fruit picking jobs

My Mildura Nightmare

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don backpackers mildura

In light of all the recent scam stories coming out from Mildura, one of our members, who will be named “Mary” wrote the following piece about her time at the infamous Dons accommodation.   The Story   In June 2014 my boyfriend and I travelled to Australia from England to start our one year working holiday. We staying in Brisbane for two weeks, looking for any farm work available as we wanted to complete our regional work early. As it was the winter it was hard to find any work going, however we came across an advert on gumtree for Read more

Suspect Operator Targets Backpackers in Mildura

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Fruit Picking Scam

Mildura is once again in the spotlight with reports surfacing on unfair and illegal working conditions by an operator in the area. There are also allegations that include sexual harrasment of staff.   Ombudsman Receives Complaints   The Fair Work Ombudsman received several complaints about a Mildura operator just before Christmas, including allegations of sexual harassment. A director with the ombudsman’s office, Craig Bildstein, said “allegations had also been made that the man had crammed dozens of workers into one home and that up to 12 were residing in the garage”   Operator Ripping Off Backpackers   Mr Bildstein went Read more

2014 Adventure Travel Awards Review

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As you may know the 2014 Adventure Travel Awards were held on Friday November the 7th in Sydney which Fruit Picking Jobs was nominated for Best National Employment Service in Australia. It was great to be there amongst industry peers, talking about our service and discussing what we can best do to create the best offering for you guy and of course find out if we won the award.   The Results   There were 33,000 votes cast from 11,000 tourists voting for over 350 businesses across New Zealand & Australia. Thanks to votes from you guys we were awarded Read more

Russian Trade Embargo Changes Job Landscape

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Russian Trade Embargo

  Russia has imposed a “full embargo” on food imports from Australia . This full list includes an embargo on all imports of beef, pork, fruit and vegetable produce, poultry, fish, cheese, milk and dairy products from Australia but also Canada, Norway, United States and the European Union. While most people who get their 2nd year visa do fruit picking or harvest work, many find themselves on beef and cattle farms.   What’s it Worth?   As a result of this embargo Australian farmers will feel it, beef exports to Russia were worth $159 million in 2013,live animals excluding seafood Read more

Farm Work Ombudsman Steps In

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Backpacker Jobs

It’s becoming wide spread across the industry that Fruit Pickers and Working Holiday Makers are becoming more tolerant of working conditions particurlay ones that are trying to get the “88 days” of specified work for their second Working Holiday Visa. The Fair Work Ombudsman is cracking down on the exploitation of working holiday makers and fruit pickers on the 417 visas.   What the Ombudsman Said   The Ombudsman, Natalie James was quoted saying “The thing that really caught our eye was a couple of years ago, in 2011/12, we recovered around $67,000 for people working under these arrangements, and Read more

Legislation Could Change Fruit Picking Jobs Landscape

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Yarra Valley Wineries

With new legislation forcing job seekers on the Dole to apply for 40 positions per month we could see a huge increase in the number of Northern Territorian’s that are completing fruit picking or harvest work. Many people are not happy with these new requirements, especially in smaller regional areas where the job possibilities are limitied. Harder to Find Jobs?   The flow on affects could be enormous with many Working Holiday makers each year trying to complete their 88 days of specified work to obtain their second working holiday visa. This could further tighten the noose around an already Read more

Woolworths creates more Aussie Harvest Jobs

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Woolworths Australia

Australia’s biggest supermarket retailer has signed a 17 million dollar deal which will see the import of frozen vegetables from Europe, China and New Zealand stopped. The company has committed to purchasing an extra 5,100 tonnes of Australian produce which include frozen peas, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and mixed vegetables from the Simplot plant in Devonport, Tasmania. This will have great flow on effects to local farmers who will be able to expand their vegetable production which in turn means bigger harvests and more jobs. NSW Farms will benefit as Edgells corn factory in Bathurst supplies Simplot with sweet corn. When Read more