WHV Australia: Changes from July 1, 2025

Are you leaving for a working holiday in Australia soon? Or have you already started your WHV in Australia? Here are the changes you should be aware of that will impact all working holiday makers from July 1, 2025.

1. The price of the visa has increased (again)

We announced this in our dedicated article: Australian Working Holiday Visa (WHV) fee rises to $670 as of 1 July 2025. Unfortunately, if you have not applied for your Australia WHV yet, you will have to pay the new associated fees.

2. The national minimum wage has increased

Good news for working holiday makers! The national minimum wage in Australia has increased from AU$24.10 to AU$24.95 per hour, which is an increase of AU$0.85 (3.5%). Therefore, for a week of 38 hours of work, you’ll now receive (at least) AU$948 of gross income.

Of course, you could expect to earn much more than minimum wage, depending on the type of job or contract you get. We have more tips for finding work in Best job sites for finding work in Australia during a working holiday.

3. Pension contributions have increased

On July 1, 2025, pension contributions increased from 11.5% of your gross income to 12%. Source.

If you’re wondering how this impacts you as a working holiday maker, you need to understand super (covered in more detail in Taxes and superannuation 101 for working holiday makers in Australia).

Essentially, if you work a paid job during your Australia WHV, you will automatically contribute to a retirement fund called a superannuation (“super” for short). It is not up to you to make payments, as your employer will pay the money into your super account. At the end of your WHV, you can apply to get back a percentage of your super contributions!

4. The new fiscal year has begun

This one is not a change, but it is something to be aware of. Each fiscal year in Australia begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year.

If you worked as part of your Australia WHV between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025, and you exceeded AU$45,000 in income, you need to prepare to declare your taxes.

And if you’ve just started a job in Australia and you’re likely to earn over this threshold in the next year, get ready to file taxes in 2026!