On the tropical edge of Queensland, where a Mexican restaurant in Cairns is staffed by young people from across the world, a quiet change has been felt: fewer British travellers come looking for work. The shift traces back to a trade deal that let Britons stay on working holiday visas without taking regional jobs, a privilege that has drawn many of them to the bright pull of Sydney instead of the farms and kitchens of the north. Now Canberra and London are being asked to revisit that bargain, as the human need for seasonal hands collides with the freedom young people sought when they crossed t
Why Australia Wants British Backpackers to Trade Bondi for the Outback
Without those pickers, the avos stay on the tree.
Mark
Why did a rule change in 2023 matter so much to a taco restaurant in Cairns?
Mimi
Because it removed the reason Britons headed north. Without the regional work requirement, many stayed in Sydney. Rafferty's payroll went from about 25 Britons to five out of 180.
Mark
And the visa numbers climbed anyway?
Mimi
Yes, from 47,200 in 2023-24 to just over 77,000 in 2025-26. The age limit rising to 35 also played a part.
Luke
Careful, though. The source ties the Cairns decline to the deal, but those are largely the views of business owners and tourism officials. Nobody here shows that the deal alone caused it.
Mimi
Fair. The government data on visas is firm. The causal story comes from people with a stake in the answer.
Mark
What does the farm lobby make of it?
Mimi
It welcomes the talks but says shortages are broader than the UK deal. Its bigger worry is the proposed ballot capping second-year extensions at 45,000 and third-year at 5,000.
Luke
And those caps are only proposals, still in consultation. Albanese announced nothing last week, only that Burnham was constructive.
Mark
So what's actually settled?
Luke
Very little. Talks over coming weeks, no commitment to a change.
Mimi
And the Britons interviewed are split on it, though the ones quoted mostly accept three months of regional work.
El Pulso
- British backpacker visas jumped from 47,200 to over 77,000 in just two years, and many never leave Sydney's beaches.
- Far North Queensland farms and restaurants are short-staffed, with avocados left unpicked and kitchens missing familiar faces.
- Albanese, who had ruled out the change weeks ago, now presses for a rule change after pressure from regional businesses.
- Talks with Andy Burnham opened at a Caribbean summit, but nothing has been announced and the negotiation runs for weeks.
- Separate plans to cap and ballot visa extensions are under consultation, and some applications are already slowed or paused.
On the tropical edge of Queensland, where a Mexican restaurant in Cairns is staffed by young people from across the world, a quiet change has been felt: fewer British travellers come looking for work. The shift traces back to a trade deal that let Britons stay on working holiday visas without taking regional jobs, a privilege that has drawn many of them to the bright pull of Sydney instead of the farms and kitchens of the north. Now Canberra and London are being asked to revisit that bargain, as the human need for seasonal hands collides with the freedom young people sought when they crossed the world. Nothing is settled yet, and the outcome will say something about how a nation balances its open doors against the work that keeps its countryside fed and its tables full.
At Mexicairns, a Mexican restaurant in Cairns, the staff come from France, Italy, Ireland and Argentina. The city has long welcomed young travellers, but owner Peter McLeay has noticed that fewer British backpackers come looking for work since mid-2023. That was when the UK and Australia's free trade deal took effect, giving Britons a special exemption: they no longer had to take regional or remote jobs to stay beyond a year, and the age limit rose to 35. British visas climbed from 47,200 to over 77,000, now nearly a quarter of all backpacker visas.
Many of those Britons settle in Sydney instead. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the incentive to go regional has been lost, and the government now wants the deal revisited. Hostel manager Dan McConnell describes a generation treating the visa as a three-year career break rather than a working holiday, while regional employers in Far North Queensland describe shrinking teams and unpicked crops. At Red Valley Farm, avocados stay on the tree when British applications dry up.
Albanese raised the matter with Andy Burnham at a Commonwealth meeting, calling the British leader constructive, though no decision has been made. Meanwhile, the farm lobby worries more about broader proposals to cap visa extensions, which could reshape the whole backpacker workforce. For now, the talks continue, and young people like Paige Tomlinson and Ethan Phillips weigh whether a few months of regional work is a price worth paying for the adventure.
