The complete working holiday guide for Australian citizens
by Jessie Chambers 10 hours ago
16 MIN READ
Australians are built different when it comes to travel. Growing up on a continent where the nearest anything is a four-hour flight away, so packing up and going somewhere wildly new isn't a scary concept. It's basically a default setting. The problem isn't fear. It's the same conversation you keep having about doing it "next year", which has now been next year for three years running.
A working holiday visa is your sign to actually go, and to stop making excuses about booking that ticket! And to not visit as a tourist burning savings at an alarming rate, but as someone embedded in the place, earning their keep, and building a life that slaps differently to the one they left behind. Five destinations are open to Australians right now, and every single one of them will change you in ways a two-week holiday couldn’t even try.
- United Kingdom: The golden goose when it comes to Working Holidays for Aussies. You have a mate, maybe four that are already over there - time to pack your suitcase
- Canada: the outdoors that rivals the Aussie landscape, plus cities that absolutely understood the assignment
- Ireland: runs entirely on warmth (we’re talking personability here, you will 100% need a jacket), wit, and the world's most welcoming pub culture. Europe is right there on its doorstep, no cap
- Japan: free visa, once in a lifetime, and the most genuinely unhinged (in the best way) place on this entire list
- New Zealand: closer than you think, more surprising than you expect, and spoiler: no visa needed
You can organise a working holiday independently, and plenty of Aussies do. It works. It’s also slower, messier, and more prone to early-stage setbacks on arrival. For travellers who want a smoother landing, Global Work & Travel has a package for every destination on this list: visa support, accommodation, guaranteed job match, arrival orientation. Structured programs aren’t the cheapest option, but they take a lot of the early-stage uncertainty off your plate.
United Kingdom: Youth Mobility Scheme
Ages 18–35 - up to 2 years
Quick summary
- Who: Australian citizens aged 18 to 35
- Duration: up to 2 years
- Fee: £340
- Funds required: £2,530
- Healthcare surcharge: £776 per year, paid upfront
- Processing: most applications done within three weeks
London doesn't ease you in. It grabs you from the moment you land and genuinely does not let go. The Tube is chaotic and somehow iconic. Your local pub becomes your living room within a fortnight (we’re literally not judging and endorsing). You're pulling a shift in Shoreditch on a Tuesday and watching live music in Camden by nine that evening, and somewhere around month two you clock that you've completely stopped thinking of yourself as a visitor. Main character era? Unlocked.
What makes the UK different to every other working holiday destination is the sheer density of it. History, culture, music, sport, food that has finally caught up to the rest of the world's standards. But the real pull for Australians is the access it hands you. Base yourself in London, Edinburgh, or Manchester and suddenly Europe is a budget flight away. A weekend in Amsterdam costs less than a weekend in Sydney. That's just the math when you're in the right place.
Visa at a glance
- Who: Australian citizens aged 18 to 35
- How long: up to 2 years
- Fee: £340, applied online via gov.uk
- Funds required: £2,530 to show you can support yourself initially
- Healthcare surcharge: £776 per year, paid upfront and gives you full NHS access
- Processing time: most applications done within three weeks
One thing worth knowing: you can switch employers freely, work across any industry, and move around the UK as much as you like. The visa doesn't tie you to a location or a job. Total freedom, lowkey unmatched.
Work life
The UK labour market is deep and genuinely varied, which means your options extend well beyond bar work, though bar work is always there if that's the vibe:
- Hospitality and events: London alone runs a hospitality machine that never stops. Bars, restaurants, hotels, venues, entry-level and immediate
- Corporate temp work: accounting, admin, marketing. If you have professional experience, London recruiters will place you fast. Yes, your skills are that wanted
- Summer camps: seasonal, social, and a completely different energy to office life
- Au Pairing: live-in placement with a British family, housing and meals covered, savings completely intact
Places you need to see
Edinburgh earns its reputation every single day. Cobblestones, castle, coastline, and a festival season in August that turns the entire city into something you have to experience to actually believe. The kind of place you visit for a weekend and start pricing up flats by Sunday. It's giving everything.
