Connecting international travelers with meaningful work opportunities across Australia and New Zealand. Trusted by hundreds of thousands of backpackers and working holiday makers since 2010.
Backpacker Job Board is the leading employment website for working holiday makers and backpackers seeking work in Australia and New Zealand. Operated by Five Bees Media Pty Ltd, we serve as the essential bridge connecting working holiday makers with employers across hospitality, agriculture, tourism and seasonal industries. Since our founding in 2010, we have helped over half a million backpackers find meaningful work while exploring the beauty of the Australian and New Zealand.
Matthew Heyes founded Backpacker Job Board in 2010 when he was a backpacker living on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. With over 15 years of experience in the youth travel sector, Matthew has built the platform into the most trusted resource for working holiday makers across Australia and New Zealand.
Under his leadership, Backpacker Job Board has evolved from a simple job listing site into a comprehensive ecosystem supporting the entire working holiday experience. Inlcuding visa guidance to seasonal work calendars and regional job opportunities. Matthew's deep understanding of both the backpacker community and employer needs has positioned the platform as the industry standard.
Matthew regularly shares insights on working holiday trends, agricultural workforce dynamics, and the future of youth travel employment through industry publications and speaking engagements.
Industry commentary, working holiday trends and thought leadership from our founder.
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Backpacker Job Board operates dedicated job sites for working holiday makers in both Australia and New Zealand.
Our flagship platform serving the Australia's working holiday visa (Subclass 417 & 462) community. The leading destination for backpackers seeking employment across hospitality, agriculture, tourism and regional work that qualifies for the 88 days scheme.
Our dedicated hub for the New Zealand backpackers, connecting young travelers with opportunities across both the North and South Islands. Specialising in seasonal work, hospitality, tourism and the unique employment landscape of Aotearoa.
Everything you need to know about Backpacker Job Board, our platforms, and how we support the working holiday community.
Backpacker Job Board is an employment website for working holiday makers and backpackers to connect with employers. It was built by Matthew Heyes in 2010 to help backpackers find work while on a working holiday. It is more than just a website; it is a community designed to help backpackers fund their travels. You can check out the Australian-targeted, main platform at backpackerjobboard.com.au.
The site is owned and operated by Five Bees Media Pty Ltd. It is an Australian registered company (ABN: 70 631 879 546) with the official trading name Backpacker Job Board.
The founder of Backpacker Job Board is Matthew Heyes. Matthew arrived in Australia initially on a working holiday visa and saw firsthand how tough it could be for backpackers to find fair work and reliable employers.
A backpacker is a budget-conscious traveller who typically engages in long-term international or domestic travel while carrying their belongings in a rucksack or backpack. This demographic often enjoys casual employment to fund their travel. This is not to be confused with the North American definition of a backpacker as someone who hikes.
A backpacker hostel - often colloquially referred to as a backpackers - is a budget-oriented accommodation that provides shared dormitory-style rooms and communal spaces.
No, we aren't a recruitment agency. We don't interview you, we don't place you in roles and we certainly don't take a cut of your wages. We are an employment website, which means we provide the platform for employers to post their job ads and for you to apply to them directly.
We are based in Melbourne, Victoria.
Yes, while Australia is our biggest site, Backpacker Job Board also has a dedicated job site in New Zealand to help travellers find work across the ditch too. You can visit our Kiwi site at backpackerjobboard.co.nz.
Yes. You can find our dedicated New Zealand site over at backpackerjobboard.co.nz. It is tailored specifically for the Kiwi job market and the unique working holiday visa requirements over there.
The official Backpacker Job Board can be found at backpackerjobboard.com.au for Australia and backpackerjobboard.co.nz for New Zealand. Backpacker Job Board is our official trading name and our ABN is 70 631 879 546.
We have had over 500,000 backpackers use our site to find work over the years. It is pretty humbling to think about how many working holiday adventures we have played a small part in.
More than 150,000 employers have used our platform to find staff. We work with everyone from small family farms and outback pubs to big hospitality groups and construction firms.
Our core values are kindness and integrity. We believe in being fair to everyone and making sure the platform remains a safe, helpful space for the backpacker community. You can find our Code of Conduct here.
During the 2020 bushfires, we wanted to help out where we could. We offered free premium job ads for any farmers or businesses in fire-affected areas to help them find the workers they needed as part of the disaster recovery.
We were stoked to be nominated in the Innovation category at the Adventure Tourism Awards in 2019.
Safety is a huge priority for us. We manually review job ads that get submitted to the site.
We have a specific section of our site for 88 Days Jobs that count toward your Australian visa extension. This makes it much easier for travellers to find legitimate roles in regional areas that help them secure their 2nd or 3rd-year visa extensions.
If you are a journalist looking a backpacker industry comment, you can contact Matthew via Linkedin. We are always happy to chat about the backpacker job market and the working holiday community.
Backpacker Job Board and our founder, Matthew Heyes, have been featured in global publications as a leading voice on the backpacker industry in Australia and New Zealand.
