In the white-hot debate about the blow out in net migration and targeting of the student contribution to net migration, the contribution of Working Holiday Makers to net migration, which is not insignificant, has largely been ignored by both politicians and the media. Can that continue?

The uncapped Working Holiday Maker visa (WHMs – SC 417) and the generally capped and subject to an English test Work & Holiday visa (W&H – SC 462) are significant to Australia’s tourism industry, both as a source of labour as well as consumers of tourism products. They also contribute significantly to the farming labour force.

Table 1: WHMs and W&H

As the labour market recovered........

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