Farm work in Australia,
made simple.
Honest guides for Working Holiday Visa holders: no recruiter jargon, no dodgy farms, just what you actually need to know.
Most working holiday makers come to Australia for two reasons. To travel. And to extend their visa. The 88-day rule sits at the intersection of both.
Done well, eighty-eight days of farm work in regional Australia covers your living costs, builds friendships you’ll keep for years, and unlocks your second year visa. Done badly, it costs you the visa, the savings, and sometimes more.
Bushworker exists for the second case. We document what counts and what doesn’t. We name the scams we’ve seen. We list the regions and the crops, the postcodes and the seasons. The version we wished we had when we landed.
Where to begin
Farm work in Australia
Where to find it, what to expect, how to get paid fairly.
The 88 days, explained
What counts, what doesn't, and how to keep records.
Fruit picking by season
Which fruit, which state, which month, without the guesswork.
WHV second year visa
The full path from first arrival to your second year.
Plan your 88 days
Free, no-signup tools for working holiday makers in Australia.
Income calculator
Compare your real take-home over 88 days, with and without a TFN. Hourly or piece rate, by crop.
Eligible postcodes
Check if a postcode counts toward your 88 days. Search by postcode or suburb, browse by state.
Harvest calendar
Which crop is in season, in which state, in which month. Plan where to be when.
Visa comparison
417 or 462? Pick your passport, see which subclass applies and what extra requirements your country has.
Why Bushworker
01
Lived, not researched
Every guide is written by people who did the 88 days, picked the fruit, slept in the working hostels. We document what we saw, not what a press release said.
02
Updated when rules change
Visa rules shift. Postcodes get added. Tax brackets change every July. We update the relevant pages within days, and we date-stamp every guide.
03
Honest about the bad days
Farm work has scams, dodgy hostels, and shifts that pay below minimum. We name them. The job board sites won't, because the bad operators are their advertisers.