Complete guide to specified work in Australia (for 2nd and 3rd WHVs)

Specified work is only mandatory if you want a second or third year in Australia. If you are happy with a 12-month WHV and are sure you don’t want to stay in Australia any longer or return on another WHV in future, you don’t need to complete any specified work.

British citizens are the exception to the specified work rule, as they can apply for a second and third year in Australia without needing to complete any specified work.

Officially, it doesn’t matter whether you start your specified work at the beginning or towards the end of your WHV.

Your situation may vary slightly depending on the job(s) you want to work and the time of year you arrive, especially if you plan to follow a harvest season or if you want to volunteer after a natural disaster has occurred.

However, if you’re determined to extend your stay in Australia for another year, it’s highly recommended that you start completing your specified work as soon as possible.

It can often take longer than expected to acquire enough days of eligible work—you may lose shifts due to bad weather, or you may find it hard to land a job due to tough competition from backpackers. Be sure to leave yourself enough time, as all specified work must be completed before your current WHV expires.

This depends on how much time left you have on your current visa. As we explain in the FAQ above, you can complete your specified work at any point during your WHV, as long as you leave enough time to acquire the minimum number of days before your current visa expires.

If you do not have time to acquire at least 88 days of specified work before your first WHV expires, it is too late and you will not be able to qualify for another WHV in Australia.

There are several regions eligible for visa renewal. You can complete your specified work in one region or move around multiple eligible regions. You can check the full list of eligible postcodes listed for each subclass:

• Subclass 417
• Subclass 462

There are different industries that count towards your specified work. The most popular jobs among working holiday makers are:

• farm work (picking, packing, maintaining crops, etc.)
• mining (for Subclass 417 only)
• tourism and hospitality (hostels, bars, cafes, etc. in Northern or Remote and Very Remote Australia)

Other jobs outside of these typical industries are also eligible for visa renewal, such as fishing and pearl cultivation, construction, tree farming, and recovery work in bushfire or flood-affected areas.

Read chapter 2 for more info.

The number of hours that count as 1 full working day will depend on your type of employment. The Australian government considers a working day to be the normal number of hours per day worked by full-time employees in your industry and role.

Essentially, 1 full working day for someone in your industry = 1 day counted towards your 88 or 179 days. As a guideline, it is usually around 7 or 8 hours per day for 5 working days in a week.

To learn more about acceptable working hours for your industry, visit the official FairWork website.

When you work full-time, you can count your weekends towards your eligible days. For example, in a week, you work 7 hours each day for 5 days, but you can log 7 eligible days because you can include your weekend.

If you work part-time, you can only count days worked towards your 88 or 179 days; weekends do not count.

Unfortunately, the Australian government remains rather vague when it comes to rules surrounding volunteering. The only official guidance they give is that any day worked as a volunteer counts as an eligible day. In the absence of further details, we advise you to only count the days on which you actually volunteered. This will avoid any unpleasant surprises when you complete your application.

Unfortunately, even if you work more hours, you can only count 1 full day of work completed as 1 eligible day. For example, if the standard industry day is equivalent to 7 hours worked, and you end up working 14 hours in a day, this does not count as 2 days of specified work.

Yes. As long as you manage to complete 88 or 179 days of specified work, it does not matter whether you work for one or multiple employers, in one consecutive period or for multiple shorter periods of time.

For example, you can work 2 days per week as a tour guide in Northern Australia and 3 days per week fruit picking to add up to 5 working days a week over a 3 month period to qualify for 88 days.

Or, you can work 4 months’ full-time on one farm and 4 months’ part-time on a different farm (counting as 2 months of work, because you are working half of hours set by the industry standard) to qualify for 179 days.

While working, we recommend you keep all copies of your pay slips, employment contracts, contact details of previous employers, etc.

If you volunteered and did not receive any wages, you’ll need to show evidence such as photos, letters from your supervisor, records such as receipts or booking confirmations to show you were in the area, etc.

Read more about how to prove you have completed your specified work in chapter 4.

Unfortunately, no, since you do not meet the requirement for the minimum number of specified working days.

If you try to apply anyway, your WHV will not be granted, and you will need to explain in future applications why you have received a refusal for a visa or entry to another country. It is not worth the risk to deceive the Australian government.

When you land a job through a temp agency, the address shown on your pay slips may not match the address of your actual location.

If the temp agency’s address doesn’t correspond to a postal code eligible for visa renewal, you should speak with your employer to find a solution, either by having pay slips issued with your workplace address listed, or by writing a document that explains the situation in detail.

It is the same process regardless of if you signed a contract and receive hourly pay, or if you worked a piecework job. You must simply be able to prove that you have worked at least 5 days per week over a period of 3 or 6 months, and that you were paid in accordance with Australian legislation and awards.

If you receive pay during a public holiday or sick leave, you can count your days not worked. If you are not paid on these non-working days, you cannot include them in your calculation.

No, you cannot count days worked during your first WHV towards the 179 days. Only days worked during your second WHV or while you are on a bridging visa waiting for your second WHV to be approved can count towards the 179 days.

Once you have completed your specified work and are ready to apply, read How to apply for a 2nd or 3rd WHV to Australia for the full step-by-step guide.