Huge surge in Britons flocking to Australia in search of better life: More Brits arrive Down Under on working visa than any other nationality following rapid rise this year

Britons are flocking to Australia in large numbers to earn an income while enjoying the famously laid-back Australian lifestyle.

Nearly 50,000 Britons arrived Down Under on a working holiday visa this year, out of a total of more than 200,000 applicants, a new record.

The spike in the ‘Poms’ section Down Under has been amplified by a relaxation of visa rules, which has the cut-off age for British applicants was raised from 30 to 35, a three-year stay allowed and the requirement to work on the farm for 88 days abolished.

Although Britons in Australia typically face a higher cost of living, they are attracted by the promise of higher salaries and a range of other benefits, from sunnier weather to a better work-life balance.

Among those benefiting from this is content creator KOdy Egan, who moved to Australia with her partner, Joseph Horrocks, in August.

The couple, both aged 27 and previously based in Atherton, Greater Manchester, now live on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Although they only plan to stay in Australia for a short time, they now want to build a new life there.

‘We wanted a new challenge and to try something new after traveling for a month the year before,’ Ms Egan told MailOnline.

‘We saved up and took the plunge – mainly to experience more of an outdoor lifestyle, such as the beach, surfing, hiking and beautiful nature.

‘It’s a big change and we recommend doing what we did and going on holiday first. We initially had no intention of living here, but we wanted to after experiencing the people and the lifestyle! We are so grateful to the Aussies, they are amazing.”

Life in Aus isn’t cheap: the average person pays A$2,715 (£1,344) per month in rent, compared to £1,223 in Britain.

Groceries are also more expensive: Researchers at Edith Cowan University price a trolley of supermarket items at £160 ($324), compared to £140 in Britain.

However, salaries are higher in the ‘Lucky Country’, averaging $100,000 (£49,480), compared to £37,430 in Britain.

Despite loving the Australian lifestyle, Ms Egan – who runs YouTube account Eat Venture Vlogs – warned the cost of housing was an issue.

‘Like Britain, there is a housing crisis here, so rents are very expensive, as is the cost of living in general. So it’s important to take that into account when budgeting for a move,” she explained.

‘Coming to live and work is very different from the holidays, but we really enjoy it. We are big nature lovers, so seeing all the new species of plants, birds, etc. was incredible.

‘We started our YouTube vlog so our family and friends could see what we got up to every day, because some of them really missed us when we left, but since then we’ve reached a much bigger audience and the vlog is growing every day.’

Emily Brady, a 25-year-old nurse, moved Down Under last December with her 29-year-old partner Harry Bridges, a car mechanic.

They quickly found well-paying jobs in Kalgoorlie, a mining town 600 kilometers east of Perth in Western Australia.

Ms Brady, who previously worked in a pediatric oncology unit in Wales, now earns up to three times more than in Britain.

“Although I thought it was a great job, it was very underfunded, understaffed and you could work as many hours as you wanted, but you didn’t really get any recognition for that,” she said. The times.

“And I felt like it was always an uphill battle. It was really tiring. That’s why I wanted to try nursing in Australia, where it was meant to be one of the best places in the world for nursing.”

The nurse said she especially appreciated the better working conditions in Australia, adding that she and her partner now plan to stay in the country and have children.

While many newcomers have adapted well to life Down Under, others are less positive.

Earlier this year, Londoner Owen Willis took to social media to say he was ‘de-influencing’ fellow Brits by sharing his experiences of life away from home.

“Australia will not solve all your problems,” he said in a video. “I’m not saying Britain is perfect, but my idea of ​​Australia in my head was this utopian paradise.”

Mr Willis, who said he lived in Australia in 2022 before returning to Britain, claimed “casual racism” was a problem in the country.

“I’ve lived in so many places in Australia that I feel I have a rounded enough view to categorize the entire country as a racist country,” he said.

The TikToker claimed racism was less of an issue in big cities like Sydney and Melbourne, but claimed he was “shocked by what people would say to me” in Queensland.

His views sparked a backlash from Australians, who branded him a ‘whining Pom’ – a popular nickname for Britons who criticize the country.

There were 213,400 people in Australia on working holidaymaker visas at the end of November – 72,300 more than before Covid.

Of these, 47,000 were British, alongside 23,700 from France, 21,8000 from Ireland, 14,800 from Japan, 13,400 from Taiwan, 13,200 from Italy and 12,700 from South Korea.

Immigration has become a politically sensitive issue as Australia continues to face a housing crisis, with continued high numbers of international students also putting pressure on rental prices in Australia’s major cities.

The ruling Labor Party had targeted a net foreign migration inflow of 395,000 last financial year, up from a record 528,000 previously.

Abul Rizvi, a former deputy secretary at the Ministry of Immigration, estimated that 450,000 to 475,000 people were likely to have moved to Australia between 2023 and 2024.

Meanwhile, government estimates this month showed 340,000 migrants arrived in Australia in the 2024-2025 financial year – significantly more than the forecast of 260,000.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers blamed higher-than-expected immigration on too few people leaving Australia permanently.

“It’s peaked, it’s coming down, it’s coming down more slowly than was projected in the budget, really for one big reason, and that’s because there have been fewer departures,” he said.

“The Treasury has done more or less well when it comes to arrivals, but departures are slower.

‘People stick around longer and that means that the number decreases more slowly and you see that updated.’