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Overseas & Visa information for

WWOOFing in Australia

WWOOFing in Australia is NOT Paid Employment                    Google Translations

Contrary to some stories you may have heard - WWOOFing is NOT a source of paid employment! WWOOFing is VOLUNTARY work done during holiday times, in exchange for learning something about Organic Growing and about the country you are visiting. Making cider

To learn about your host's growing techniques, or about their lifestyle, members are expected to do a little work to help cover their bed & board.

Often this will be simple farm work, but it can also include environmental work such as tree planting for desalination, erosion control or wildlife habitat creation.

Indeed it may include any conservation work which your host is involved with and for which Government funding is not usually available.

Visas to visit Australia

PLEASE NOTE: you must arrange your entry visa to Australia before you join WWOOF.

WWOOF Memberships will not be refunded if you cannot obtain an entry visa. WWOOF Pty Ltd and WWOOF Hosts cannot assist with travel costs or visa applications, so please do not ask. See below for Overseas Information & visas

If you live in China and wish to join WWOOF Australia, please contact our Agent for China, you cannot order direct from WWOOF Australia. You must be at least 18 years old and will need to obtain a tourist visa before you join.

The Australian Immigration Website has information regarding visa types, there are a number of visas that allow working holidays, the most common being the Working Holiday Visa. WWOOFing can also be done on a tourist visa, please see the conditions for this on the The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) website.

Working Holiday Visa  

A Working Holiday Visa (WHV) enables visitors to earn wages with some restrictions, and MUST be issued BEFORE arriving in Australia. The WHV visa allows a stay of up to 12 months from the date of first entry into Australia.

People can apply for a WHV visa if they are between the ages of 18 and 30 and hold a passport  of a country with reciprocal arrangements with Australia including:

  • Belgium

  • Canada

  • the Republic of Cyprus

  • Denmark

  • Estonia

  • Finland

  • France

  • Germany

  • the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China

  • the Republic of Ireland

  • Italy

  • Japan

  • the Republic of Korea

  • Malta

  • the Netherlands

  • Norway

  • Sweden

  • Taiwan

  • United Kingdom

WWOOFing isn't ALL work!

Note: If you are from Chile, Indonesia, Malasia, Thailand, Turkey or USA, you may be eligible to apply for a Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462), which provides similar opportunities for tertiary educated people aged 18 to 30.

Exemption: Applicants from the USA are exempt from the tertiary education requirement.

With a Working Holiday Visa, you may only work for the same employer for a period of 6 months. All costs in obtaining a visa, as well as in travelling to and from Australia, have to be met by you.

First Working Holiday Visa

A Working Holiday visa gives you 12 months to travel to Australia from the date the visa is granted, and allows you to stay in Australia for 12 months from the date you first enter Australia.
See DIAC website for more information

You can leave and re-enter Australia within the 12 months from the date of initial entry to Australia. However, if you depart Australia during your 12 month stay, you are not able to recover in any way the period of time spent outside Australia. Click here to go to application form # 1150

Second Working Holiday Visa 

If you are planning to apply for A Second Working Holiday Visa, it is advisable to start early on your 3 months of work in Regional Australia, rather than doing it at the end of your first year, as people often end up running out of time and will fail to qualify if they are 1 or 2 days short of the required 3 months.  Remember, if you are building up the 3 months at a number of different WWOOF Hosts, or with a mixture of paid work and WWOOFing, to allow for travel time in between hosts as this does not count as days worked.

Click here to go to application form # 1263

To be eligible for a second Working Holiday visa, you must meet a number of general requirements:-

  • have completed three months of Specified work in regional Australia  while on your first Working Holiday visa

  • be aged between 18 and 30 years (inclusive) at the time of applying

  • if applying from outside Australia, be applying no more than 12 months before you intend to travel to Australia

  • not have any dependant children

  • hold a passport for a country or region participating in the Working Holiday program.

WWOOFing is accepted by DIAC as a suitable activity to qualify for this visa, you must ensure that the Hosts you work for are located within the areas set out by DIAC Go to the DIAC website for more information

For the purposes of meeting the requirements for a second Working Holiday visa, see the DIAC definitions for 'Specified work' and *'Regional Australia'

*Regional Australia: is defined as anywhere in Australia except Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, the NSW Central Coast, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Perth, Melbourne or the ACT. Check the Postcode list on DIAC's website for details of places that qualify, work MUST be done within these postcode areas in order to be included in your application.

Three months is considered to be three calendar months. Time worked is taken from start date to end date e.g., if a person works for one employer for two weeks, weekends will not be deducted. Work must be full time. Full time work is taken to be the norm for that employer, that region and that industry, as WWOOFing is 4-6 hours per day, this is considered the norm for WWOOF.

The work need not be paid work e.g.: "work undertaken as a volunteer or through the WWOOFing scheme (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) may be counted toward the three months of specified work if your WWOOF Host is in regional Australia. You will still need to provide evidence that you have done a minimum of three months of specified work".

Three months work can be spread over a number of WWOOF Hosts, each Host must be located in one of the postcodes listed on DIAC's Postcode list, and must sign your form stating the number of days you have worked with them, so make sure you ask the Host prior to staying with them if they are happy to sign your form.  Hosts will only sign these forms if WWOOFers have actually done the required amount of specified work each day as agreed with the hosts when arranging to stay. DIAC randomly check one in every seven applications with WWOOF Hosts & other employers to see if the specified work has been done for the number of days stated on the form, so ensure your host records this information in their guestbook.

Please note: Hosts do not need to be a commercial operation or hold an ABN to sign your form, but you cannot lodge the form online if they don't have one, in this case you will need to mail your completed form.

Need More Info?? Check out the Australian Immigration Website or if you need to talk to someone, Telephone contact details for DIAC

For information about the cost of visas, see: Tourist Visa Costs and Working Holiday Visa Costs

 

WWOOF Pty Ltd, (A.C.N. 085-920-690), 2166 Gelantipy Road, W Tree, Buchan, Vic 3885 Australia
E-mail wwoof at wwoof.com.au
Telephone +61-(0)3-5155-0218 Fax +61-(0)3-5155-0342

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