Working Holiday Visas Slowed as Govt Targets Migration Numbers

Australian businesses that depend on backpacker labour are bracing for disruption after the federal government confirmed it has slowed the processing of working holiday visas as part of a broader push to reduce migration numbers.

Tina Nitchefor, who operates a steakhouse in Darwin and a mango farm outside the city, says the consequences for regional employers could be severe. "We wouldn't be able to pick the amount of mangoes that we pick. We wouldn't be able to open these doors every day," she said. "We need them."

Her concerns are shared across agriculture, hospitality and tourism sectors that have long relied on the working holiday maker program to fill roles that attract few local applicants.

Officials have confirmed the slowdown is deliberate, though no formal policy announcement has been made. "The processing of working holiday visas at the moment — they're still being processed, but they are being processed more slowly," a government spokesperson said.

The move comes as the Albanese government scrambles to put together a new migration policy framework. Immigration Minister Tony Burke was forced to delay a planned announcement at the National Press Club a fortnight ago, with cabinet deliberations still ongoing. Burke defended the pace, saying the government was working through every possible consequence before committing to a position.

Critics argue the blunt instrument of slowing working holiday approvals misidentifies the source of housing and cost-of-living pressures. "It's not backpackers taking away houses from people in Sydney and Melbourne or Brisbane," one industry figure said. "The system we've got with working holiday visas has worked for a long time."

Pressure to act on migration numbers is not limited to Labor. Opposition Senator Andrew Bragg last week floated a net overseas migration figure of around 180,000 as a reference point for closing what he called the housing-migration gap, though he was careful to describe it as a factual observation rather than a formal policy target. "It's not a target. It's not a policy. It's not an opinion. These are just the facts," Bragg said when pressed.

Both major parties are navigating politically sensitive terrain, aware that One Nation continues to campaign aggressively on migration as a wedge issue. With few easy levers available and regional industries warning of real economic harm, the government faces mounting pressure to finalise its approach and communicate it clearly to the businesses and workers caught in the uncertainty.