In a Mexican restaurant in north-east Australia, the nacho bowls are served by staff from France, Italy, Ireland and Argentina. Cairns has long attracted a young and transient international crowd, who enjoy the tropical lifestyle while earning money for travel. But one nationality is in shorter supply than it used to be.
"You get far fewer British backpackers looking for jobs here these days," says Mexicairns owner Peter McLeay. It's a trend McLeay has noticed since mid-2023, when a free trade deal between the UK and Australia kicked in. That agreement - as well as tariff-free trade in Tim Tams and Penguins - included special treatment for Brits on working holiday visas: exemption from having to find jobs in regional or remote places if they wanted to remain beyond a year.
That, along with an increase in the age limit from 30 to 35 saw backpacker visas issued to Brits surging from 47,200 in 2023-24 to just over 77,000 in 2025-26, according to the latest Australian government data. Without the incentive to go regional, many are choosing to base themselves in the big cities, or, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, "Bondi or Coogee" - two of Sydney's most famous beachside suburbs. Now though, with Brits making up almost a quarter of all 323,000 backpacker visas issued last year, his government wants the free trade deal to be revisited.
"Many Brits don't treat it as a working holiday anymore. It's more a three-year career break," says Dan McConnell, general manager of the Mad Monkey backpacker hostel chain. He says Brits used to be the largest clientele at its Cairns accommodation but "now French outnumber British three to one".
"We see the Brits get to Sydney, decide it's the coolest place in the world, and stay there," he adds. It's a privilege not enjoyed by working holidaymakers from other countries who must do at least 88 days of "specified regional work" in industries that need a seasonal or temporary workforce - including agriculture, fisheries, tourism and hospitality - if they want to quality for a second year extension, and six months to stay a third year. Barely a month ago, Albanese ruled out forcing British backpackers to do the same, accepting it as part of the trade deal.
But, under pressure from businesses here in Far North Queensland and other regional Australian communities, who are concerned about a lack of labour, the mood music has changed. Last week Albanese met UK counterpart Andy Burnham at the meeting of Commonwealth leaders in the Caribbean. And alongside AI, gender violence online and the AUKUS defence pact, backpackers were on the agenda.
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