Live the Sunny Australian Dream – The How to Guide for Travelling Winemakers

Living the Australian Dream – Take Me There

This is my How to Guide created for travelling winemakers wanting to make the move over to Australia. Don't fear, I am here to help you bust through the confusion that comes with moving country and make your move to Australia as pain free as possible.

Guide for How To: Get a Visa

First things first, you need a visa.

I don’t know about you, but my Instagram and TikTok have been flooded recently with young internationals flaunting their newfound freedom in Australia.

How are they doing this?

Either a Working Holiday Visa (WHV) 417 or a WHV 462 (depending on which country you are from). They are the most common and easiest temporary work visas you can get your hands on.

Here are the facts:

If, like me, you are from the UK, you are eligible to apply for a 417 visa if you meet certain criteria.

• 18–35 year-olds (30 for some other 417’s).

• Passport from an eligible country (see country list below)

• Haven’t entered Australia on a 417 or 462 before.

• Apply by yourself, no family dependents.

• Apply from outside Australia.

You are also eligible for a 417 from the following countries:

Belgium, Canada, Republic of Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan

Didn’t see your country there? Try the list below (it means you need the 467 visa):

Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea (PNG)Peru, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Türkiye, Uruguay, United States of America, Vietnam.

There is very little difference between the visas in terms of once you are in Australia. 462 visa holders just have to jump through a few more hoops for the application process including:

• Proof of a functional English level

• Meet the education requirements

• Have a letter of support (for some countries)

This all differs depending on your country of origin so check out the Australian visa website for further details.

Are there any other visa requirements?

• You need to apply with financial proof you will be able to support yourself (around AUD 5,000) which includes enough for the airfare to leave Australia

• You need to meet health and character requirements

So do I need to have a job already lined up?

Nope. That is the beauty of WHVs. They give you working rights within the country to help fund the ‘extended holiday’. It is to allow you to do short-term work like hospitality or working in wineries to help allow you to travel around their beautiful country.

You are allowed to leave and enter as many times as you want.

How long is it? How much does it cost?

12 months and AUD 670.

Is one year in paradise all I am allowed?

Not a chance!! You have the opportunity to be in Australia for up to three years. You can apply for second and third WHVs as long as you have carried out the specified work required (88 days for your second-year visa, 6 months for your third). Unfortunately, winery work does not count towards it. However, working in wine tourism and vineyards does as long as it is within the specified rural regions.

NOTICE FOR UK PASSPORT HOLDERS – Lucky for us, the rules changed in 2024 meaning we no longer have to carry out any specified work to get our second and third-year visas.

How long does the visa take to come through?

Mine was immediate but it will differ person to person. Most (90%) of 417 visas are issued within 52 days. It may take longer due to current demand but check the visa processing times.

Now the boring but essential bit is over, let’s follow the money…

Get that visa and start living the Australian dream

Guide for How To: Get a Job

Australia has 65 wine regions.

Some are larger or more popular with international travelling winemakers meaning they can be easier to find work in.

These include:

• Barossa Valley

• McLaren Vale

• Yarra Valley

• Adelaide Hills

• Hunter Valley

• Margaret River

• Tasmania

Top Tip: If you want to work in smaller regions or wineries, make sure you check the job adverts thoroughly. I found a few in McLaren Vale that I was keen to apply for only to read the specification for unlimited working rights or Australian citizenship required.

When should I start applying?

You NEED to start looking for jobs in August/September the year before the next vintage (which starts January/February time) otherwise you will miss out. Jobs are highly desirable, and you will be up against a lot of harsh competition.

What experience will I need?

Like I say, there is strong competition. Most jobs will specify you have at least a couple of years/of vintage experience as a cellar hand. Some specify you even need a degree in a wine production-related field.

I was applying for vintage cellar hand jobs with a degree in Viticulture & Oenology and 2 vintages in the UK, and my partner with 3 (including Canada). We were struggling to get responses.

Where can you find job posts?

Wine Industry Jobs – The best for vintage job adverts.

Wine Jobs Australia – A mixture of vintage work and longer-term gigs.

Top Tip – Include a cover letter. It is necessary and will make you stand out from the sorted competition.

Now, if you are in the industry, you will most likely have heard of the Facebook group ‘Travelling Winemakers- Living the Dream!!’.

Last-minute job adverts are posted here alongside occasional tips and advice from other winemakers. However, if you are job searching, I find some of the contributors and responses to be frosty, pushing you towards the search button.

You have to be invited to the group and work in the industry to be accepted. You are not allowed to post about looking for a job either or your comments will be deleted. This cold shoulder behaviour is not something I agree with and is a lot of the reason I decided to start this blog. I want to offer free information and stories for and from people in the industry or for people looking to get involved.

