National Minimum Wage
AUD 26.44 per hour or AUD 1,004.90 per 38-hour week from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026.
This is for eligible award- and agreement-free adult employees. It is not a universal rate for every job.
FULL ENGLISH GUIDE — BETA
Find work and protect your workplace rights
A practical route from searching to the first payslip, written for subclass 417 and 462 visa holders from any passport country. Sources checked 2026-08
Editorial status: this is a complete English editorial draft, not an Australian Government publication and not yet reviewed by a native-speaking Australian workplace-relations professional. Fair Work, ATO, Home Affairs and your state or territory regulator always control.
Your visa does not erase your rights. Visa holders and migrant workers have the same workplace entitlements and protections as other employees in Australia. An employer cannot cancel your visa; only Home Affairs can grant, refuse or cancel it.
1. Check your visa before accepting the job
- Open your grant letter or VEVO and confirm that you currently have work rights.
- Working Holiday Maker condition 8547 usually limits work with one employer to six months, but current exemptions cover several common industries and working arrangements. Read the live rule instead of relying on an old social post.
- If you need the job to count toward a second or third visa, check the separate subclass 417 or 462 industry, location and date rules before travelling or paying for accommodation.
2. Use more than one job-search route
| Route | Best use | Safety boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Workforce Australia | Australian Government job board with filters for casual, temporary and harvest work. | A listing is a lead, not proof that every claim or employer is safe. |
| SEEK, Indeed and Jora | Broad searches for hospitality, retail, warehousing, care, trades and office work. | These are private platforms. Verify the business and pay independently. |
| Direct employer websites | Hotels, resorts, retailers, processors, councils and major farm businesses. | Start from the organisation's real domain, not a link sent in an unsolicited message. |
| Walk-ins and local noticeboards | Hospitality, retail and smaller regional employers that may not advertise widely. | Visit during a quiet period; never hand over your passport or pay for a job. |
| Hostels and social groups | Local leads, transport sharing and seasonal word of mouth. | Treat every post as unverified. Do the checks below before paying, moving or starting. |
Make the search measurable. Keep a simple list with employer, role, location, source, application date, follow-up date and result. Tailor the first third of your resume to the actual duties instead of sending the same document everywhere.
3. Check the employer and offer before you move
- Match the identity. Search the legal or business name and ABN in ABN Lookup. Confirm the ABN is active and that the name and location make sense. An active ABN proves registration details only; it is not a safety or wage guarantee.
- Get the terms in writing. Ask for the employer's legal name, work location, duties, employment type, Award or agreement, classification, base rate, penalty rates, pay cycle, expected hours and any accommodation or transport deductions.
- Check the pay yourself. Use the official Pay and Conditions Tool. A contract cannot lawfully remove a higher minimum entitlement.
- Check labour hire separately. If an agency supplies you to another workplace, confirm which business employs and pays you. Queensland, Victoria and South Australia operate labour-hire licensing schemes; use the relevant government register where it applies.
- Check the location. Confirm the full address, transport, accommodation cost and likely start date before relocating. A postcode alone never proves that work counts for another WHM visa.
4. Know the legal floor, then check the Award
Award-free casual floor
AUD 33.05 per hour, including the 25% casual loading, for eligible award- and agreement-free employees aged 21 or older.
Award rates, classifications, penalties and allowances may make your lawful rate higher. Juniors, trainees and apprentices have separate rules.
- Your employer must pay for all hours you are required to work, including compulsory meetings, training, opening or closing duties.
- You must receive a payslip, on paper or electronically, within one working day of payday—even if the wage is paid in cash.
- Record your own start, finish and break times. Compare each payslip with the roster and bank payment.
- Ask which super fund receives your contributions and check the actual fund or ATO-linked account. A super amount printed on a payslip is not proof the fund received it.
- For WHM tax, ask whether the employer is registered with the ATO as a Working Holiday Maker employer. Registered-employer withholding is commonly 15% on the first AUD 45,000, while non-registration changes the withholding rate. Tax residency and some treaty-country rules can affect the final tax outcome, so use the ATO's current guidance for your circumstances.
