Are you currently in Australia on a working holiday visa, and looking for ways to extend it? Or are you planning a dream once-in-a-lifetime working holiday to our great and famous land?
If you answered yes to either of these questions, then this article will be super helpful and will show you just how you can gain, or extend, your Australian visa with a working holiday in the Northern Territory.
What You Can Do In The NT On A Working Holiday Visa
Working On A Cattle Station
Working on a cattle station in the Northern Territorian Outback is the best way to gain a ‘True Blue’ Outback experience.
There are quite a few cattle stations in the NT that employ travellers to help them with the upkeep and maintenance of the station.
Tasks can include:
- Fence mending
- Chefs and kitchen hands
- Station hands
- Livestock gathering and tending
- Welding
- And more!
While some roles will require experience, there are quite a few jobs where experience isn’t necessary and you may even learn a few extra skills while you’re there!
Fruit Picking
Probably the most popular way for visitors to extend their visas is by fruit picking in the NT.
While much of the NT can be considered a desert, going to northern areas like Darwin, or the many surrounding islands, is your best bet for finding fruit picking work – with September to November being the seasons of highest demand.
Working At A Pub, Hotel, Restaurant Or A Café
Hospitality is no doubt the best industry for finding year-round work in the NT, with April to October being the highest demand.
Anyone with a work permit and some level of experience will easily find work as either a:
- Chef
- Cook
- Kitchen hand
- Barman
- Barista
- Cleaner
- Hotel maintenance
- Hotel administration
- Gardener
- And more!
Nursing
If you have experience in nursing and have a recognised qualification, you may find working in hospitals both in town and in rural communities extremely fulfilling.
Casual nurses are usually in high demand across the NT and hospitals may offer work for those with experience in:
- Intensive Care
- Aged Care
- Midwifery
- Emergency
Construction
Heading north to Darwin can provide you with openings to construction work. Most jobs will require experience, while others may only require heavy lifting and labour.
The benefit of construction work is that it is generally in year-round need of workers, with April to October being the highest in demand.
Australia is pretty rigid when it comes to safety laws, so before applying for construction work, it is important you find out which safety permits you need before entering a work site.
Eligibility
Before you start looking for work, you need to think about whether or not you’re eligible for a working holiday in the NT.
There are two scenarios which will allow you entry to Australia on a working holiday visa…
…but first you need to be able to answer yes to these questions.
- Are you 18 to 30 years old?
- Do you hold a valid passport from an eligible country?
- Do you have approximately $5,000 AUD to support yourself in Australia on a working holiday?
- Do you have enough money to buy a flight out of Australia at the end of your stay?
And you need to answer NO to this question:
- Will you have a dependent child with you during your time in Australia?
Ok, so now those questions are out of the way…
Let’s look at the two scenarios that you will need to be in, in order to enter the country on a working holiday visa:
Scenario 1
- You have not previously entered Australia on a Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa or a Working Holiday (temporary) (subclass 417 visa, unless you carried out specified work in regional Australia for at least three months as the holder of a working holiday visa)
- Hold a valid passport from a country involved in the Working Holiday Program with Australia
- Have a reasonable prospect of obtaining employment in Australia
If this is you, then your visa option is a Working Holiday Visa (subclass 417)
In this scenario, you can apply for a second working holiday visa to extend your stay in Australia. If you have, for example, worked on a farm for at least three months as the holder of a working holiday visa.
Scenario 2
- You are outside Australia and have not previously been in Australia on a Work and Holiday (subclass 462) or a Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa
- You meet educational requirements
- Speak enough English to get by (if you’re reading this, you do)
- Have a letter of support from your government (excluding applicants from the USA)
- Your government has a Work and Holiday arrangement with Australia
If this is you, then your visa option is a Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462).
How To Find Work In The NT
Thanks to the wonder of the Internet, finding jobs in the NT has never been easier and checking out the list below will often present you with quite a few options to choose from.