The Cotswolds is England doing its absolute best impression of a postcard and fully getting away with it. Villages that look staged, pubs serving locals since before Australia was colonised, and walking trails through countryside that makes you actually stop mid-stride and stare.
Northern Ireland is the part of the UK most working holiday makers skip entirely, which makes it the obvious one to prioritise. The Causeway Coast is dramatic and raw and feels nothing like anything else on the island. Don't sleep on it.
Ready to go?
Global Work & Travel offers four ways into the UK, built for different budgets and travel styles:
- Working Holiday in the UK (Lite): arrival support and visa guidance to get you off the ground
- Working Holiday in the UK: job matching, accommodation, and full orientation sorted before you land
- Au Pair in the UK: live with a British family, cut your living costs to almost nothing, and pocket your savings
- Summer Camp in the UK: structured, social, and one of the fastest ways to build your people from day one
Two whole years. Use them.
Canada: International Experience Canada (IEC)
Ages 18–35 - 24 months
Quick summary
- Who: Australian citizens aged 18 to 35
- Program: International Experience Canada (IEC) Working Holiday
- Duration: up to 24 months
- Work permit: open permit, work for almost any employer
- Government fees: approximately CAD $515 total
- Funds required: CAD $2,500 plus comprehensive health insurance
Canadians have this habit of making everything look completely effortless. The mountains are enormous and they're just casually there, visible from city streets like it's totally normal to have the Rockies as a backdrop on a Tuesday morning commute. The cities are liveable in a way Australian cities are actively trying to figure out. And the wilderness sitting between those cities will genuinely recalibrate your sense of scale in a way no photo ever manages, no matter how good your camera is.
Canada also has the highest age limit on this list, which makes it the right move whether you're going at 22 with nothing but time on your hands or at 34 with a career you're ready to step away from for twelve months. The open work permit means you're not locked to one employer or one city. Ski Whistler in winter, work a hospitality season in Banff, spend your final months in Montreal eating your way through one of the world's genuinely great food cities. This is giving full send energy.
Visa at a glance
- Who: Australian citizens aged 18 to 35
- Program: International Experience Canada (IEC) Working Holiday
- Duration: up to 24 months
- Work permit: open permit, work for almost any employer, anywhere in Canada
- Government fees: approximately CAD $515 total
- Funds required: CAD $2,500 in savings, plus health insurance for your stay
The Canadian application has more steps than any other working holiday on this list. Having a company like Global Work and Travel in your corner isn't a luxury. It's the difference between getting it right and starting from scratch. Not the vibe.
Work life
The open permit is Canada's biggest flex. Your options aren't limited by industry or region:
- Ski resorts in Whistler and Banff: the posting most people are genuinely here for, and it lives up to every expectation
- Hospitality: the most accessible immediate option in any Canadian city, always hiring
- Au Pairing: live with a Canadian family, keep your costs to a minimum, bank the rest
- Summer camps: particularly popular for Australians, structured and social from week one
- Outdoor guiding: if you have relevant experience, this is honestly one of the best jobs in the country
Places you need to see
Banff looks like AI, trust, it isn’t - the lakes are actually that colour. The mountains are actually that size. Elk wander through Banff township like they own the place, because they do, and nobody finds that unusual after about a week. It's unreal, and will take your breath away!
Vancouver manages to feel simultaneously enormous and intimate, which shouldn't work but completely does. Ocean on one side, mountains on the other, and a food scene that gives Melbourne a genuine run for its money. The kind of city you arrive in knowing nobody and leave with people you'll visit for the rest of your life.
Montreal is Canada's wildcard. A French-speaking, festival-running, outrageously good food city that operates at a completely different frequency to everything else in the country. Deeply unhinged, deeply loveable. People who go to Montreal always talk about it afterwards like it personally changed them.
Ready to go?
