Indonesia asks Australia for additional quota of work and holiday visas for 5,000 people per year

Bogor, W Java (Indonesia Window) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo has expressed hopes to strengthen the implementation of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), especially in increasing the quota of work and holiday visas for Indonesian citizens to work and make holidays in Australia to 5,000 participants per year.

This was conveyed by the head of state in a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, on Monday.

The meeting with Jokowi in Bogor was the first bilateral visit of Albanese, who is the leader of the Australian Labor Party, who was only sworn in as Australia’s 31st prime minister on May 23, 2022.

The addition of the work and holiday visa quota has been discussed since the IA-CEPA was agreed in 2019.

At that time, the Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita said that the contents of the IA-CEPA agreement were not only trade in goods and services, but also included education and efforts to improve the quality of human resources.

“After this agreement is officially signed, Australia will provide a quota of 4,100 people to get work and holiday visas, with an increase of 5 percent per year up to 5,000 people,” he said in Jakarta on March 4, 2019.

In the official website of the Australian Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs, it is written that Indonesia will receive an increase in work and holiday visas from 1,100 to 4,100 participants in one year.

This figure will increase to 5,000 in the next six years.

According to the Indonesia Australia Youth Association website, work and holiday visas aim to create opportunities for young people from both countries to engage in social and cultural exchanges.

This document is designed to encourage more Australians and Indonesians to visit each other’s countries, and allows these visa holders to work to subsidize their holidays.

Reporting by Indonesia Window