A blanket ban disallowing the counting of volunteer work for the purposes of qualifying for a second work holiday visa has been the response of the department of immigration to the alleged widespread abuse of the sc417 visa programme.

There will be nothing to stop legitimate volunteers working for worthy causes which deliver valuable community services but their good intentions will not be allowed to be counted towards eligibility for a second visa.

The reforms are part of the government’s new measures to increase the integrity of the program. The change essentially require those seeking to apply for a second Working Holiday visa to produce an official payslip from their employer, demonstrating they have completed their regional work component. A DIBP media release states that the change will take some time to introduce, and is not yet in effect, so it does not impact upon current second Working Holiday visa applications at present.

The damage of this blanket ban on voluntary work however could see the end of organisations like Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) which has some 2,600 hosts in Australia.

"If the government brings in this business of backpackers needing to produce a payslip to get their 88 days to extend their visa for a year, that's going to hurt the WWOOF organisation quite a bit," Lismore farmer Geof Bugden told the ABC recently. Mr Bugden relies on WWOOF workers.

WWOOF essentially link backpackers to organic farmers by giving them the opportunity to work on Australian organic farms, exchanging 4 - 6 hours work per day for meals and accommodation, usually in the farmer’s family home.

"We sign up and are vetted and become a member of WWOOF as host families and the volunteer workers also join the WWOOF Association and get a huge book of farmers who host WWOOFers. The WWOOF Association even covers them for their insurance.” explained Mr Bugden.

Without the WWOOF, Mr Bugden says it will be ‘almost impossible’ to hire workers. He believes that WWOOF’s open nature including forums, social media and the WWOOF organisations policies were enough to ensure a fair working environment for all.

"The WWOOFers put feedback on the association website. Social media is one of the most powerful mediums in the world at the moment. So, if the comments are not good they go somewhere else," said Mr Bugden, "There are plenty of people looking for WWOOFers. It's a big industry."