Fruit picking jobs in Australia – What, where, how (and why!)

Interested in applying for further WHVs in Australia? You may be eligible if you “complete a prescribed minimum period of work in a ‘specified’ field or industry in a designated regional area of Australia.”

You must complete 88 days of specified work during your first WHV to qualify for a second. You must then complete 179 days of specified work during your second WHV to qualify for the third. Learn more in How to calculate your 88 or 179 days of mandatory “specified work” (farm work or other).

How does fruit picking come into the equation?

Well, farm work (fruit picking, pruning, trimming, planting, etc.) are considered types of “specified work.” Farm work is not the only kind of work that counts, so you do not have to pick fruit. The current list of “specified” fields or industries includes:

• tourism and hospitality in Northern or Remote and Very Remote Australia (from 22 June 2021)
• plant and animal cultivation in regional Australia
• fishing and pearling in regional Australia
• tree farming and felling in regional Australia
• mining in regional Australia
• construction in regional Australia
• bushfire recovery work in declared bushfire-affected areas (carried out after 31 July 2019)
• recovery work in flood, cyclone, or other severe weather-affected areas (carried out after 31 December 2021)
• critical COVID-19 work in the healthcare and medical sectors anywhere in Australia (after 31 January 2020)

Three months of specified work is a minimum period of 88 calendar days. You do not need to do your 88 days (or your 179 days) of specified work all in one go, or all with one employer. You are free to spread the work over the period of your 12-month stay in Australia.

Make sure to complete the work in a designated area! As we have mentioned throughout this guide, only specified work completed in designated regional areas of Australia will count towards your 88 or 179 days. If you spend 88 days picking fruit at a farm in Melbourne, it will not count as specified work because Melbourne is not part of regional Australia.

Make sure you keep your own work records. As part of your application, you will have to provide proof of the days you have worked. Your proof must cover all periods you worked. Acceptable proof includes pay slips, piece rate agreement with your employer, employer references, etc.

Finally, note that you shouldn’t work for very low pay or for free if you are picking fruit. Unless you are volunteering in fields such as bushfire recovery or natural disaster recovery work, unpaid work will not count towards your specified work.