Shilli-Fully Travels

No, not the length of time we spent in WA (31 days), but a visa term we quickly became familiar with.

In the course of our travels we met a variety of other travellers and people working in hospitality, shops, petrol stations etc. Amongst other travellers and those working in hospitality, we came across a lot of foreigners in their 20’s. For many years, travelling/working in Australia has been popular. Similar to the UK, finding local hospitality staff in Australia is challenging, so hospitality businesses are staffed predominently by foreigners.

As a “young person” it is possible to get a one year work/travel visa, but to stay for a second year you need to have completed “prescribed work” in your first year – for a period of 88 days. Previously this time was a specified type of work, broadly agricultural. However, the roles now need to be in specified “rural” postcodes. Generally these are in agricultural areas, but places such as small islands are included, such as Rotto. Less surprising, Hyden was included; the manager of our motel said she gets 20 CVs a week, compared to almost none before the rule change.

In restaurants and hotels we came across staff, in no particular order, from Argentina, Ireland, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Estonia, Uruguay, Belgium, Sweden and Ecuador. Often they were in enclaves, such as the Irish in Hyden, due to employment by word of mouth. Many had come for shorter periods, but ended up staying longer, falling in love with the beaches, weather and culture, or in some cases obtaining visa extensions which were offered during the pandemic.