The 88 days, explained

The 88 days is the work requirement that turns a one-year Working Holiday Visa into two. Eighty-eight working days, in eligible regional postcodes, in industries the Department of Home Affairs has listed as specified work. The number is exact. The rules are precise. The paperwork is unforgiving.

Most backpackers who lose their second year application did not lose it because they were lazy or dishonest. They lost it because they trusted the wrong employer, took the wrong job, counted days that did not count, or could not produce the documents the Department wanted to see. The rules are written for the rule-maker, not the worker. This page is the worker’s version.

What follows is the full mechanics of the rule, the scams that take advantage of it, the paperwork that proves you met it, and what happens after. Use the eligible postcodes tool and the harvest calendar alongside it. For the broader context, the umbrella guide is farm work in Australia.

What counts as specified work

The Department of Home Affairs publishes the official list of specified work for both visa subclasses. For the 417 visa, the categories are broad: plant and animal cultivation, fishing and pearling, tree farming and felling, mining, construction (with caveats), and bushfire recovery (limited windows after declared disasters). For the 462 visa, the list is narrower and includes tourism and hospitality in Northern Australia in addition to the agricultural categories.

A few practical examples of what counts:

• Picking fruit and vegetables. Packing them. Sorting them in the shed.
• Vineyard work, including pruning, leaf-plucking, and harvest.
• Livestock work on stations, including mustering, fencing, drenching, and yard work.
• Dairy work.
• Aquaculture (oyster farming, prawn farming, fish farming).
• Tree planting and forestry on registered plantations.
• Construction work specifically in eligible postcodes, for trades coded under the 417 list.

A few practical examples of what does not count:

• Cooking on a farm, even if everyone else you live with is a picker.
• Helping out on a friend’s hobby farm without a payslip.
• Volunteer work. The Department requires you to be paid.
• Cash-in-hand work with no payslip. Even if you genuinely worked the days, the days are unprovable.
• Bee removal (a category that confuses backpackers because beekeeping does count, but bee removal does not).
• Lawn mowing or gardening at a residential property, even in a regional postcode.

The principle: the work itself, not the location and not the employer, decides. A vineyard worker in an eligible postcode counts. A cook at the same vineyard does not.

Visa subclasses: 417 vs 462

The 417 (Working Holiday) and 462 (Work and Holiday) are different visas with different country lists, different age limits, and different specified work requirements for the second year. You cannot pick which one you hold. Your passport decides. The visa comparison tool shows the country lists, age limits, and conditions side by side.

The practical differences for the 88 days:

• The 417 has a broader specified-work list, including some construction trades.
• The 462 has a narrower agricultural list but adds tourism and hospitality work in Northern Australia (above the Tropic of Capricorn) as eligible specified work.
• The eligible postcodes list is different for each subclass. A postcode that counts for the 417 may not count for the 462, and vice versa.
• Both subclasses require 88 days, both require the same kind of evidence, and both feed into the same second-year application process described in our WHV second year visa pillar.

If you do not know which visa you hold, check the grant letter from when you applied. Both grant letters state the subclass explicitly.

Eligible postcodes

Specified work only counts toward the 88 days when it is done in an eligible regional postcode. The Department maintains two lists: one for the 417 visa, one for the 462. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and most of their metro suburbs are not on either list. Tasmania, the entire Northern Territory, and most of regional Australia are on both. The Adelaide Hills, parts of Western Australia, and the Sunshine Coast hinterland sit in the grey zone where some postcodes count for one subclass only.

Before you accept any job offer, check the postcode against the right list. The eligible postcodes tool does this lookup. If the tool returns “not eligible” for the postcode of the farm you have been offered, the days will not count, regardless of how legitimate the work itself is.

Working three months in the wrong postcode is the single most painful mistake we see in the WHV community. It is the one you cannot fix retroactively.

How many days exactly

The Department counts worked days, not calendar days. A worked day is a day on which you completed the hours expected of a full-time worker in that role. For a typical fruit-picking job at 6 to 8 hours per day, that means a day shows up on your payslip with hours that round up to a full shift.

A few corollaries that catch people out:

• Sundays you did not work do not count.
• Public holidays you did not work do not count.
• Days where you worked four hours when the standard shift is eight count as half a day.
• Sick days do not count, even if you were paid.
• Annual leave does not count, even if you were paid.

A realistic timeline for an average picker on six- and seven-day rosters is 14 to 16 weeks of farm work to accumulate 88 worked days. Plan with a four-week buffer. Many backpackers underestimate this and run out of visa time before completing the days.

You do not need to do all 88 days consecutively, with one employer, or in one region. You can split them across as many jobs as you want, across as many states as you want, as long as each day meets the criteria and you have the evidence.

How to find legitimate 88-day work

Finding legitimate, eligible work is half the challenge. The other half is paperwork, which we cover below. The legitimate-work half breaks into a clear sequence we have laid out in the steps section of this page. The short version:

Start with your visa subclass. Confirm which specified work categories apply to you, especially if you hold a 462 and want to use the Northern Australia tourism and hospitality exception. Pick a region that is on the eligible postcodes list for your subclass. Match your timing to the harvest using the harvest calendar. Get the job offer in writing before you travel: the offer letter or email should include the employer name, ABN, location, role, hourly or piece rate, and expected start date. Apply for a Tax File Number before day one. Confirm the postcode and the work category once more on day one. Keep every payslip from the first one. Treat documentation as part of the job.

