Australia's WHM Extension Draw: What the New Ballot Means Before You Start Your Regional Days

News · 2026-09-23 · 4 min read

Tourism and hospitality groups are warning about billions in lost revenue. For the people the change actually touches, a more direct question comes first: if you plan a working holiday in Australia, or you are already there hoping to extend, what does the new ballot do to your plans?

Immigration Minister Tony Burke announced the changes at the National Press Club. To current and future Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa holders, lost wages across the tourism sector are hard to picture. A one-in-six chance of getting a third year is not.

Caps in plain numbers

From next year, second-year WHM places will be limited to 45,000 and third-year places to only 5,000. Compared with 2025 figures, that means more than 21% fewer second-year approvals and over 80% fewer third-year approvals.

Put simply, your first WHM visa should still be fairly easy to get, but staying on becomes a real gamble. You will still do the regional work, 88 days for a second year and 179 days for a third, but instead of knowing the extension follows, you go into a ballot with no promise of a place.

Who this hits hardest

Most commentary has been about employers. The change cuts both ways, and the larger shift may be in how travellers plan. The old deal was easy to follow: do your regional days, get your extension, stay longer, earn more and see more. Now anyone comparing Australia with Canada, the UK or other working holiday countries has to accept that months of farm or hospitality work in the regions might not turn into the extra year they were banking on.

That changes the decision for:

People still deciding where to go for their working holiday year
First-year holders asking whether regional work is worth it when the reward is no longer certain
Second-year holders choosing between trying the ballot for a third year and planning an exit or another visa pathway

Gaps that still need answers

The peak bodies fighting the changes, namely the Tourism & Transport Forum, the National Farmers' Federation, Accommodation Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, have raised a long list of open questions. Several bear directly on applicants:

Start date. The ballot is reportedly set to begin in November, which leaves very little time to prepare.
How places are shared. A ballot split by subclass, by country of origin or run as one pool would change your chances a lot depending on your nationality.
People already partway through. Nothing has been confirmed on transition rules for backpackers who have finished their regional days expecting the old system.

If you are halfway through your regional work and relying on the old rules, getting this point clarified matters more than anything else before you plan further. It is also the kind of detail that gets buried under industry statements about the economy.

Your game plan

However the political and economic debate turns out, the day-to-day reality for anyone holding or considering a WHM visa is that certainty has given way to odds. So:

Do not treat regional work as a ticket to a second or third year. It now earns you a place in a draw, nothing more.
Get advice that fits your own case before you sign up for 88 or 179 days of regional work, particularly if your plans rely on staying longer.
Keep a fallback ready, such as another visa pathway, a different country, or a shorter stay in Australia than you first planned.
Follow the transition rules closely. They will matter most to people already partway through their regional work.

If you are a South African weighing up time abroad, first confirm on official sources which working holiday or other visa options are open to you, and keep your passport and documents current so you can move once the rules are clear. This policy is still being finalised, so base any decision on current advice for your own situation, not on general commentary, this article included.

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