Global Work & Travel offers four ways into Canada, and as a Recognised Organisation, your Trip Coordinator walks you through every step of the IEC application:
- Working Holiday in Canada (Lite): arrival support and visa guidance to get the paperwork right first time
- Working Holiday in Canada (Plus 2for1): from $3,495 for 4 to 24 months, and a second working holiday trip completely free… Yes, you read that right!
- Au Pair in Canada: housing and meals covered, savings untouched, cultural immersion fully unlocked
- Summer Camp in Canada: structured, social, and built for people who want community from the jump
Going through a Recognised Organisation isn't optional for Canadabound Australians. It's literally the only way in. Full stop.
Top Tip: For Australians heading to Canada, the RO route is required, and Global Work and Travel is one of the approved providers.
Ireland: Working Holiday Authorisation
Ages 18-35 - 12 months
Quick summary
- Who: Australian citizens aged 18 to 35
- Duration: 12 months, non-renewable
- Fee: approximately USD $339
- On arrival: €300 Garda registration within 90 days
- Work restrictions: none
- Apply: via the Irish Embassy or Consulate
Ireland has a specific and slightly suspicious effect on Australians. You land expecting to feel like a tourist and instead most people feel like they’ve found their second home. Maybe it's the pub culture, they love a pint just as much as we would punish a schooner on a warm December arvo. Maybe it's the fact that Irish people treat strangers like friends they haven't met yet, and within twenty minutes of arriving somewhere new you know three people's names, their hometown, and their very strong opinions about rugby, a bit of argy-bargy we just love!
What Ireland actually gives you beyond the craic is a launchpad, and not a small one. One working holiday authorisation and Europe opens up entirely. Paris on a Ryanair Thursday. Lisbon for a long weekend. A month in Italy between jobs because why not, you're already there. Ireland isn't just a destination. It's a base that makes the rest of the continent feel like your backyard. That's the kind of access that lives rent free in your head forever.
Visa at a glance
- Who: Australian citizens aged 18 to 35
- Duration: 12 months, non-renewable but you can apply one year after it expires
- Fee: approximately USD $339, applied via the Irish Embassy or Consulate
- On arrival: register with the Garda within 90 days, €300 fee payable on arrival
- Work restrictions: none. Any industry, any hours, completely open
- Entry window: once your authorisation arrives, you have six months to enter or it becomes void
Zero work restrictions is what makes Ireland genuinely compelling for Australians with professional backgrounds. You're not limited to hospitality. You can use your actual skills. Big difference.
Work life
Zero restrictions means exactly that:
- Tech and finance: Dublin is the European HQ for half the world's biggest tech companies, actively seeking English-speaking professionals
- Hospitality: Galway and Dublin pubs are essentially always hiring, and the social upside is impossible to overstate
- Au Pairing: a smart financial move if you want to keep costs low and savings high, popular with Australians for exactly this reason
- Any field you’re qualified in: Ireland is one of the few destinations on this list where your career history is an actual asset, not just background noise on your resume
Places you need to see
Galway is the west coast at its most alive. A city that runs on music, art, and conversation right on the edge of the Wild Atlantic Way. People come for a weekend and accidentally extend their visa just to stay near it. It's giving everything.
Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula is Ireland operating at full dramatic capacity. Cliffs, ocean, mountains, and a light that shifts constantly in ways that make photographers lose their minds. Non-negotiable. Absolute must.
Belfast is the one that gets overlooked by working holiday makers who stay east-coast the entire year. Don't make that mistake. It's a city with a story unlike anywhere else in Europe, and the food and music scene has quietly become one of Ireland's best kept secrets. Very much understood the assignment.
Ready to go?
Global Work & Travel's Ireland Working Holiday Plus (2for1) package runs from $3,495 for 6 to 24 months, with your second working holiday trip added on for free. For Australians who have been telling themselves they'll do Europe properly one day, this is how you actually do it. Your "one day" era starts now.