The reverse is what catches most people: arriving in a region without confirming the postcode, accepting a job at the farm gate without written terms, starting without a TFN, working three weeks before realising the role does not appear on the specified work list.

Wages, super, and tax during your 88 days

A few baselines.

Hourly minimums. The Horticulture Award sets a casual minimum hourly rate that updates every July. The current casual rate for a Level 1 picker is in the high-$20s per hour including loading. Check the Fair Work Ombudsman pay calculator for the exact figure on the day you start.

Piece rates. Many fruit picking jobs pay per kilogram or per bin. Under the 2022 Fair Work decision, piece rates must allow an average competent worker to earn at least the minimum hourly rate plus a 15% premium. If your contract pays a rate where a fast picker still cannot reach minimum wage, the contract is unenforceable and you should raise it with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Tax. Working holiday makers are taxed at 15% on the first $45,000 of Australian income, provided you have applied for a Tax File Number and your employer is registered. Without a TFN, the employer is required to withhold 47% of your pay. Apply for the TFN online before your first day. It takes under thirty minutes and the number arrives within 24 hours of your visa being active.

Superannuation. Your employer must pay superannuation contributions on top of your wage, currently around 11.5% of ordinary earnings. The super stays in your nominated fund until you leave Australia, at which point you can apply for a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP). DASP is taxed at a higher rate than your wages, but the money is yours.

Casual loading. Casual workers receive a 25% loading on top of the base hourly rate in lieu of paid leave entitlements. Make sure your payslip itemises the loading separately. If it does not, you are being underpaid.

Common scams to avoid

Some patterns repeat every season.

The unpaid training week. A farm or hostel tells you the first week is “training” and unpaid. Australian Fair Work law requires payment from day one of productive work. There is no legal unpaid training period for ordinary picking or packing. Walk away and report to the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.

The pay-up-front working hostel. You pay a fee or several weeks of rent in advance for “guaranteed” farm work that never materialises. Always ask current residents, not the manager, before paying anything. Cross-check on Google reviews, Reddit, and WhatsApp groups.

The wrong postcode farm. A real farm with a real payslip, but in a postcode that is not on the list for your visa subclass. The work is real. The days will not count. Check the postcode yourself; do not rely on the employer’s assurance.

The cash-in-hand setup. “We pay cash, faster.” Cash-in-hand work does not count, regardless of how genuine. Insist on bank transfer with a payslip.

The fake employer signature. Some intermediaries will sign your Form 1263 (the employer declaration for the second year visa) on behalf of a farm where you did not actually work. The Department cross-checks against payroll records and ATO data. Faked declarations get visas refused and can lead to longer bans.

If you encounter any of these, write to us through the contact page. Pattern reports help us warn others.

The paperwork you need

The application for the second year visa is an exercise in documentation. The Department wants evidence that the work was real, eligible, paid, and yours. The minimum dossier:

• Payslips for every shift. Not summaries, not totals, but the original itemised payslips showing the date, hours, gross pay, tax withheld, and super contribution.
• Your Tax File Number. Have it before day one.
• Employment contract or written letter of offer. Email is fine if it is detailed.
• Bank statements showing the wages arrived in your account on the dates the payslips claim.
• Form 1263, the employer declaration. Each employer signs one. The signature must be from someone with hiring authority at the business itself, not a labour-hire intermediary unless the labour-hire is your direct employer.
• A reference letter or written confirmation from each employer, dated, on letterhead where possible, confirming the dates and nature of the work.

Email scanned copies of every document to yourself the day you receive them. Photograph paper payslips. Many visa rejections happen not because the work was wrong but because the worker could not produce the evidence at application time.

State-by-state quick reference

Each state has its own rhythm and its own common pitfalls. The short version:

• Queensland. Bundaberg, Stanthorpe, Tully, Childers, Atherton Tablelands. Work runs year-round. Heavy use of working hostels, so vet them carefully.
• New South Wales. Riverina, Sunraysia (around Mungo), Coffs Harbour, Orange. Peak February to October. More direct-to-farm hiring than QLD.
• Victoria. Mildura, Shepparton, Yarra Valley. Grape, stone fruit, and apple seasons run January to May.
• South Australia. Riverland (Renmark, Berri), Barossa. Almonds and citrus drive longer contracts.
• Western Australia. Margaret River, Carnarvon, Kununurra. Two peak windows, southern in February to June and northern in September to November.
• Tasmania. Huon Valley, Tamar Valley, north-west coast. Apple, cherry, and berry work December to May.
• Northern Territory. Berry Springs, Humpty Doo, Katherine. Mango season September to December is the big window.

Detailed state guides live under the farm work pillar and will be linked individually as they are published.

After your 88 days

The 88 days is the precondition for applying for the second year visa, not the application itself. Once you have your documents, you submit the application through ImmiAccount on the Department of Home Affairs website. The application fee is in the high hundreds of dollars and changes each July.

You do not have to wait until you have left Australia to apply, and you do not have to apply immediately after completing the 88 days. You can apply at any time before your first-year visa expires. While the application is being processed, you are usually placed on a Bridging Visa A, which lets you stay and work while waiting.

The full application process, including the timing, documents, and common rejection reasons, is covered in detail in our WHV second year visa pillar.

If you remember one thing from this page: get the postcode right, get the TFN before day one, and keep every payslip.