The Backpacker & Youth Tourism Advisory Panel (BYTAP) has expressed deep concern over the Federal Government’s current delays in processing Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visas, warning this is negatively impacting tourist arrival numbers and damaging Australia’s reputation as a welcoming destination for young international travellers.

Since 1 July 2026, there has been an alarming pause and delay in the processing of Working Holiday (subclass 417) and Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visas. The Department of Home Affairs website shows 95% of subclass 462 visas are currently on pause (source: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/whm-program/status-of-country-caps).

This comes on top of a sharp increase from 1 July 2026 in the cost of an initial Working Holiday Maker visa from $670 to $840 (and from $670 to $1,000 for subsequent second- and third-year visas) making Australia’s visa the most expensive of its kind in the world (source: https://bytap.org/worlds-priciest-australias-working-holiday-visa-jumps-25-to-840/).

BYTAP Chair, Peta Zietsch, said the combined increased visa fee, along with the current pause and delay in processing times, would discourage young people from choosing Australia for their working holiday experience. Ms Zietsch also warned that these issues could have wider consequences that would particularly hurt regional Australia, that benefits from the dispersed tourism and casual mobile workforce that Working Holiday Makers provide in fruit-picking for example.

“Rather than placing barriers in the way of the Working Holiday Maker Program, we should be looking at ways to attract more young international travellers here on this Program that has been running for 50 years now and fosters positive international relationships” Ms Zietsch said. Ms Zietsch also noted that the program provides opportunity for Australians to have a similar experience overseas: “Young Aussies are able to undertake a Working Holiday in 50 partner countries around the world as part of this vital reciprocal cultural exchange program” she said.

The Working Holiday Maker program forms part of the overall youth tourism sector that is vital to Australian tourism. The youth sector contributes 27 per cent of all visitor arrivals to Australia and 45 per cent of all visitor spend. There were 2.4 million youth visitors to Australia in 2019 who spent $20 billion (source: Tourism Australia, 2026 – www.tourism.australia.com/en/about/industry-sectors/youth.html). Many Working Holiday Makers also return to Australia, increasing their lifetime value, making them classified as ‘High Yielding Travellers’ (source: Tourism Australia Tourism 2035 ten-year strategic plan – www.tourism.australia.com/en/news-and-events/news/tourism-australia-releases-new-strategy.html).

For more information about BYTAP, the peak body representing Australia’s backpacker and youth tourism industry, supported by Youth Tourism NSW (YTNSW), Adventure Queensland (AQ) and Youth Tourism Victoria (YTV), visit www.bytap.org.

READ BYTAP’S SUBMISSION HERE

Media contacts:

Wendy Aylward, BYTAP
waylward@aifs.com.au / 0402 283 783

Alex Hill, BYTAP
alex.hill@ytv.org.au / 0477 939 900