According to the ATIC, 2420 backpackers will be lost from the local tourism, hospitality and agricultural workforce during peak season, putting an estimated $31 million in tourism spend at risk.
The Federal Government has announced it intends to cut second- and third-year working holiday maker visas through a ballot, with a cap on the number of places ― completing the required regional work would no longer secure a visa.
Tourism Research Australia figures show 2420 working holiday makers visited the Cobram region in 2025 to 2026, spending more than $31 million in the local economy.
ATIC chief executive Erin McLeod said the ballot would remove the main reason backpackers travelled to the regions.
She said employers were expecting to lose at least 68 per cent of their backpacker workforce, putting about $1.6 billion in visitor spending at risk nationally.
“Backpackers stay longer, travel wider and spend more than any other visitors,” Ms McLeod said.
“They are critical to Cobram because they turn up in the peak agricultural and tourism seasons to take on temporary work.
“Local town economies depend on this highly mobile workforce arriving in peak periods to take on temporary jobs the local workforce cannot fill.
“For communities like Cobram, this is about the local pub having enough staff to open seven days a week, the café being able to serve visitors on the weekend.
“It’s about accommodation providers filling their rooms and farms having workers when the harvest is ready.”
Ms McLeod said the ballot risked removing one of the strongest incentives for backpackers to undertake regional work.
“Backpackers currently complete 88 days of specified regional work to earn a second visa, but under the proposed changes, doing that work would no longer guarantee them another year in Australia,” she said.
“We are hearing from local employers who hire backpackers that if the work only earns a place in a ballot, with no guarantee of a visa, backpackers simply won’t come and do the 88 regional days.
“That is why the real risk is much higher, and why we calculate a 68 per cent cut.”
The ATIC is circulating a national petition to protect working holiday maker (backpacker) visas in Australia, which has already attracted more than 15,000 electronic signatures, including from small and regional businesses across Australia.
“We’re asking all pubs, tourism operators, farms and other regional businesses to sign the petition today, to send a message to Canberra about the importance of our regional backpackers to their community,” Ms McLeod said.
To join the petition, visit: c.org/BZmdSgzym4
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