Working holiday maker numbers are up 20 per cent this year, which means an extra 7000 young workers seeking employment in rural industries.
"We know there are some jobs in regional Australia that aren't being filled by Australian workers, and we are giving regional businesses the immigration settings to help them fill those roles," said Immigration Minister David Coleman.
Working holiday makers are required to complete three months employment in a regional industry, and the majority work at picking and packing in horticulture.
Under changes introduced by the federal government, second year visa holders can also apply for a third year working holiday maker visa if they carry out an additional six months specified work in regional areas during their second year.
"We expect the third year visa option will encourage even more travellers to spend more time working in regional Australia," Minister Coleman said.
Last month government expanded the number of backpacker visa places available to young Vietnamese people, upping our annual intake from 200 to 1,500 a year.
It is in discussions over extending the list of working holiday visas to people from an extended list of countries including India, Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines.
Trade and Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said working holiday makers inject around $3 billion a year into the economy.
"Working holiday makers generally stay longer, spend more money in Australia and travel further into regional areas than most other international visitors.
While government is tweaking working holiday visas to boost regional economies, its also pursuing a strategy to relieve the population pressure on major metropolitan infrastructure.
The Coalition has reduced the number of visas granted to its lowest number in a decade, down to 160,323 this year.
It's also allocated 23,000 visas for skilled migrants to regional areas, and created two new regional visas categories, where migrant workers become eligible for permanent residence if they stay in regional Australia for three years.
"We're directing migration to those smaller cities and regional areas that are crying out for more people and those regional economies that simply cannot fill jobs with local workers," Mr Coleman said of the regional focus.
Last year the government announced changes to the Pacific Labour Scheme for semi-skilled Pacific nation workers and the Seasonal Worker Program, largely to ease the shortage of harvest workers in horticulture.