5. Unpaid trials, cash and “just get an ABN”
| Claim | What the official rule means | Safer response |
|---|---|---|
| “Work a full unpaid shift first.” | An unpaid trial may only last as long as genuinely needed to demonstrate the skills required. Productive work beyond that should be paid. | Ask in writing how long the trial is, what skills are assessed and whether all other work is paid. |
| “Cash means no payslip.” | Cash wages can be lawful only when tax and records are handled correctly. Employees still need a payslip within one working day. | Do not accept off-record “cash in hand” work. |
| “You need an ABN because the job is casual.” | Having an ABN does not decide whether you are a contractor. Telling an employee they are a contractor to avoid entitlements can be sham contracting. | Check the whole working relationship: control, hours, tools, delegation, financial risk and how the arrangement works in practice. |
| “Pay a deposit, training fee or placement fee first.” | Up-front job payments, wage cash-back schemes and unexplained deductions are exploitation warning signs. | Stop. Verify the business and get independent advice before transferring money. |
| “Give me your passport to keep.” | Your employer needs evidence of work rights, not custody of your identity document. | Show or securely provide only what is lawfully required; never surrender the original. |
6. Check the regulator before buying a course
| Work | Common requirement | Before paying |
|---|---|---|
| Serving or selling alcohol | Responsible Service of Alcohol training or evidence required by the destination state or territory. | Rules, delivery methods, cards and recognition vary. Open the destination liquor regulator's current page. |
| Construction sites | General construction induction, commonly called a White Card. | Use the state or territory work-safety regulator to confirm the approved course and identity process. |
| Operating a forklift | The correct High Risk Work Licence class after approved training and assessment. | Check the destination work-safety regulator and approved training provider; a short online certificate is not automatically a licence. |
| Abattoir or animal work with Q fever exposure | Some employers require Q fever screening and vaccination evidence. | Read the Australian Immunisation Handbook and arrange the pre-vaccination tests with an appropriate health provider. |
Do not buy every certificate before you have a target role and state. Check the regulator, the employer and the registered training provider first. A course advertisement is not proof that its certificate meets a workplace or licensing requirement.
7. Make the resume easy to verify
- Use one or two clear pages with Australian contact details, work rights, availability, relevant skills and evidence-based achievements.
- Do not include a portrait, passport number, visa grant number, date of birth or unrelated personal details.
- Mirror the employer's wording only when it is true. A short profile and the first few bullet points should make the fit obvious.
- Ask referees before sharing their contact details. “References available upon request” is enough until an employer genuinely needs them.
- Keep a PDF master and a plain-text version for application forms. Name the file clearly, for example
FirstName-LastName-Role-Resume.pdf.
Youth Central's government resume guide includes examples and a template.
8. Use harvest months as a planning signal, not a job promise
Government-source harvest calendar
Choose a month to see items listed in the available Victoria, Tasmania and Northern Territory government tables. Where this review found no comparable state or territory month table, the result says so instead of filling the gap with private data.
CHECK THE ROLE BEFORE CHOOSING AN ARRIVAL DATE
Possible jobs by season and when arrival is higher risk
This is a planning map, not a ranking of months that guarantee work. Australia spans different climate zones, so the same month can mean different work in different places.
December–February · Summer
Harvest plus shopping and holiday-season recruitment
Possible roles: picking, grading, packing and sorting berries, cherries and vegetables in the available VIC/TAS tables; seasonal retail and holiday-facing roles.
Timing: Jobs and Skills Australia says November is often associated with shopping and holiday-season recruitment. Starting to watch and apply in October–November is this site's planning inference; arriving unprepared in December may leave fewer options.
Possible difficulties: heat and fire weather in the south; the northern wet season (October–April) and tropical-cyclone season (November–April) can disrupt roads and outdoor shifts.
