Working Holiday Oceania, New Zealand, Australia checklist for aspiring ‘working holidayers’. Planning a working holiday abroad? Great news for digital nomads! From 1 January 2021, you can be up to 35 years old for an Australian working holiday visa! Super excited, as this gives more people the chance to experience my favorite part of the world (so far away from home, though… ). Time to do a checklist for aspiring working holidayers, just to make your life easier, and so I can use it as a reference for myself!

I’ll update this post after publishing. 

Why do a working holiday? And how.

The simplest reason to work abroad would be to travel longer or to travel when you’re broke. But it’s a popular visa and I love how the country has everything set up to accommodate backpackers and help them find work. When I first visited, I had a regular tourist visa, but I kinda wished I had a working holiday because everybody I met was working and traveling and staying longer than the three months I was allowed. The visa is expensive (≠AUD$400), so only request it if you really want to work (or of course, in case you have enough money and want to stay a year).

Avoid troubles

I’ve heard so many stories of backpackers getting involved with louche employers, and if that happens, you should contact the Fair Work Ombudsman of Australia. You can also find a pay calculator and all sorts of useful resources.

Type of jobs

I must admit, talking to a lot of backpackers in Australia when I was there the first time, I got a good sense of the types of job you’ll land. And they’re not all fun. I’ve had long nights with people that felt misery because of a sales job, or people that had NO energy after working months without days off on a farm. It’s hard work, but I guess it’s worth it, Australia and New Zealand are such beautiful countries!

Common backpacker jobs in Australia (and New Zealand) are: bartender, waiter/waitress, fruit picker, travel agent, hostel staff, construction, nurse, au pair, office support and cleaning jobs.

Places to find your job

• Gumtree
• Seek, JobSearch, Working Holiday job search, Jobaroo, Jobs4travellers, Travellers At Work, Backpackersjobboard, The job shop, Workstay or CareerOne
• Goworkabout
• WWOOF
• Jobs4Travellers
• Harvest Trail (fruit and veg picking jobs (you need to do this type of work if you want to apply for a second-year visa)
• Travellers at work
• Indeed

And don’t forget to use your own network, and Facebook groups!

More in the Working Holiday guide:

• The working holiday checklist

I’ll write more posts for the Working Holiday Guide: working holidays in Australia and New Zealand soon! 

You might also like to read:

• Working Holiday Guide: Oceania, New Zealand, Australia: before you depart checklist & pack list | travel tips & hacks
• The different ways to see the world’s biggest island
• Working Holiday Guide: Oceania, New Zealand, Australia checklist + guide
• The Ultimate List 40 ways to promote your content: Free Guide Content Promotion Tools
• Ultimate resource list: must have apps and tools for digital nomads