Australia working holiday visa guide

Ten guides to the Australia working holiday visa, plus a practical application-email template. The visa guides reference the government pages that set the rules and carry the date I last checked them, because the fee, the age limit and the minimum wage all moved on 1 July 2026 and most of what you will read elsewhere still describes the rules as they were before that.

Getting a second year

A second Working Holiday Maker visa is another 12 months. It costs 88 calendar days of specified work on your first visa, paid at legal rates, and you have to be inside the age limit on the day you lodge.

• What counts as specified work: which work Home Affairs accepts, which postcodes it has to happen in, and how one day of the 88 is counted.
• The second working holiday visa: what the 88 days require, why the charge is AUD 1,000 from 1 July 2026, when and where to apply, and the exemption that lets UK passport holders skip the work.
• The age limit: 18 to 30 inclusive on most passports, 18 to 35 on ten of them, and why an over-age application is now invalid at lodgement, with no fee taken and no review.

Living on the visa you have

What you are allowed to do for the 12 months, and the things nobody tells you until you need them.

• The conditions and restrictions: any job you like, 6 months per employer under 8547, 4 months of study under 8548, 12 months counted from first entry, and no dependent children.
• The 6 month rule: the five exemptions to condition 8547, and why tourism and hospitality is exempt anywhere in Australia since 1 January 2024.
• Medicare: which passports get reciprocal cover, what that cover pays for, and when it runs out.
• ABNs and starting a business: when you are entitled to an ABN, and why a venue that demands one before it hires you is a red flag.

Applying, and what comes after

• How long it takes to process: the 417 and the 462 percentiles, why yours is taking so long, where you have to be when you apply and when it is granted, and what the BCC number is.
• How to stay in Australia after it: why a working holiday visa is not a PR pathway, and the two routes that are.
• Is it worth it: the hourly wage, the flat 15% tax on your first $45,000, and the 65% withheld from the taxable part of your super when you leave.

Applying for regional work

Use the hospitality job application email template to introduce yourself, describe your experience and ask an employer about work. It includes a fictional housekeeping example and a checklist for your CV, availability and contact details.

After the rules comes the work

Once you know which work and locations fit your plans, get88 can send individual applications with your approved message and CV from Gmail. Explore the regional employer pages, then check coverage and save your preferences during setup. The FAQ covers prices and refunds; how it works explains the steps before you start sending.

For the official specified-work rules, see the 417 and 462 pages. get88 provides job-application tools, not migration advice.