Japan: Working Holiday Visa
Ages 18-30 - 12 months
Quick summary
- Who: Australian citizens aged 18 to 30
- Duration: 12 months
- Fee: free for Australians
- Lifetime limit: once in a lifetime
- Funds required: approximately ¥250,000 (roughly AUD $2,500)
- Apply: in person at the Japanese Embassy or Consulate in Australia
Let's get the most important thing on the table immediately: the Japan Working Holiday Visa is completely free for Australians. No application fee. And it's once in a lifetime, which means if you're within the age window right now, the clock is absolutely running and we need you to take that seriously.
Japan is the most genuinely different destination on this list. Not different in the way other countries are different, where the language changes and the food gets interesting. Different in the way that the entire operating system of daily life shifts. The punctuality is real. The detail and craftsmanship in literally everything is real. The food at a convenience store at midnight is better than most restaurant meals back home, and yes, that is a completely serious statement. You'll arrive expecting to feel like a visitor and spend the first month in a kind of permanent, low-level awe that a place like this actually exists. It's not just a trip. It's a full reset.
Visa at a glance
- Who: Australian citizens aged 18 to 30
- Duration: 12 months
- Fee: free for Australians
- Lifetime limit: once in a lifetime. If you're eligible, do not sit on this
- Funds required: approximately ¥250,000 (roughly AUD $2,500)
- Apply: through the Japanese Embassy or Consulate in Australia
The once-in-a-lifetime rule is the thing most people underestimate until after their 30th birthday. Don't be that person. Future you will not be okay about it.
Work life
Japan's working holiday community is active and well-connected, particularly for Australians:
- Teaching English: demand is consistent, the pay is solid, and mornings are often free to actually explore
- Hospitality and tourism: particularly in Tokyo and Osaka where international visitors are constant and English speakers are genuinely valued
- Ski resorts: Niseko in Hokkaido is one of the world's premier ski destinations and actively recruits working holiday makers every single season
- Au Pairing: available though less common than in Western destinations, connections typically made through expat community networks
Places you need to see
Kyoto in autumn is the kind of thing that makes you understand why people build their entire lives around travel. Temples framed by red maple leaves, streets that look painted rather than real, and a pace that feels like the antidote to everything Tokyo does at full volume. It's giving ancient civilisation core and we're completely here for it.
Osaka is Japan with the volume turned all the way up and the formality turned all the way down. The food culture is its own religion, the people are louder and funnier than anywhere else in the country, and the bar scene runs late in ways that feel almost surprising until you realise it's just a different side of Japan. Osaka understood the assignment and then rewrote it.
Niseko, Hokkaido in winter is the reason the ski resort option exists on this list. Powder so deep it's actually disorienting, a tight international community of seasonal workers who all become your people fast, and hot springs everywhere for when your legs completely give out after a full day on the mountain. Absolutely sending it.
Ready to go?
Global Work & Travel offers three Japan options built around how you actually want to spend your year:
- Working Holiday in Japan: visa support, arrival orientation, and the groundwork laid well before you touch down
- Teach in Japan: structured teaching matching with your job confirmed before you leave Australia
- Ski Instructing in Niseko: get qualified and placed in one of the world's great ski destinations, all in a single package
Free visa. Once in a lifetime. At some point the decision just makes itself, bestie.
New Zealand: No Visa Required
Open to Australians of any age - indefinite right to work and live
Quick summary
- Visa: not required under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement
- Duration: indefinite right to live and work
- Age limit: none
- Work rights: full and unrestricted
- Funds: no minimum requirement to enter
- Healthcare: ACC covers injury treatment regardless of visa status
Here's the thing most Australians get completely wrong about New Zealand: they treat it like a domestic option. Too close, too familiar, not quite far enough to feel like a proper working holiday. That logic leaves one of the most epic countries on earth permanently on the backburner, always almost considered and never actually done.
The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement means Australians don't need a visa to live and work in New Zealand indefinitely. No application, no fee, no age limit, no quota. You land, you stay as long as you want, you work wherever you find a job. In practical terms it's the most accessible working holiday available to Australians, which is exactly and paradoxically why most of them never take it seriously. Don't be like most Australians on this one.
