Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, , 7:26:50 to 7:30:59
Senator Roberts inquires about the 'go slow' policy for Working Holiday Maker visas. Officials confirm the strategy aims to moderate growth and stabilize processing times at three months while transitioning to a ballot-based system.
Topics: Employment, Government spending
Speakers: Clare Sharp, Senator Malcolm Roberts, Michael Willard, Unknown Speaker
Thank you, Chair. Thank you for appearing. Uh, before we start, Ms. Foster, thank you for the briefing on Friday, I think it was last week. Um we've heard via the media that there is currently a go slow practice occurring in the processing of some visa applications. Which types of visas are currently being processed slowly.
Senator Um Minister Burke in his press club address um made it clear that there was slower processing uh being applied to the working holiday maker visa. Um that has stabilized now at um around a three-month uh processing time for all working holiday maker visa applications where there's a specified work requirement, which is the um every everyone who is required if they want to do a um a second year to work in a regional area for for working holiday maker visas, which yeah from the UK who do not have the specified work requirement, those are still being processed more slowly.
Thank you. How many such applications have had delayed processing?
Uh Mr.
Senator, I might be able to give you some numbers in terms of um numbers of visas on hand. Uh number of visas process in a work in holiday makerspace. So in 2026-27 to the 31st of August, uh, we've granted 22,377 work and holiday Uh and when we look at the active applications on hand, there's 48,752 on the other.
How many was there?
48,752.
Application done hand.
Yes.
Thank you. Why are they being delayed again?
Was Ms. Sharp just outlined?
So, Senator, we have got historically high, very high levels of working holiday makers visas in Australia currently. And so the purpose of slowing the processing and stabilizing the processing time with that three-month delay is to moderate the growth rate of working holiday maker numbers in Australia. Longer term, we're moving towards um managing that number um so that it's not completely demand driven through the use of ballots going forward.
Okay. So it's an official policy. It was um directed by Minister Burke.
Uh Senator, it's it's certainly something we've worked on with Minister Burke to manage the number while we've been working on the longer term solution. That will involve the use of ballots.
Thank you. So it's an attempt to temporarily limit numbers of persons entering Australia and to smooth out the application processing. You've got a varying load by the sound of it, and you want to smooth it out.
Yes, Senator, the challenge with the working holiday maker program prior to the government taking action this financial year is that it is completely demand-driven. Which means that we've seen very rapid growth over several years, which led us to the situation where we had these historically high record historically high levels. The actions we've taken are seeking to moderate that growth and to bring that level down somewhat in the way that the minister has also talked through today.