Last verified: 29 August 2026. The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme and Australia’s Working Holiday Maker program can both involve agricultural work, but they are designed for different purposes.

PALM is a government-managed, employer-sponsored employment program for people who are both citizens and residents of one of the nine participating Pacific island countries or Timor-Leste. Working Holiday Maker visas—subclass 417 and subclass 462—are primarily for eligible young adults who want an extended holiday in Australia and may undertake short-term work while they travel.

This page provides general information. Visa eligibility depends on the applicant, passport, visa history, work performed and current government rules. Orchard Tech cannot guarantee a visa, a visa extension or that a particular job will qualify as specified work.

What happened to the Australian Agriculture Visa?

The Australian Government first announced its plan for an Australian Agriculture Visa in June 2021 and published further program details on 23 August 2021. It was intended to respond to workforce shortages in agriculture and other primary industries and to operate through bilateral arrangements with participating countries—not as an unrestricted visa open to anyone. The Migration Amendment (Australian Agriculture Workers) Regulations 2021 introduced an Australian Agriculture Worker stream within the Temporary Work (International Relations) visa (subclass 403).

The Australian Agriculture Worker stream was repealed from 1 October 2022. As at 29 August 2026, DFAT states that the Australian Agriculture Visa is no longer an available visa product. The 2021 announcement said possible permanent-residence pathways would be considered during later design work; it did not create or guarantee permanent residence. Older pages that describe future applications, country eligibility or permanent residence are historical and must not be relied on as current visa rules.

DFAT separately says Australia is working with Vietnam under a bilateral labour-mobility arrangement. The public DFAT page reviewed on 29 August 2026 does not publish an individual application process. That arrangement should not be presented as an open replacement for the discontinued Australian Agriculture Visa.

People considering agricultural work should check Home Affairs’ current agriculture visa options. Depending on eligibility and individual circumstances, current programs may include PALM for eligible workers recruited through participating-country processes or subclass 417 and 462 Working Holiday Maker visas for eligible passport holders. These are different pathways with their own rules; they are not continuations of the Australian Agriculture Visa. Check the visa grant letter and VEVO, and obtain advice only from a person legally authorised to provide immigration assistance. Orchard Tech cannot determine eligibility or guarantee a visa or permanent residence.

PALM and Working Holiday visas compared

Feature	PALM scheme	Working Holiday Maker—417 or 462
Main purpose	Structured employment through an approved PALM employer where local workers are unavailable.	Cultural exchange and an extended holiday, with short-term work permitted.
Who may be eligible	People who are both citizens and residents of one of the nine participating Pacific island countries or Timor-Leste and who meet their country’s, the PALM scheme’s and the visa requirements.	Holders of eligible passports who meet the requirements for subclass 417 or 462.
Age	Workers must be at least 21. Participating countries may apply further selection requirements.	Subclass 417 applicants are generally 18–30, or up to 35 for some passports. Subclass 462 applicants are generally 18–30.
How recruitment starts	The prospective worker contacts their country’s labour sending unit.	The individual applies directly through the Department of Home Affairs.
Visa	Temporary Work (International Relations) visa, subclass 403 PALM stream.	Working Holiday visa subclass 417 or Work and Holiday visa subclass 462.
Work period	Short-term placements of up to nine months, or long-term placements of one to four years.	Generally 12 months for each granted visa. A second or third visa is available only where the relevant requirements are met.
Employer relationship	Work is connected to an approved employer, an approved placement and PALM sponsorship arrangements.	A holder may work for lawful employers subject to the conditions of their visa.
Changing employer	An approved PALM transfer or portability arrangement and compliant visa arrangements are required.	A holder may change jobs, subject to their visa conditions and employment obligations.
Minimum-hours safeguard	Short-term workers must generally be offered 120 hours reconciled over four weeks. Long-term workers must be offered full-time hours, generally 38 hours a week, subject to the applicable workplace instrument.	There is no WHM-program minimum-hours guarantee. The employment contract, award, enterprise agreement and workplace law determine the applicable conditions.
Pay	Australian workplace laws apply. Pay depends on the applicable award or agreement, classification, employment type, hours, duties and any lawful piecework arrangement.	The same Australian workplace protections apply. Pay is determined by the same employment factors, not simply by the visa subclass.
Travel and accommodation	Approved employers have specific travel, accommodation, welfare and wellbeing obligations. Some permitted worker costs may be financed upfront and later repaid through lawful deductions.	Flights, accommodation and transport are normally the traveller’s responsibility unless separately agreed with an employer or provider.
Working longer than six months for one employer	PALM workers follow their approved placement and visa arrangements.	Condition 8547 ordinarily limits work with one employer to six months, but current exemptions include plant and animal cultivation and agriculture anywhere in Australia. Current rules and VEVO must still be checked.
Second and third WHM visas	Not applicable.	Specified-work rules differ between subclasses 417 and 462. UK passport holders applying for subclass 417 on or after 1 July 2024 do not need specified work for a second or third 417 visa.

