When borders close and harvests do not wait, a society must look inward for the hands it once borrowed from elsewhere. Western Australia, facing some seven thousand unfilled seasonal agricultural positions due to COVID-19 restrictions that have halted the usual flow of interstate and international workers, has chosen to pay its own young people to step into that gap — offering rebates of more than $3,800 to those willing to travel and toil in the regions this spring and summer. It is a wager on whether financial incentive and the reframing of hard labour as adventure can substitute for the glo
WA offers $3,900 to lure young workers into regional seasonal jobs
A chance for young people to experience a backpacker holiday while the harvest waits
Mark
So the government is essentially paying people to do farm work. Why not just raise wages instead?
Mimi
Because they can't control what farmers pay—this is a rebate scheme, not a wage subsidy. The money goes to the worker for relocation and accommodation, which removes the barrier to taking the job in the first place. A farm labourer might not move three hours away for the same wage they could earn at home.
Luke
But we don't know if it works. Seven thousand jobs is the normal number, but the source doesn't say how many are actually unfilled right now. That's a crucial gap.
Mark
Fair point. So we're assuming there's a shortage, but we don't have the actual numbers?
Luke
Exactly. We know borders are closed and international workers can't come. We know the scheme exists. But the actual vacancy rate—that's missing.
Mimi
The premise is sound though. If you normally rely on backpackers and interstate workers, and they can't come, you have a problem. The government wouldn't spend this money if there wasn't genuine pressure from the sector.
Mark
What about the regions themselves? Are some more desperate than others?
Mimi
The rebate structure suggests it. The Kimberley gets $500 relocation money versus $150 for closer regions. That's a signal that remote areas are harder to fill.
Luke
Or it's just acknowledging that travel costs more. We can't read desperation into a tiered payment structure without more reporting.
Mark
When does this actually start?
Mimi
September 21. So it's timed for the spring-summer season when the work actually exists.
Mark
And if it doesn't attract enough people?
Luke
That's the real question, and the source doesn't address it. What's the contingency? Do farms just operate at reduced capacity? Do they lobby for exemptions to bring in foreign workers? We don't know.
O Pulso
- Seven thousand seasonal farm, fishery, and processing jobs sit empty as closed borders cut off the interstate and international workers who normally fill them each spring.
- Without pickers, shearers, and processors arriving on schedule, crops risk rotting in the field and facilities risk sitting idle through peak harvest season.
- The state government is offering rebates of up to $3,360 for accommodation and $500 for relocation to lure young West Australians — school leavers, students, job seekers — into regional work more than 100 kilometres from home.
- Higher payments for remote Kimberley, Pilbara, and Gascoyne placements signal that the most isolated and understaffed regions face the steepest challenge in attracting volunteers.
- Premier McGowan has also called on the Federal Government to act, acknowledging that state-level incentives alone may not be sufficient to solve what is ultimately a national labour crisis.
- The scheme launches September 21, and the harvest season itself will serve as the verdict on whether money and messaging can replace the mobility that COVID-19 has taken away.
When borders close and harvests do not wait, a society must look inward for the hands it once borrowed from elsewhere. Western Australia, facing some seven thousand unfilled seasonal agricultural positions due to COVID-19 restrictions that have halted the usual flow of interstate and international workers, has chosen to pay its own young people to step into that gap — offering rebates of more than $3,800 to those willing to travel and toil in the regions this spring and summer. It is a wager on whether financial incentive and the reframing of hard labour as adventure can substitute for the global mobility that modern agriculture has quietly come to depend upon.
Western Australia's farms face a labour crisis with no easy fix. Each spring, roughly seven thousand seasonal positions — fruit pickers, shearing hands, packing and processing workers — are filled by a mix of interstate travellers and international backpackers. This year, COVID-19 border restrictions have grounded both groups entirely, and the harvest waits for no one.
Starting September 21, the state government is offering rebates of more than $3,800 to young West Australians willing to take on agricultural, fisheries, or food processing work at least one hundred kilometres from home. The package includes $3,360 toward accommodation — paid at $40 a night for up to three months — plus a relocation allowance ranging from $150 for closer regional zones up to $500 for those prepared to travel as far as the Kimberley.
Premier Mark McGowan framed the scheme as opportunity rather than emergency, pitching temporary regional work to school leavers, students, and job seekers as something close to a paid backpacker experience. He also called on the Federal Government to do more, conceding that state incentives alone may not be enough to solve what is, at its core, a national problem.
Whether the money and the framing will be persuasive enough remains the open question. Seasonal agricultural work is physically demanding, and the workers who usually do it have been drawn by circumstances — travel, adventure, necessity — that a government rebate can only partially replicate. If the scheme succeeds, farms will have their workforce and the state's agricultural economy will endure the disruption. If it falls short, the season itself will deliver the answer.
Western Australia's agricultural regions face a labour crisis with no easy fix in sight. Normally, as spring turns to summer, farms across the state fill roughly seven thousand seasonal positions—fruit pickers, shearing assistants, packing and processing workers. But this year, the borders are closed. Interstate workers cannot cross state lines. International backpackers, who have traditionally filled much of this gap, are grounded by COVID-19 restrictions. The harvest waits for no one, and the State Government has decided to pay young West Australians to step into the breach.
Starting September 21, the government is offering rebates totalling more than $3,800 to anyone willing to leave home and take on agricultural, fisheries, or food processing work more than one hundred kilometres away. The money breaks down into two parts: $3,360 for accommodation costs, paid at $40 per night for up to three months, and a relocation allowance that varies by region. For work in the Peel, South West, Great Southern, Wheatbelt, Mid-West, and Goldfields-Esperance regions, the relocation payment is $150. It climbs to $350 for the Gascoyne and Pilbara, and reaches $500 for anyone willing to go all the way to the Kimberley.
Premier Mark McGowan framed the scheme as an opportunity, not a desperation measure. "For many regional agriculture businesses, ensuring they can attract enough seasonal workers in the coming months is absolutely vital," he said, positioning the rebates as a way to help workers get out to the regions and fill those roles. The government has also marketed the arrangement as a chance for young people—school leavers, university students, job seekers—to experience what it calls a "backpacker holiday" while earning money and helping the state's agricultural sector survive a labour shortage created by circumstances entirely beyond anyone's control.
The timing is deliberate. Spring and summer are peak seasons for harvesting and processing across Western Australia's farming regions. Without workers, crops rot in the field and processing facilities sit idle. The closed borders have eliminated the usual supply of temporary labour that has sustained these operations for years. McGowan also called on the Federal Government to do more to promote the agricultural sector and incentivise Western Australians to take up these opportunities, suggesting that state-level incentives alone may not be enough to solve what is fundamentally a national problem.
What remains to be seen is whether three thousand dollars and the promise of a regional adventure will be enough to draw young people away from their homes and into physically demanding seasonal work. The scheme is a bet that financial incentive, combined with the framing of temporary agricultural work as an experience rather than a burden, will persuade enough young West Australians to fill the gap left by closed borders. If it works, farms will have their workers and the state's agricultural economy will weather the disruption. If it does not, the harvest will tell a different story.
Citações Notáveis
For many regional agriculture businesses, ensuring they can attract enough seasonal workers in the coming months is absolutely vital—so we're providing some additional incentives to help workers get out there and fill those roles.— Premier Mark McGowan
Quer a matéria completa?
Leia o original em PerthNow ↗
Politics & Governance