australia 