How the PALM scheme works

The PALM scheme allows eligible Australian businesses to recruit workers from Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Workers start with their labour sending unit

A prospective PALM worker should contact the government labour sending unit in their home country and follow that unit’s registration and selection process. Workers do not bypass this process by applying directly to Orchard Tech or another Australian employer.

The Australian Government states that workers do not need to pay or give gifts to anyone to join the PALM scheme. Country-specific contact details are published on the official PALM “How to apply” page.

Registration or selection does not guarantee a job, sponsorship or visa. Recruitment remains demand-driven and requires an approved employer, approved recruitment, an offer of employment and the required visa process.

Short-term and long-term PALM placements

Short-term PALM placements may run for up to nine months. Eligible short-term workers may hold a multi-year visa that allows further annual placements, but they must comply with the offshore-period and work-contract conditions applying to them.

Long-term PALM placements run for between one and four years. The worker’s permitted stay is governed by their visa grant and approved work contract. Workers should check their visa grant letter and Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO), rather than assuming that a general program maximum is their personal visa expiry date.

PALM employment is employer-linked, but approved transfers exist

PALM is an employer-sponsored program. A worker cannot independently leave an approved placement and begin working for any business in the way a Working Holiday Maker generally can.

The PALM Guidelines provide approved transfer and portability processes. Depending on the circumstances, these can include transfers between approved employers and temporary portability arrangements. A transfer must follow the PALM and visa processes; it is not an informal job change.

A worker who needs help should speak with their welfare and wellbeing support person, country liaison officer, labour sending unit or the PALM support service.

PALM pay, hours and deductions

Visa type must not be used to justify lower minimum pay

PALM and Working Holiday Maker employees are protected by Australian workplace laws. A visa holder is entitled to the minimum pay and conditions applying to the work they perform.

This does not mean every PALM worker and Working Holiday Maker receives an identical hourly rate or take-home amount. The correct rate can depend on:

• the award or enterprise agreement
• the worker’s classification and experience
• whether the worker is full-time, part-time or casual
• hourly or lawful piecework arrangements
• ordinary hours, overtime, penalties and allowances
• the duties and industry involved.

Workers and employers should use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Pay and Conditions Tool and current award information.

PALM minimum-hours rules are additional safeguards

Under the PALM Approved Employer Guidelines current on the review date:

• short-term workers must generally be offered at least 120 hours of work, reconciled over each four-week period
• long-term workers must be offered full-time hours each week, generally 38 hours, subject to the applicable award or other workplace instrument.

The Guidelines also contain rules for situations where required hours cannot be offered. These requirements do not replace an award, enterprise agreement or employment contract that provides a higher entitlement.

The $200 net-pay safeguard is not a wage rate

The PALM Guidelines require a minimum net-pay safeguard of $200 a week after tax and deductions. This controls how permitted deductions and debt repayments are managed. It is not the worker’s minimum gross wage, an estimate of normal weekly earnings or a limit on what the worker should take home.

Gross wages must still comply with the applicable award, agreement and workplace law.

Travel and accommodation are not simply “free” or “included”

Approved employers must arrange or support matters including travel, suitable accommodation and worker welfare in accordance with approved plans and the PALM Guidelines.

