Huge surge in Britons flocking to Australia looking for higher life: More Brits arrive Down Under on working visa than some other nationality following speedy rise this 12 months

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

Nearly 50,000 Brits arrived Down Under on working holiday visas this year out of more than 200,000 applicants overall, a new record high. 

The spike in ‘Poms’ heading Down Under has been boosted by a loosening of visa rules which raised the cut-off age for UK applicants from 30 to 35, allowed three-year stays and axed the requirement to carry out 88 days of farm work.

While Brits tend to face a higher cost of living in Australia, 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 taking advantage is content creator Kody Egan, who moved to Australia in August with her partner, Joseph Horrocks. 

The couple, who are both 27 and previously lived in Atherton, Greater Manchester, now live in Queensland‘s Sunshine Coast. Despite only planning to stay in Australia for a short time, they now want to make a new life there. 

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

‘We saved up and made the plunge – mostly to experience more of an outdoor lifestyle including the beach, surfing, hiking and all the amazing nature.

‘It’s a big change and we’d recommend doing what we did and come for a holiday first. We had no intention of living here at first, but wanted to after experiencing the people and the lifestyle! We’re so grateful for the Aussies, they’re great.’ 

Life in Aus doesn’t come cheap, with the average person paying A$2,715 (£1,344) per month on rent compared to £1223 in the UK. 

Groceries are also more expensive, with researchers at Edith Cowan University pricing a trolley of supermarket goods at £160 ($324) compared to £140 in the UK. 

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

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

‘Like in the UK there’s a housing crisis here, so rentals are really expensive – as are living costs in general. So it’s important to factor that in when budgeting for a move,’ she explained. 

‘Coming over to live and work is very different from the holiday but we really are enjoying the experience. We’re big nature lovers so seeing all the new species of plants, birds etc has been incredible.

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

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

They quickly found well-paying jobs in Kalgoorlie, a mining city 370 miles east of Perth in Western Australia. 

Ms Brady, who previously worked on a paediatric oncology ward in Wales, now earns up to three times more than she did in the UK.

‘While I loved the job, it was very underfunded, very short staffed and you could work as many hours as you wanted but you weren’t really given any recognition for that,’ she told The Times.

‘And I felt like it was just always an uphill battle. It was really exhausting. So I wanted to try nursing over in Australia where it was meant to be one of the best places in the world for nursing.’

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

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

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

‘Australia isn’t going to solve all your problems,’ he said in a video. ‘I’m not saying the UK 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 the UK, claimed ‘casual racism’ was a problem in the country. 

‘I lived in so many places in Australia I feel like I have a round enough view to categorise the whole country as a racist country,’ he said.

The TikToker claimed that racism was less of an issue in major cities like Sydney and Melbourne but claimed that in Queensland he was ‘shocked by what people would say to me’.

His views prompted a backlash in Australians, who branded him a ‘whingeing Pom’ – a popular epithet for Brits who criticise the country. 

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

Out of these, 47,000 were Brits, alongside 23,700 from France, 21,8000 from Ireland, 14,800 were 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 suffer a housing crisis with the continued high number of international students is also putting pressure on rents in Australia’s big cities.

The ruling Labor party had aimed for a net overseas migration intake of 395,000 during the last financial year, down from a record 528,000 previously. 

Abul Rizvi, a former deputy secretary at the Department of Immigration, estimated 450,000 to 475,000 people were likely to have moved to Australia in 2023-24.

Meanwhile, government estimates this month showed 340,000 migrants arriving in Australia over the financial year 2024-25 – significantly higher than the 260,000 forecast. 

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

‘It has peaked, it’s coming down, it’s coming down slower than was anticipated in the Budget really for one main reason and that’s because there’s been fewer departures,’ he said.

‘The Treasury has been more or less bang on when it comes to arrivals, but departures have been slower.

‘People are hanging around for longer and that’s meant that the number is coming down more slowly and you see that updated.’