New Zealand's warmth and vibe are the things nobody prepares you for. Five million people across two islands means you actually meet locals, not just other backpackers doing the exact same loop as you. People invite you into their lives. You build real community in a way that a bigger, louder country simply doesn't allow. And the landscape: mountains, fjords, beaches, and geothermal everything, is so dramatically different to Australia's that spending a year there feels nothing like staying close to home.
What you need to know
- Visa: not required. Australians have the right to live and work in New Zealand indefinitely under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement
- Age limit: none
- Work rights: full and unrestricted. Any employer, any industry, any region
- Funds: no minimum requirement to enter, though arriving with a buffer is always the smart play
- Healthcare: New Zealand's ACC covers injury treatment for everyone in the country, including Australians, regardless of visa status
The one thing to note: permanent residency and citizenship follow a separate pathway and aren't automatic. But for a working holiday of any length, you are completely, totally free to go.
Work life
New Zealand's job market is active and accessible, particularly across tourism, hospitality, and primary industries:
- Barista and cafe work: Kiwis take their coffee with the same intensity Australians do. Good baristas move fast and are always wanted
- Hospitality and hostel work: Queenstown and the South Island tourist circuit are essentially always hiring, year-round
- Fruit picking and harvest work: seasonal, well-paying, and spread across both islands at different times of the year
- Ski instructing: Queenstown and Wanaka in winter, world-class terrain, and a tight international community that becomes your whole world fast
- Au Pairing: live with a New Zealand family, cover your housing and food, and keep your savings completely intact
Places you need to see
The Mackenzie Basin on the South Island is the part of New Zealand that consistently breaks Australians in the best possible way. Lake Tekapo, Aoraki, and a Milky Way visible in ways that simply aren't possible anywhere near an Australian city. Drive it slowly. It earns every minute you give it.
Napier on the North Island is art deco architecture, world-class wine country, and a pace of life that makes you genuinely question why you ever thought you needed a big city to feel happy. Deeply underrated, deeply loved by everyone who actually bothers to go.
Fiordland in the far south is Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, and terrain so dramatic it was used as Middle Earth because nowhere else on earth actually looks like it. A day trip from Queenstown that feels like arriving somewhere completely outside the ordinary world. No notes.
Ready to go?
Global Work & Travel offers three New Zealand options, and because no visa is required for Australians, the entire focus is on setting you up for the best possible year from day one:
- Working Holiday in New Zealand: job matching, accommodation, and full orientation sorted before you land
- Working Holiday in New Zealand (Plus 2for1): our most popular option, and yes, the second working holiday comes completely free. You read that right
- Au Pair in New Zealand: live with a local family, cover your housing and food, and bank everything else
No visa. No age limit. The door has been open this whole time.
So, where are you actually going?
Five destinations. Five completely different versions of what a year abroad can look like:
- UK: depth of history, real career opportunity, and Europe accessible from your doorstep for two full years
- Canada: wilderness that humbles you, cities that energise you, and the highest age limit of the five
- Ireland: the warmest welcome on earth with a whole continent of weekend trips within easy reach
- Japan: the most singularly different experience available to Australians, completely free to apply for, and yours exactly once
- New Zealand: no visa, no age limit, no barriers, and the most underestimated working holiday on this entire list
Global Work & Travel has packages across all five, some including package features such as visa support, job matching, arrival accommodation, and arrival orientation all lined up before you fly. The hardest part really is choosing where to start. And next year has been the answer for long enough.
Ready to live and work abroad?
We run Working Holiday programs in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, and the United States.
Planning your next move?
We also publish in-depth working holiday visa guides for destinations all over the world.
Oceania & the Pacific: Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. North America: Canada and the United States. South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Western Europe: the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria. Southern Europe: Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Greece. Northern & Eastern Europe: Norway, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Middle East: Israel. Asia: South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Mongolia.
Jessie Chambers
Jessie is a globetrotter and storyteller behind the Global Work & Travel blog, sharing tips, tales, and insights from cities to remote escapes, informed by the collective experience and real-world knowledge of teams across our business.