So you want to do farm work in Australia — here's what to check first
If you searched for farm work hoping to earn money picking fruit rather than pay to do it for fun, this is the page for you — and nowhere else on this site is. Below is where the genuine jobs are listed, how the Working Holiday visa's specified-work rules fit in (in plain terms, not legal advice), a state-by-state harvest calendar for people chasing shifts rather than a punnet, what farms actually pay, and the scams worth knowing about before you commit to anything. It won't tell you exactly how many dollars you'll earn or guarantee a visa outcome — nobody honestly can — but it will point you to the real sources instead of a stranger's guess.
This page is about paid work, not a pick-your-own outing
Everything else on Pick Your Own Farms Australia is written for people who want to spend an afternoon picking strawberries or cherries for fun, paying the farm by the kilo or the ticket. This page is different — it's for people chasing actual paid work on Australian farms, the kind backpackers take on to fund a Working Holiday, or that regional workers pick up during a harvest. If that's you, keep reading. If you actually wanted a family day out at an orchard, there's a note at the bottom of this page pointing you the right way. The two get confused constantly in search results, because the language overlaps — "picking," "farm," "fruit" — even though the transaction runs in opposite directions: on one, you hand the farm money; on the other, the farm hands you money.
Start at the Harvest Trail, not a random job ad
The single best starting point for genuine farm work is the Australian Government's Harvest Trail service, officially the National Harvest Labour Information Service. It's free, government-run, and lists real vacancies direct from farms and registered labour-hire providers across the country, alongside a season-by-season picture of what's being picked where. It's a considerably safer first stop than a random Facebook group, a classifieds ad or a stranger's recommendation at a hostel, and it's the same service every state agriculture department will point you to. Beyond job listings, it also carries general information on regional accommodation, transport between harvest regions, and what a given crop's picking work actually involves day to day — useful context before you commit to travelling somewhere remote for a job that might only run a few weeks.
The Working Holiday visa and the 88-day rule, in plain terms
Most non-citizens doing farm work in Australia are on a Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) or Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462). Both have historically used specified regional work — commonly referred to as the "88 days" — completed in eligible industries and regions as a pathway to a second or third-year visa. Exactly which regions count, which jobs qualify as specified work, how many days are required and how they're verified depends on your specific visa subclass and dates, and these details are updated from time to time. We're not going to guess at them here, and you shouldn't rely on a hostel noticeboard or a labour-hire contractor for them either. The only authoritative source is the Department of Home Affairs at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au — check it directly, and confirm anything specific to your situation with Home Affairs or a registered migration agent before relying on a farm job to satisfy a visa condition.
None of this applies if you're an Australian citizen or permanent resident — you can apply for farm work the same way you'd apply for any other job, with no visa conditions attached. It only becomes relevant for temporary visa holders using farm work toward a visa condition, which is a meaningful share of the harvest workforce in some regions but by no means all of it.
A state-by-state harvest calendar for workers
Where the work actually is depends heavily on the state and the crop. This is a rough shape of the year, not a guarantee of vacancies in any given week — always confirm current demand through the Harvest Trail before travelling. For a month-by-month view of what's in season nationally, see our fruit picking season calendar, or jump straight to the June harvest calendar or the December harvest calendar.
| State | Main harvest work | Rough months |
|---|---|---|
| Queensland | Winter strawberries, plus year-round vegetables and tropical fruit | April–October (strawberries) |
| Western Australia | Strawberries around the Perth Hills and Bullsbrook, stone fruit and table grapes further south | May–October (strawberries), November–March (stone fruit, grapes) |
| Victoria | Summer stone fruit and cherries, table grapes, apples | November–March (stone fruit, cherries), February–May (apples) |
| New South Wales | Cherries (Orange, Young), apples (Batlow), citrus (Riverina/Griffith), wine grapes | November–January (cherries), February–May (apples), May–September (citrus) |
| South Australia | Wine grapes (Barossa, Riverland, McLaren Vale), citrus, almonds | February–April (grapes), May–August (citrus) |
| Tasmania | Summer berries and cherries, apples | December–March (berries, cherries), March–May (apples) |
| Northern Territory | Mangoes and melons | August–December, peaking October–November |
| ACT | Minimal — mostly small pick-your-own operations rather than a commercial harvest labour market | Not applicable |
Crops can overlap these windows by a few weeks in either direction depending on the season, and a single region often runs several harvests back to back — Victoria's stone fruit rolling into cherries, then apples, for example. The state hubs on this site for Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania list the pick-your-own farms in each state, which can be a useful (if not exhaustive) map of where commercial growing is concentrated — though those listings are built for day-trippers, not job seekers, so treat them as orientation rather than a hiring list. Many workers plan a rough circuit rather than committing to one region for a whole year — cherries around Young or the Yarra Valley over summer, say, then citrus or vegetables further north as the weather turns — and the Harvest Trail's regional listings are the easiest way to plan that kind of route in advance.
