When gold was discovered on the Australian continent in the 1850s, immigrants poured in. As an influx of Chinese immigrants who threatened white workers with cheap labor surged in particular, the Australian federation introduced the Immigration Restriction Act in 1901, barring the door to non-white immigrants. The notorious "White Australia policy" was not abolished until 1973, under the Labor government of Gough Whitlam. The Whitlam government, which championed multiculturalism, devised a visa program that could catch three birds with one stone: cultural exchange for young people, relief for a chronic labor shortage, and expanded tourism revenue. It was the "working holiday" program, allowing young people aged 18 to 30 from countries with which Australia had signed agreements to work and earn travel money in the country for a base period of one year, or up to three years.
Launched in January 1975, the working holiday later spread to countries around the world across Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America. Australia, effectively the program's birthplace, has expanded its list of partner countries from three in the first year — Britain, Ireland and Canada — to 39 today, while the number of working holiday visa holders from around the world visiting Australia grew from fewer than 2,000 in the first year to 225,648 as of this June. For South Korea, which signed its first agreement with Australia in 1995, Australia remains the most popular working holiday destination. Starting this July, the age limit for the program was also raised to 35. According to Australia's Department of Home Affairs, young South Koreans were issued a total of 17,485 Australian working holiday visas as of 2024, the fifth-highest number in the world.
Australia, once generous toward working holiday participants, has recently begun raising the bar. The visa application fee rose from 670 Australian dollars to 840 Australian dollars, and visa applications from the 24 countries subject to annual issuance quotas were temporarily suspended starting in July. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said that for countries with unlimited visa issuance, such as South Korea, "visa processing is being delayed." The Labor government, feeling a sense of crisis over the surging support for the far-right One Nation party that stokes anti-immigration sentiment, is tinkering with immigration restrictions. There is concern that if even the opportunity of an Australian working holiday — seen as a temporary alternative amid a severe job market — narrows, the lives of our young people may grow harder still.
