Albanese to seek tighter rules for British backpackers in talks with UK's Burnham at Commonwealth summit

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will seek to change the rules for British backpackers when he meets UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda this week, ABC News reported on Monday 2 November.

Under the Australia-UK free trade agreement, British citizens on Working Holiday Maker visas can stay for up to three years without doing the regional work that other holders of the visa need for an extension. The number of UK backpackers rose from about 47,000 in 2024 to nearly 80,000 in the last financial year, according to Home Affairs data cited by the ABC.

“Those UK backpackers are arriving in very large numbers … and they are staying at Bondi Beach or Coogee or around particularly the capital cities and working in hospitality there,” Albanese said last week. “That’s placing enormous pressure because it’s distorting the labour market in these areas.” In August he told the ABC there would be no changes to the exemption.

Opposition leader Angus Taylor called the approach “desperate” and said the Coalition wanted backpackers “doing rural and regional work.” Nationals leader Matt Canavan said the Coalition would charge a fee to backpackers staying a second or third year to work in a capital city.

National Farmers’ Federation head Michael Guerin called the talks “a step in the right direction, but not dealing with the fundamental underlying issue,” citing slower visa processing and a proposed cap and ballot system for second- and third-year visas.