Working Holiday Maker changes
What has been announced. What it could mean for Far North Queensland. And how your business can put its own workforce experience on the record.
What has changed?
On 17 September 2026, the Australian Government announced a ballot system for access to second- and third-year Working Holiday Maker visas. The existing specified regional-work requirements remain as the qualification for entering those ballots.
Minister Tony Burke said around 57,000 people qualified last year. The announced ballot would provide 45,000 places. The 88-day specified-work requirement remains.
Minister Tony Burke said around 31,000 people qualified last year. The announced third-year ballot would provide 5,000 places. The six-month specified-work requirement remains.
The table doesn't serve itself
Working Holiday Makers are part of the workforce behind restaurants, hotels, catering, events, tourism operations and accommodation across Far North Queensland.
FNQ works differently
Far North Queensland combines a large visitor economy with seasonal demand, major events, remote and regional locations, unusual operating hours and persistent recruitment pressure in parts of hospitality, accommodation, tourism and agriculture.
Home Affairs currently recognises eligible Northern Australian work in cafés and restaurants, catering, pubs and bars, accommodation, commercial housekeeping, tourism operations, tourist transport and event and entertainment venues as specified work for relevant Working Holiday Maker visas.
The practical question for FNQ: what happens to regional staffing and operating capacity if fewer experienced WHMs remain for second and third years?
What operators are reporting
The point of this campaign is not another general opinion. It is the numbers and experience sitting inside real FNQ businesses.
Working Holiday Makers in a typical year
Owner Craig Squire says the two businesses employ approximately 40 different WHMs each year across waiting, bar, cooking and kitchen roles.
For the Cairns 150 Ball, Ochre closed the restaurant to provide a core catering team and hired another 22 agency waiters. Craig says all 22 were Working Holiday Makers.
Not just restaurant staffing
Managing Director Rhys Bawden has highlighted the connected workforce across Port Douglas: chefs, front- and back-of-house staff, housekeeping, laundries, farm work and businesses supported by visitor spending.
That wider regional picture is what FNQ Food wants to measure.
Tell us what is happening in your business
FNQ Food is gathering workforce data and first-hand experience from restaurants, cafés, bars, caterers, hotels, resorts, accommodation providers, tourism operators, attractions, event businesses, producers, farms and other regional employers.
We want to understand how many Working Holiday Makers businesses employ, the roles they fill, local recruitment experience, whether second- and third-year workers are particularly important, and what reduced availability could mean in practice.
The aim is to give FNQ an evidence base rather than an assumption.
Write about your business
Signing and sharing a petition can demonstrate how many people are interested in an issue. A direct letter does something different: it lets you tell your elected representatives exactly what is happening inside your business.
Tony Burke MP
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
Senator Nita Green
Assistant Minister for Northern Australia
Businesses in the federal electorate of Kennedy can also contact Bob Katter MP at Bob.Katter.MP@aph.gov.au. Businesses elsewhere should contact their own federal member as well.
Make it yours
Use the template, but replace the brackets with your own workforce numbers and recruitment experience.
Dear [MP/Senator/Minister],
I am writing as the [owner/manager/director] of [business], a [restaurant/café/hotel/catering/tourism/food] business employing approximately [number] people in [location], Far North Queensland.
I am concerned about the Working Holiday Maker changes announced by the Australian Government on 17 September 2026, particularly the proposal to introduce ballots for second- and third-year visas.
The announced settings would limit the second-year ballot to 45,000 places, compared with approximately 57,000 people who qualified last year, and the third-year ballot to 5,000 places, compared with approximately 31,000 who qualified last year.
The existing regional work requirements would remain. This means workers may still undertake 88 days of specified regional work to qualify for a second year, or six months to qualify for a third year, but would then face uncertainty over whether they can remain in Australia.
For our business, this is not an abstract immigration issue.
We currently employ [number] Working Holiday Makers in the following roles: [roles].
During the past 12 months we have employed approximately [number] Working Holiday Makers in total.
We have recently attempted to recruit locally for [positions]. We received [number] Australian/local applications and [number] applications from Working Holiday Makers or other temporary visa holders. [Add any relevant recruitment experience.]
If access to experienced Working Holiday Makers is materially reduced, the likely effects on our business would include [reduced opening hours / inability to cater major events / unfilled kitchen positions / reduced services / lost revenue / additional workload on permanent employees / other].
Our experience is that these workers complement rather than simply substitute for our permanent Australian workforce. They allow us to fill seasonal and difficult-to-recruit positions, maintain trading capacity and support the jobs of our permanent employees.
We understand the Australian Government’s objective of managing net overseas migration. However, we ask that the particular labour-market and visitor-economy consequences for regional tourism and hospitality be examined before these changes are implemented.
I ask you to raise these concerns directly with the Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration and to support meaningful consultation with regional tourism, hospitality and agricultural businesses before the second- and third-year ballot arrangements commence.
I would also appreciate clarification of the commencement date, transitional arrangements, eligibility rules and how applicants who have already completed or commenced specified regional work will be treated.
I am available to provide further information about our workforce and recruitment experience if that would assist.
Yours sincerely,
[Name]
[Position]
[Business]
[Location]
[Telephone]
[Email]
FNQ Food campaign toolkit
Download the appropriate campaign graphic, add your own comment or use the suggested supporter text below, and link people back to this campaign hub.
Show suggested supporter post text
THE TABLE DOESN’T SERVE ITSELF. 🍽️🌴
When you dine out in Far North Queensland, you rarely know who grew up down the road and who arrived on a working holiday.
You simply enjoy the food, drinks, and hospitality made possible by the people behind every service.
Our local workforce comes first, always. But during peak tourism seasons, there simply aren’t enough local applicants to cover every shift.
That’s where Working Holiday Makers play an important role.
They help fill essential kitchen, floor, and service roles across our restaurants, cafés, bars, hotels, and events — particularly when demand is at its highest.
They may be here for a limited time, but their contribution is anything but incidental.
They work here.
They live here.
They spend money in our communities.
And they help regional businesses meet the workforce demands of a busy tourism season.
They don’t replace local jobs; they help businesses keep trading when local hands alone cannot fill every gap.
Now, changes to the Working Holiday Maker program are putting that delicate balance under the spotlight.
A reduced number of visas available for subsequent years, combined with a new ballot system, creates uncertainty for Working Holiday Makers hoping to return and for regional businesses that rely on them to help fill seasonal workforce gaps when they are needed most.
And that matters to all of us who enjoy the restaurants, cafés, hotels, events, and experiences that make Far North Queensland what it is.
A working holiday may be temporary, but the work these people do leaves a lasting mark.
We’re proud to support the travellers who invest in FNQ — and we’re standing with our region’s tourism, hospitality, and agricultural industries to advocate for sensible workforce settings.
Local workers and Working Holiday Makers = a fully staffed Far North Queensland.
#TheTableDoesntServeItself #FNQFood #TTNQ #ProtectWorkingHolidays
The petition
An independent Change.org petition is collecting signatures concerning the announced Working Holiday Maker changes. A petition can demonstrate breadth; direct correspondence allows a business to document its own workforce experience.
View the independent petition