Working Holiday Visa · 417 and 462
88 Days Postcode Checker
Check if specified work in an Australian postcode can count towards your 88 days. You need those days for a second or third Working Holiday visa (417) or Work and Holiday visa (462). You can also browse the coastal, outback, tropical, alpine and wine regions where the work can count.
Heard about the 462 visa pause? See what it means if you are already in Australia.
Check a postcodeHow the 88 days work
To get a second Working Holiday visa, most people need to complete at least 3 months (88 days) of specified work while on their first visa. For a third visa, it's 6 months (179 days), completed while on your second.
Specified work has two parts, and both have to be true. The work must be in an eligible industry, and it must be done in an eligible postcode. A farm job doesn't count if the postcode isn't on the list, and a regional job doesn't count if the work isn't on the list. This checker tells you whether a postcode is eligible for your visa, and for which kinds of work.
417 and 462 are different
The Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) and the Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) have different rules. The 462 list is narrower: mining can count for 417 but not for 462, and some industries only count for 462 in Northern Australia. Tourism and hospitality work only counts in Northern Australia and some remote areas. Always check a postcode against your own visa subclass.
How the days are counted
- If you work full time for the normal hours of that industry, every calendar day in that period counts, including weekends and rest days. Three continuous months of full-time work gets you there.
- If you work casually or part time, you need to build up the equivalent of full-time days, so it takes longer.
- You can combine work from more than one employer, and the days don't need to be in one block.
- The work must be paid. Unpaid work doesn't count, apart from volunteer work helping with bushfire or other natural disaster recovery.
Keep your evidence
Home Affairs can ask you to prove your days. Keep every payslip, bank statements showing the pay going in, and a simple log of the dates you worked, your hours and each employer's name and ABN. Gaps in evidence can hold up an application or sink it.
UK passport holders
If you apply with a UK passport on or after 1 July 2024, you don't need to do specified work for a second or third Working Holiday visa.
Changes announced in September 2026
On 17 September 2026 the Government announced that second and third Working Holiday visas will move to a ballot, capped at 45,000 second-year places and 5,000 third-year places a year. Under the announcement you would still need to complete your 88 days (or 6 months) to enter the ballot, but completing them would no longer guarantee a visa. The changes aren't law yet, and the details and start dates haven't been published. We'll update this page when they are.
Before you rely on this
This checker uses the Home Affairs postcode lists, but it's a guide, not migration advice. The rules change, and Home Affairs makes the final decision. Check the current rules on the Home Affairs website before you start a job to count toward your days.
Last checked: 19 October 2026.
How does the 88-day regional work rule work?
If you hold a Working Holiday (subclass 417) or Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa and want a second year, you generally need to complete 88 days of specified work in a regional area during your first year. Two things decide whether those days count: where the work is done, and what the work is. This checker answers the first question for any postcode.
Does my postcode count for 88 days?
What matters is the postcode where the work is physically performed. It is not where you live, and it is not where the employer's head office is. Home Affairs lists eligible postcodes separately for each type of work, so a postcode can be eligible for one kind of work and not another. Enter the postcode of the job site above and the result shows which types of work are listed there for each visa.
Not sure where to look? In the Northern Territory, Tasmania and South Australia every postcode counts for farm work and construction. See where to do your 88 days.
What kind of work can count?
Specified work includes plant and animal cultivation (farm work, fruit picking and packing, vineyards), fishing and pearling, tree farming and felling, mining and construction, depending on your visa and the postcode. Tourism and hospitality work can count only in certain northern and remote areas, not in places like Byron Bay or the Gold Coast. The work must be paid at the legal rate. The exception is recovery work in declared bushfire or natural disaster areas, where volunteer work can also count.
Support jobs may count for now. Home Affairs says it is temporarily giving more weight to the industry. Work that supports a specified industry, like admin or cleaning on a farm, in an eligible postcode “may be accepted”. This is not guaranteed, so check with Home Affairs first. The checker above shows the industry list only.
What should I do before I accept a job?
- Check the postcode of the actual work site, not the company's office.
- Ask the employer which industry the work falls under, and get the postcode in writing.
- Keep your payslips, contract and employer details from day one. You will need them as evidence.
- Confirm the details with Home Affairs before you commit. They decide whether your days count.
Can I keep track of my days?
Yes. Create a free worker profile, then use My 88 days to log each job: the employer, the work-site postcode, the dates and how many days a week you worked. It checks each job with the same data as this checker and shows an estimate of how many days may count. Only you can see it.
This checker is a guide, not migration advice. Home Affairs makes the final decision on whether your days count.