Australia Facing Labour Shortage
Working Holiday visa (subclass 417): There are certain times of the year when many countries need extra labor to help them with their various occupations. Labor is especially required in agriculture and farming. Farmers are quite tensed up about their produce not getting picked up in the specific time frame. Farmers with large fields find it impossible to pick their produce when it gets ripe. Due to this, the unpicked fruit is left on the trees and it just rots away. As much as the farmers want to get labor on a contract basis, the agencies are unable to supply them due to lack of labor in the country.
The farmers tried to solve this problem by requesting for a stand-alone visa for the agriculture sector. The Australian government initially agreed for the visa but later the idea was rejected. Instead, the government is considering a proposal which will broaden the work and holiday visa so that thirteen countries, along with India, will be included to handle the labor shortage, especially in the farming sector
The Solution
If the things go as planned, it will be beneficial both the laborers and the Australian farmers. Agriculture based businesses will benefit greatly from this new type of visa. Before the visa was announced, the farmers from India could not be hired as there were no rules to give them temporary employment for labor work. The Working Holiday Visa Australia, which came into effect from 1st July 2019 will solve this problem.
Problems Solved
Backpackers visa workers were available for such jobs but they only worked for a few weeks and after that then they used to move to another area to look for more work opportunities. Another problem which arose was that the task on the farms required a lot of labor and hard work. An average backpacker (especially from a developed country ) would not be able to willingly carry out all the duties. Training them for three weeks and their exit after just a month was a waste of time.
They are also used to putting in hours of hard labor. Other countries which have been included in the proposal are Mexico, Switzerland, the Philippines Fiji, Croatia, Solomon Islands Latvia, Andorra, Lithuania Monaco, and Mongolia. They will be added to the 25 countries which are eligible for Work and Holiday visa.
You are eligible if you are
- aged between 18 and 31 and
- hold a passport of the listed countries
It will allow you to visit, work and explore Australia. It will be a good opportunity for you to learn the English language as well. You could settle in one place or travel and meet new people.
