Get the most out of your Working Holiday Visa
You’re probably wondering what are the best backpacker jobs in Australia to save money. After travelling this far, you booked your flight and you’ve landed (most likely) in one of the state capitals. Melbourne or Sydney, right?
It is easy to realise that your travel savings from home aren’t going to get you as far as you originally thought and although living in a city is cool, is it that any different to life at home? Is that really why you came to the other side of the world?
Well, if you’re like us and you want to save money quickly, but also have a true Aussie experience, then we guarantee that if you head rural, you’ll get that and more.
Where to look for Backpacker jobs Australia:
Look on Facebook Backpacker Job Groups, Gumtree and the Job Shop. We found all our jobs this way and never had a problem and your employers aren’t expecting you to commit for a long time because you can only work for 6 months on the visa anyway! But you should do your research before heading out into the bush, think smart, go in pairs (if you can) and always google reviews of where you’re working or ask to speak to other backpackers who are already working there.
Remember lifestyle choices do come into play here, so be careful about what you spend your money on. You can eat cheaply by cooking your own food, and you can always use Dan Murphy’s delivery service to get discounted beer if that’s your thing!
The 3 best backpacker jobs Australia:
1. Farm Work
Picking, pruning, packing, working with animals … working in Victoria, Queensland and WA… we’ve done it all. Whilst this job is great for getting your 88 days, a lot of backpackers we met did just that. They got their 88 days, but did not manage to save money. This is usually because the work was not consistent, weather dependent, piece rate, or they were staying in expensive working hostel accommodation.
Our tips for this would be, try and get your farm work completed as early as possible into your visa, that way you can be picky about where you go, where you stay. You should also try to find an hourly paid job and work on weekends (it pays more). There are lots of options out there, so choose something that you’re comfortable with too. Perhaps you want to sleep in your van or tent to save? This is definitely possible.
The Job Shop Website is definitely one of the most resourceful for Western Australia and Northern Territory as they advertise some of the best backpacker jobs. Remember most travellers head to Victoria and Queensland, so you’ll have less competition in other states. We found a sweet deal on the beach, so we spent all our spare time swimming, surfing and sunbathing and still managed to save over $15,000. Not bad. We actually stayed for over 4 months and started our second year visa on the farm.
Average weekly pay= $900+ (hour dependent)
2. Hospitality
Out of the cities, there are still plenty of hospitality jobs available that help you save the big bucks. The best backpacker jobs in hospitality are the roadhouses. Whilst we worked in restaurants and ice cream shops (and this was great) the hours and the seasonal aspect of this industry in rural areas, can’t guarantee the same pay as the traditional Aussie Pubs.
Roadhouses are a great way to save as you’re in the countryside. Just imagine the characters you’re going to meet working in a hotel, kitchen or behind the bar in the outback. The pay is no different to the big cities, it’s not too hard and the Aussies love training people who have never worked in bars before.
This experience enables you to learn new skills, have several knock off drinks, cheap (sometimes free) accommodation, and high pay rates for working on weekends and evenings. This is a fast way to save a lot of money and usually the bars (and the bars nearby) are full of backpackers, so you don’t even need to worry about being alone. It’s a win-win.
Tip: be wary of the Roadhouses that offer a weekly wage. It can be great, because it usually includes food and accommodation. However, do your research, as you probably won’t be able to save as much as you would from cooking yourself on an hourly rate.
Average weekly pay= $950 (Sundays at $32hr helped).
3. Retail
Out of all the jobs you can get as a backpacker (and trust us we had around 10) this is really the one where we were able to save the most amount of money. In our opinion, this makes it the best backpacker job to get. We got this job through Facebook and did it for a total of 3 months and saved $13,000.
We worked in 2 twins supermarkets, one in a small mining town and the other in a Aboriginal Dry community in Queensland. What’s great about this job is that you really feel like part of the local area. Imagine you’re working in the only shop for miles, so you really do get to know everyone. Also you’ll get invited to really weird town events, 60th birthday party? Bowls? Tennis nights? Fishing carnival? The town will welcome you to these and you should embrace it, despite the craziness.
You went to Australia to enjoy what Australia has to offer? Meet and interact with the people? You don’t get this by living in a city. Now, you’re probably wondering, are you just saving so much money here because there is nothing to do? Well that’s the price you pay for going rural..
In this case, there’s a slight difference. You know how supermarkets can’t sell stock if it’s out of date? Or if the fruit is bruised or the veggies damaged? Well, it’s a backpacker’s haven; your manager will encourage you to take these products home. So you’re eating for basically free too.
When we were lucky enough to get this job, it included a house (with another backpacker couple). So we had free rent, free food and our only outgoings were the schooners that were drank at the local pub on a Friday night.
It does sound a bit too good to be true doesn’t it? Consider how far that money can take you on your next travels…
Average weekly pay= $1200 (Very long hours and one day off a week
GO RURAL for Backpacker Jobs, Australia. No questions asked.
If you want more information on travelling cheaply in Australia then click here.