How farms actually hire
There's no single hiring process — it depends heavily on the crop, the region and the size of the operation. Three channels account for most placements.
- Direct hire — larger orchards, vineyards and vegetable growers sometimes advertise and interview directly, including through the Harvest Trail.
- Licensed labour-hire providers — many farms contract out picking crews to a labour-hire business rather than hiring individually. Queensland, Victoria and South Australia all run labour-hire licensing schemes; a provider that can't or won't confirm they're licensed where one is required is a red flag, not a formality.
- Backpacker hostels and harvest hubs — some regional hostels run informal job boards or have working relationships with nearby farms. This can be a reasonable way in, but quality varies enormously from town to town — treat it as one option among several rather than the only way in.
Pay, piece rates and the award — the honest version
Farm work in Australia is generally covered by the Horticulture Award or a relevant enterprise agreement, and paid either as an hourly rate or a piece rate — so much per bin, bucket or bay picked. Piece rates are legal, but they're required to allow an average, competent worker to earn at least the equivalent of the minimum hourly rate for ordinary hours; if you're consistently earning well under that on a piece rate, that's a Fair Work issue, not just bad luck or a slow patch. We're deliberately not publishing specific dollar figures here — award rates are updated periodically and vary by classification, and the piece rate for cherry picking in Young has nothing to do with the piece rate for strawberry picking in Bullsbrook. For current, accurate figures, use the pay calculator and Horticulture Award information at fairwork.gov.au, and treat any number you hear from a hostel, a Facebook group or a labour-hire contractor as indicative only until you've checked it there.
Tax, superannuation and paperwork
Farm work income is taxable like any other paid work in Australia, which means you'll need a Tax File Number (TFN) before you're paid — apply for one through the Australian Taxation Office if you don't already have one, since without it your employer is required to withhold tax at the highest rate. Most farm workers, including working holiday makers, are also entitled to superannuation guarantee contributions from their employer once they meet the eligibility threshold, and working holiday makers who later leave Australia can generally claim that super back as a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP), which is taxed at its own rate. None of this is exotic — it's standard for any paid job in Australia — but it catches people out because farm work is often treated informally on both sides. Check current TFN, tax and superannuation rules directly at ato.gov.au rather than taking a contractor's word for what's owed.
Scams and red flags
Farm work attracts more than its share of dodgy operators, partly because some workers are far from home, time-pressured on a visa clock, and reluctant to complain. A handful of warning signs cover most of it.
- Any job that asks you to pay upfront — for a "job guarantee," a uniform, training, or a place in a crew — before you've started work.
- Accommodation that's compulsory and priced well above the local market, deducted from your pay before you ever see a payslip.
- An employer or contractor who won't provide payslips, or who insists on cash-in-hand with no record of hours or piece counts.
- Anyone who asks to hold your passport or visa documents "for safekeeping."
- Pressure to falsify days worked for visa specified-work purposes — this can put your visa at risk, not just a week's pay.
- A labour-hire contractor who can't confirm they hold a current licence in a state where one is required.
If something feels off, the Fair Work Ombudsman takes anonymous reports, and the Harvest Trail's information line can advise on legitimate operators in a given region — both are free to use, and neither requires you to have already started the job.
If you actually wanted a day out picking fruit
Plenty of people land on this page after searching something like "fruit picking jobs" when what they actually want is a Saturday morning with the kids, a punnet of strawberries and no employment relationship at all. If that's you, the rest of this site is built for exactly that — start with our guide to how pick-your-own actually works for the basics of how farms charge and what to expect, then browse by state or season to find a farm near you. Either way works fine on this site — they're just different intentions, and this page exists so the two don't get tangled together.