March–May · Autumn
Fruit, grapes and produce handling
Possible roles: apples, pears, table grapes and citrus in Victoria; apples, berries, wine grapes and potatoes in Tasmania, including harvest, packing, sorting and general farm work.
Timing: the currently verified VIC/TAS tables list many activities in this period, but that is not a national vacancy comparison. Treat it as conditionally suitable only when a live role, transport, accommodation and budget all line up.
Possible difficulties: short harvests are ending and hours or piece-rate earnings depend on crop volume, variety and weather; the northern cyclone season continues through April.
June–August · Winter
Pruning, produce handling and alpine work
Possible roles: vineyard pruning, potato processing, vegetables and shearing-shed work in Tasmania; lift, snowmaking or grooming, food and beverage, kitchen, housekeeping, guest-service and retail roles at alpine resorts.
Timing: Perisher's 2026 winter applications opened in early February and Thredbo's opened in January. Apply early and arrive for the employer's onboarding date; reaching a snow town in June without an offer or accommodation is higher risk.
Possible difficulties: last-minute alpine housing and transport, cold outdoor conditions and changing weather; northern Australia enters a higher-risk fire-weather period in the dry season.
September–November · Spring
Shearing, grain, early-summer harvest and pre-holiday recruitment
Possible roles: shearing, grain and early berry/cherry activity in Victoria; leafy vegetables, hop training and calf rearing in Tasmania. NT mango and table-grape months are a produce-season signal only.
Timing: this can be a useful window for tracking cross-season listings and recruitment around November, but a crop entering season does not mean a local employer is hiring.
Possible difficulties: unpaid gaps between roles; northern fire weather continues before the wet season begins, while southern fire-weather risk rises through late spring.
Relatively better time to arrive: you have a current vacancy or written offer and have confirmed the start date, expected hours and pay, accommodation, transport and at least one fallback.
Relatively poor time to arrive: you are moving to a remote growing area from a calendar alone, the season has already started, there is no transport or accommodation fallback, or one unverified party controls both the job and housing.
There is no single best or worst month across Australia: if the state and industry are still open, apply from a place with workable housing and transport, then move for a confirmed role instead of chasing a rumoured peak.
Confirm vacancies, start dates, hours, pay, transport and accommodation before travelling. Weather, varieties and local conditions can move the real harvest. The calendar does not decide whether work is eligible for a second or third WHM visa.
9. First-shift checklist
- I know the employer's legal name, ABN, work address and who supervises me.
- I have the role, employment type, classification, minimum rate, pay cycle and expected deductions in writing.
- I gave tax and super information through the employer's legitimate onboarding process, not an unsolicited chat link.
- I record my own start, finish and break times every day.
- I expect a payslip within one working day of payday and will compare it with my hours and bank payment.
- I keep payslips, rosters, written terms and bank records outside the employer's system.
- If this is specified work, I have checked the correct 417 or 462 rule and will preserve evidence from day one.
10. If pay, safety or treatment goes wrong
- Get safe. For immediate danger or a life-threatening injury, call 000. Seek medical care and report a workplace injury as soon as possible under the relevant state or territory process.
- Preserve evidence. Save rosters, messages, photos of posted schedules, your hour log, payslips, bank records, contract and the employer's legal details. Do not secretly access records you are not authorised to use.
- Calculate the gap. Use the official Pay and Conditions Tool and write down the Award, classification, dates, hours, rate received and rate expected.
- Raise it in writing when safe. State the facts, link the official rule and ask for a specific correction by a reasonable date.
- Get independent help. Fair Work provides free workplace information. Language help is available through TIS National. Current reporting-protection programs may help eligible visa holders experiencing exploitation; check the official eligibility rules rather than assuming automatic protection.
Fair Work help for visa holders
Steps to fix a workplace problem
Safety and compensation authorities
Help improve this English guide
If you spot unclear English, a broken official link or a workplace rule that has changed, open a public GitHub issue without including your passport, visa, employer dispute documents or another person's identifying details.
This page provides general information, not employment, tax, migration, medical or legal advice. Use the linked regulator or a qualified adviser for your circumstances.