Some eligible worker costs may be paid upfront by the employer and gradually recovered through lawful deductions. Deductions must meet Fair Work and PALM requirements, be properly explained and itemised, and generally be genuinely agreed to in writing.

Employers cannot pass on their own scheme-administration, recruitment, welfare, required training or work-health-and-safety personal protective equipment costs to workers. Workers should read their offer of employment and statement of deductions and ask questions before agreeing to a deduction.

How Working Holiday Maker visas work

Subclass 417 and subclass 462 are separate visas with different eligible passports and, in some cases, different specified-work locations and categories.

Applicants should use the official pages for the Working Holiday visa—subclass 417 or Work and Holiday visa—subclass 462. Do not rely on a generic country list copied onto a recruitment website.

A Working Holiday Maker applies directly to Home Affairs. An employer does not sponsor or grant the visa.

The six-month employer rule has agricultural exemptions

Visa condition 8547 ordinarily limits a Working Holiday Maker to six months with one employer. As at the review date, Home Affairs exemptions include:

• plant and animal cultivation anywhere in Australia
• agriculture and food processing anywhere in Australia
• work at different locations where work at any one location does not exceed six months
• other specified sectors and circumstances.

These exemptions can change. The worker should check the current six-month work limitation guidance, their visa grant letter and VEVO before working beyond six months.

Do all farm jobs count towards a second or third visa?

No. Agricultural work does not automatically qualify.

For many non-UK applicants, eligibility for a second WHM visa requires three months of the relevant specified work, and eligibility for a third requires six months of relevant specified work completed during the second visa. However:

• subclass 417 and subclass 462 have different specified-work rules
• the type of work, location, dates and manner in which it was performed matter
• not every agricultural task or postcode qualifies
• UK passport holders applying for a second or third subclass 417 visa on or after 1 July 2024 do not need to meet a specified-work requirement.

Use the current Home Affairs pages for specified subclass 417 work, specified subclass 462 work and UK passport-holder arrangements.

Keep accurate payslips, timesheets, employer details and work-location records. Only Home Affairs determines whether an applicant satisfies the requirements for another visa.

Which pathway may be relevant?

PALM may be relevant if you:

• are a citizen and resident of a participating Pacific country or Timor-Leste
• meet your country’s labour sending unit requirements
• want a structured short-term or long-term placement
• are selected through the official PALM recruitment process.

A Working Holiday Maker visa may be relevant if you:

• hold an eligible passport
• meet the age and other requirements for subclass 417 or 462
• primarily want a holiday with permission to undertake short-term work
• want greater freedom to seek and change lawful employment, subject to visa conditions.

Meeting some of these points does not establish visa eligibility. Check Home Affairs or obtain assistance from a person legally authorised to provide immigration assistance.

Orchard Tech and these pathways

As at 29 August 2026, the Australian Government’s current PALM employers list identifies The Trustee for Suvarnabhoomi Discretionary Trust, trading as Suvarnabhoomi Pty Ltd (Orchard Tech), as a Victorian PALM labour hire organisation.

Approval status can change and should be checked against the government list before relying on it. The listing does not mean every prospective worker can apply directly, that a vacancy is available or that every job will qualify as specified work for a later WHM visa.

For PALM workers

Start with your home country’s labour sending unit. Do not pay or give gifts to someone who promises to place you in the PALM scheme.

For Working Holiday Makers

Check your visa and work conditions, then contact Orchard Tech to ask whether a current vacancy exists. Before accepting work, ask for the employer’s legal name, duties, location, pay basis, expected hours and written employment terms.

Only Home Affairs can determine whether work supports a future visa application. Orchard Tech cannot decide or guarantee that outcome.

For Australian businesses

Businesses seeking workforce services can contact Orchard Tech. Any proposed PALM arrangement remains subject to current approvals, recruitment limits, labour-market testing and placement requirements.

Important visa-information disclaimer

This page provides general information and is not immigration assistance or personal migration advice. Only certain people may provide immigration assistance, including a registered migration agent, Australian legal practitioner or exempt person.

Check the Department of Home Affairs for current rules. If you need advice about your own circumstances or visa application, use a person authorised to provide immigration assistance.