Second and third visa

The announced ballot

The most important change is not yet in the rules: on 17 September 2026, Minister Tony Burke announced a ballot for the second and third visa, with 45,000 and 5,000 places.

Announced, no rule published

• Ballot for second and third visa: 45,000 places for the second year and 5,000 for the third. Last year, about 57,000 people did a second year and about 31,000 a third.
• Regional work: it stays. Completing the 88 days or the 6 months would give access to the ballot, not to the visa.
• Processing: Burke said normal pace would return for countries with a regional work requirement. UK applications would continue at a slower pace. The Government talks of stabilising processing in about three months. This is a programme target, not a deadline for each application.
• Context: the measure is part of a plan to reduce net migration. The National Farmers' Federation has criticised it.
• Indonesia: ballot for the first 462, with registration planned for later in 2026.

As at 26 October 2026, the guides we checked said Home Affairs had not published dates, registration or rules for this ballot. The current rules remain in force in the meantime.

Today's rules

For a second visa, the current rules require 3 months of specified work. For a third, 6 months. People with a UK passport do not need them from 1 July 2024.

The Government has announced a ballot for these visas. It is not yet in the rules: see the legal changes section.

How days are counted

• 3 months: at least 88 calendar days, including weekends or equivalent rest days.
• 6 months: at least 179 calendar days.
• Working pattern: you must work the normal days or shifts of a full-time employee in that role and industry.
• Splitting: you can add together different periods and employers.
• A day is a day: a double shift does not count as two.
• Do count: paid public holidays and paid leave.
• Do not count: unpaid days, including days lost to bad weather.
• Visa: the work is done on the previous visa. For the third, work done on a bridging visa while the second was being processed can also count. All the work for the third must be from 1 July 2019.
• Pay: the instrument requires pay in line with Australian laws and awards, and that the employer is not an excluded one.

What work counts and where

Immediate processing of farm products counts, but secondary processing does not.

Postcodes for regional Australia

All of South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and Norfolk Island count as regional. In the rest, only these postcodes:

• New South Wales: 2311-2312, 2328-2411, 2420-2490, 2536-2551, 2575-2594, 2618-2739, 2787-2898.
• Victoria: 3139, 3211-3334, 3340-3424, 3430-3649, 3658-3749, 3753, 3756, 3758, 3762, 3764, 3778-3781, 3783, 3797, 3799, 3810-3909, 3921-3925, 3945-3974, 3979, 3981-3996.
• Queensland: 4124-4125, 4133, 4211, 4270-4272, 4275, 4280, 4285, 4287, 4307-4499, 4510, 4512, 4515-4519, 4522-4899.
• Western Australia: 6041-6044, 6055-6056, 6069, 6076, 6083-6084, 6111, 6121-6126, 6200-6799.

Northern Australia is the whole Northern Territory and part of Queensland and Western Australia. The full list is in each instrument, linked in the sources, and on the official specified work page.

Other points

• Temporary flexibility: according to One Planet, Home Affairs currently accepts support jobs in an included industry, such as administration or cleaning, in a valid postcode.
• Evidence: the guides mention a contract, payslips, bank statements and form 1263, the employer verification form. According to First Migration Service, cash work without payslips is usually rejected because it cannot be checked.
• Volunteering: it only counts for natural disaster recovery.