Thinking about a working holiday in Australia? We moved there on working holiday visas and spent over two years in Oz: eight months in Perth, then Melbourne, plus a road trip from Perth to Melbourne and a month up the East Coast. Over the years we have written a lot about it, so this page pulls every one of our Australia guides together in the order you will need them.
Start at the top with the visa, and work your way down to your first weeks, finding work, getting your second year and, of course, seeing the country.
Updated October 2026: working holiday visa Australia key facts
- Visa fee: AUD 840 for your first Working Holiday visa (subclass 417), AUD 1,000 for a second or third.
- Age: 18 to 30, or up to 35 for some countries, including Ireland, the UK, France and Canada.
- Processing: Home Affairs says to expect around three months, and not to book flights until your visa is granted.
- Funds: around AUD 5,000, plus enough for a flight home.
- Second and third year: 3 months of “specified work” for a second visa and 6 months for a third. UK passport holders no longer need to do it (since 1 July 2024), but Irish, French and Canadian citizens still do.
- Minimum wage: AUD 26.44 an hour from 1 July 2026 (casual workers get a 25% loading on top), and your employer pays 12% super on top of your wages.
Always check the official Working Holiday visa page on Home Affairs before you apply, as rules and fees change.
1. Getting the visa
- Working holiday visa Australia checklist: the best place to start, covering what to sort out before you fly and in your first weeks.
- Australia vs Canada: can’t decide which working holiday to do? Our honest comparison.
- What we learned from two working holiday visas: the life lessons from doing both.
- How to migrate to Australia: if you are thinking about the longer term.
2. Before you go
- 100 things we wish someone told us before moving to Australia: our biggest guide, packed with everything we learned the hard way.
- Travel insurance for Australia: why you need it even if your country has a reciprocal health agreement.
- How to send money to Australia: move your savings over without losing a chunk to bank fees.
- Shipping luggage to Australia: the options for sending extra bags or boxes over.
- 30 reasons to never visit Australia: the things nobody warned us about before the big move.
3. Your first weeks
- Best bank in Australia for newcomers: how to open an account, ideally before you land.
- Working holiday tax in Australia: your TFN, the 15% backpacker tax rate, super and getting it back when you leave.
- Buying a car in Australia: PPSR checks, rego and insurance, plus cheap campervan relocations.
- Moving to Melbourne: everything you wanted to know about the city that quickly became our home.
- International money transfers: how to send money home (or anywhere) cheaply once you are earning.
4. Work and your second year
- How NOT to do your farm work: our farm work story, shotgun-carrying farmers and all, and how to avoid our mistakes.
- Best travel jobs: easy ways to earn while you are on the road.
5. Travelling around Australia
- East Coast of Australia travel guide: our month on the most popular backpacker route in the country.
- Perth to Melbourne road trip: our 15-day itinerary in a $900 car everyone said would never make it.
- Top 10 beaches in Australia: our favourite stretches of sand.
- Australian beach captions for Instagram: for when you get there.
- Best quotes about Australia: a bit of inspiration before you go.
Planning your working holiday in Australia?
- True Traveller: the travel insurance we use
- Wise: send your savings to Australia and spend in AUD without big bank fees
- TorFX: for larger transfers, with a dedicated account manager
- Airalo: an Australia eSIM so you have data from the moment you land
- Booking.com: somewhere to stay for your first few weeks
- Discover Cars: car hire for your road trips
- Australia tours: Whitsundays, the Great Ocean Road, K’gari (Fraser Island) and more
Got a question about your working holiday that isn’t answered here? Leave a comment on any of the guides above and we will do our best to help.
Steve and Sabina
Some links are affiliate links. If you use them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.