Guide for How To: Find Accommodation

Accommodation shortage is an issue everywhere in Australia at the moment. However, it is in particular for travelling winemakers and especially in Margaret River (where I did my vintage).

When you get to the interview stage, they will ask you "Do you already have accommodation?" and "Do you have a car?".

Some wineries can and will offer you accommodation over vintage (of which mine did). If you can find a job that does that, definitely write it in the pros section of your list. Otherwise, it is pretty tough out there.

You often need to sign longer leases than the 2/3 month contracts the wineries will offer you. A lot of the accommodations will have live-in landlords who rent out a room. Make sure to meet them first as some can be quite overbearing. Others will be in-house shares with other Aussies and internationals.

Now I know I sound like a millennial hopped up on mid-day mimosas raving about Facebook pages. However, they do come in handy here but BEWARE of scammers. I know of people who have been scammed through these accommodation groups. Make sure you do not hand over any money before you have verified everything and have financial protection.

I have attached some helpful groups for major regions:

Margaret River – For accommodation closer to Margaret River. For places closer to Busselton, try this page.

Barossa Valley – Often accommodation on here but also a great way to connect with others doing a Barossa vintage.

NSW/Tasmania – Backpackers page to help with work, car and accommodation.

Backpackers tend to get involved in the grape picking, to help towards their 88 days. With plenty of backpacker pages, sign up for a few and see if you can connect with other people doing harvests in your region.

Another helpful website for is Flatmates. I found a room in a share house via this website and there are plenty of regions and territories to choose from.

Rustic Living

Guide for How To: Get Around

Australia is a massive continent. Unlike in Europe, you can rarely walk to work. So unless you win the vintage lottery and get a car included with the job, you are going to need to buy a car. Although the hours are lengthy, you will still need to grab groceries and enjoy that one day off.

Here is another mimosa millennial suggestion: Facebook Marketplace.

It is a great place to search for cheaper backpacker cars, especially for people trying to sell them in a hurry. We sold our car through Facebook marketplace without a hitch. Just remember again to be aware of scammers. Ensure you have given the vehicle and test drive and that you have carried out the necessary ownership checks for your territory. I found this website extremely helpful.

Top Tip – I would recommend buying and selling your car within the same state. Selling your car in a different state to your rego (car registration) becomes rather difficult. You will have to pay to change the rego over. I learnt this the hard way having to transfer a QLD to WA plate.

My partner and I used Autotrader to buy our car. We bought through a second-hand garage as we wanted a great warranty driving from Brisbane to Perth (hell of a journey!!).

You are required to have compulsory third-party (CTP or green slip) insurance with your rego. However, I would recommend going fully comprehensive. If you are spending a significant portion of your money on a vehicle, you want to ensure you will at least be able to buy a new car if you hit something.

And by something, I mean kangaroos.

They will most likely write your car off and they seem to take great joy in playing chicken with your moving vehicle.

Highway to Heaven

Guide for How To: Set Yourself Up

Right, there is some dry but very helpful content coming up for getting yourself set up once you get to Australia. So let's get the worst bit over first: tax.

Tax File Number (TFN)

Most importantly, you have to make sure you are working legally. The working holiday visa gives you the ability to work. However, you will not be allowed to work without a TFN. It is your personal identifier number for reasons such as tax. Once you get it, you will have it for life for an subsequent visas. It is free to apply.

Now, on writing this post, I have discovered the system has become way more streamlined than when I did it. I had to haul myself down to centrelink and try and fill out forms and scan them using the hostel scanner.

Lucky for you, it is all easily done online now here using Individual Auto Registration (IAR).

Bank Account

If you are going to be working in Australia, you will need an Australian bank account.

NAB, Commbank, ANZ and Westpac are the 4 major banks that would be good to open an account with.

You will need your passport, TFN number, visa and an address. If you are staying in a hostel, it is possible to give that address and change it when you move somewhere more permanent. I used NAB and had no issues. There were no charges for a current account and you can easily open a savings account too.

Phone Number

Telstra, Optus and Vodafone are your 3 main network providers. Other companies use their network map and act as a third party. If you go straight to the networks, it is often much more costly and they will lock you into contracts.

My first time in Australia I got a Vodafone sim card with a 1 year contract. I left earlier and ended up having to pay what was left on the contract.

My second time in Australia, I researched better and found you can buy pre-paid sims from most petrol stations (servos) and supermarkets (Woolworths or Coles), They don't lock you into a contract, you get unlimited calls and texts and choose your data based on price. I got a Woolworths sim, it is a 1 month sim unless you choose to renew it each month (as I did). Currently, you can get a Woolworths Sim (using a telstra network) for $25 for 22GB.

Thank you for sticking about until the end. I hope you found this useful. I have another post about Australia next week. I will be discussing my vintage and time in Margaret River.

Until then, G.