Backpackers on working holiday maker visas have been a crucial source of farm labour for decades, alongside smaller numbers of temporary migrants from the Pacific Islands, international students, and Australians.
In the 2018-19 financial year more than 200,000 people came to Australia on working holiday maker visas. On average about 35,000 a month – and more than 40,000 in December – worked on farms, picking vegetables, fruit or nuts.
