Working Holiday Visas in the UK Are Changing for Young Aussies: Here’s How

Australia’s new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom is set to kick off on May 31, and the agreement will see a few exciting changes take place across agricultural exports and working holiday visas for young people in Australia and the UK.

If you’ve ever considered working abroad in the UK, here are the FTA updates you need to know about right now.

What’s changing with working holiday visas?

Per a statement released by Minister for Trade and Tourism and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the biggest takeaways from the FTA (when it comes to working in the UK) are:

• The age limit for working holiday visas in the UK will be increased to 35 from 30.
• UK working holiday visas will now be valid for 3 years, up from 2.

These changes come into effect as of May 31, 2023 – although this date has come under question.

In any case, the updates are pretty useful for folks who had their UK working plans disrupted by the pandemic, that’s for sure.

On the agreement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“The Australia-UK FTA represents one of the most comprehensive, innovative and ambitious free trade agreements concluded by Australia to date and strengthens an already close relationship between Australia and the UK.”

What else should I know?

Moving over to the export side of things, the FTA will eliminate tariffs on 99 per cent of Aussie goods exported to the UK. This includes products like wine, short and medium-grain rice, honey, nuts and other items like auto parts, electrical equipment and cosmetics.

Also, over the span of 10 years, tariff quotas on agricultural products (including beef and dairy, etc.) will be eliminated.

The Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator the Hon Don Farrell, shared the following statement on these updates:

“Our trade agreement with the UK will significantly reduce costs for exporters and assist Australian businesses seeking to diversify trade to a wider range of overseas markets.”

“This agreement will underpin and deepen the already strong bilateral investment relationship with our second-largest source of foreign direct investment in Australia.”

You can read more about the FTA and its impact on working holiday visas and exports here.

This article has been updated since its original publish date.