At Mexicairns, a Mexican restaurant in Cairns, in north-east Australia, the tacos are served by staff from France, Italy, Ireland and Argentina. The city has long drawn young international travellers who want a tropical base and some money for the road. One nationality is now scarcer. Owner Peter McLeay says far fewer British backpackers come looking for work, a shift he has noticed since mid-2023.
That was when the free trade deal between the UK and Australia took effect. Besides tariff-free trade in Tim Tams and Penguins, it gave Britons on working holiday visas special treatment: they no longer had to find regional or remote work in order to stay beyond a year. The deal also raised the age limit from 30 to 35. Visas issued to Britons rose from 47,200 in 2023-24 to just over 77,000 in 2025-26, according to the latest Australian government data. Britons now make up almost a quarter of the 323,000 backpacker visas issued last year.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says that without the incentive to go regional, many Britons settle in the big cities, in "Bondi or Coogee", two of Sydney's best-known beachside suburbs. His government now wants the deal revisited. Dan McConnell, general manager of the Mad Monkey hostel chain, says many Britons no longer treat the visa as a working holiday but as a three-year career break. Britons used to be the biggest group at its Cairns hostel, he says, but now French guests outnumber them three to one. In his words, Britons reach Sydney, decide it is the coolest place in the world and stay.
Other nationalities face a stricter rule. To qualify for a second year, they must complete at least 88 days of specified regional work in industries needing seasonal or temporary labour, including agriculture, fisheries, tourism and hospitality. A third year requires six months of such work.
Barely a month ago, Albanese ruled out imposing the same requirement on Britons, accepting it as part of the trade deal. Pressure from businesses in Far North Queensland and other regional communities, worried about labour shortages, has changed the tone. Last week he met UK counterpart Andy Burnham at the Commonwealth leaders' meeting in the Caribbean, where backpackers shared an agenda with AI, online gender violence and the AUKUS defence pact. Despite speculation in the Australian media, nothing was announced. Albanese said he had pushed for a rule change, that Burnham had been "very constructive about it", and that the issues would be worked through over coming weeks. The agreement, he added, could be tweaked if there were good policy reasons.
The stakes are real on farms. The National Farmers Federation says backpackers fill one in seven farm jobs in Australia, with about 52,000 working holiday visa holders in horticulture each year. It welcomed the talks but said farm labour shortages go well beyond the UK deal. Its greater concern is a set of proposals announced in September to cut net migration, under pressure from the resurgent populist One Nation party and the opposition coalition. They include a ballot for backpackers seeking extensions, capped at 45,000 for a second year (57,000 qualified this year) and 5,000 for a third (31,000 this year). The federation calls this "a low blow". The plans are still out for consultation, but officials have already slowed processing of some working holiday applications and paused those from several countries.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Mark Olsen has lobbied Albanese in Canberra. He says young Britons living and working in the region peaked at around 20,000 and are now closer to 11,000, a fall since the deal took effect as borders returned to normal after the pandemic. Restaurateur Fintan Rafferty has about 180 staff across four venues, only five of them British, down from about 25 before the change. He says they brought good hospitality skills and a willingness to work flexible hours, and that the 88-day rule is good for travellers too because it makes them see more of the country.
At Red Valley Farm in Lakeland, about 200km north, general manager Peter Inderbitzen employs about 25 backpackers for a couple of months at peak avocado season. Tongan workers hired under a Pacific labour scheme pick bananas year-round. Without the backpackers, he says, the avocados stay on the tree, and British applications have "completely dropped off".
Some Britons agree. Paige Tomlinson, 27, from Barnsley, tends bar at Gilligan's backpackers and says Sydney felt too much like London. She thinks the rule should apply to all Britons. Ethan Phillips, 23, from Buckinghamshire, on a tourist visa, says he would rather not do regional work, but three months "can't be that bad". Any change to the UK deal is expected to be negotiated over the coming weeks, while the wider visa proposals remain under consultation.
Citas Notables
We'll work those issues through over coming weeks.— Anthony Albanese, Australian Prime Minister
If every other country's got to do it, why should we not?— Paige Tomlinson, 27, British backpacker from Barnsley
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