Backpacker tax changes to hurt farms: Where did all the WWOOFers go?

For Xuan, being a WWOOFer - or a willing worker on an organic farm - has been an experience money can't buy, but recent changes have seen the numbers of WWOOFers across Australia sharply decline.

Last May, the federal government announced it would scrap volunteer work as a way for working holidaymakers to extend their visa for a second year.

WWOOFers volunteer four to six hours a day at an organic host farm in exchange for their meals, accommodation and hands-on education in organic farming, permaculture and biodynamics.

WWOOFing takes place all over the world and backpackers looking to continue their Australian holiday had long used the program to undertake the three months of agricultural work needed to qualify for a second-year visa.

However many abandoned the program after pay slips were needed to prove they had satisfied the eligibility criteria, WWOOF Australia's Traci Wilson-Brown said.

"With one stroke of a pen they virtually wiped out the WWOOFing program," Ms Wilson-Brown said.

"When they first announced the changes, we had 12,007 WWOOFers for the year. The month they announced it, we had a 40 per cent drop in WWOOFers and that trend has pretty much continued since then.

"We've had 2800 hosts in the program when they announced the changes, we're now down to 2230 and we're about to lose another 350. We've gone from being the biggest WWOOFing country in the world to ... not so much."

Xuan's WWOOF host Julia McKay said she used to have a queue of up to 15 backpackers waiting to live and work at her small dairy farm.

"I might get a WWOOFing inquiry once every few months now," she said.

The WWOOFers who blow through now only stay for a week or two, which Ms McKay said isn't enough time to teach them the skills to work on her farm.

That exchange of skills and accommodation for labour is fundamental to the WWOOFing philosophy, and Ms McKay said the notion that hosts exploited workers because of it was ludicrous.

"There's nothing free about being a WWOOF host. On my farm I supply them with food, accommodation, beer or wine, they've got wi-fi, pay television, I take them places, I always make sure they see the fireworks on New Year's Eve, they never put their hands in their pocket and if I really thought about what it cost me, it would be $500, $600 a week," Ms McKay said.

"It wouldn't work if we both didn't get something out of it. I've helped a lot of them if they've gotten into trouble in Australia, Just recently a young Chinese boy bought a $9000 car in Melbourne to drive up to me and ... five or six days after he purchased it, the engine blew up. So I'm trying to do the legal work for him to get his money back or to get a replacement car."

A Deloitte report on the backpacker tax and visa changes found there were consistent calls among union, industry and welfare groups to allow WWOOFers to continue on for a second year without a pay slip, but with some other form of certification to prove they were working on a farm for that time.

But while the federal government dumped the proposed 19 per cent backpacker tax rate and will instead do a compromise deal on a 15 per cent rate after industry backlash, the WWOOF program didn't warrant a mention.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection said the government was committed to addressing the exploitation of foreign workers.

"Working holiday makers are subject to the same workplace laws, entitlements and protections as any other Australian worker," she said.

"This [reform] was implemented to ensure that these visa holders do not enter into exploitative, and potentially unlawful, workplace arrangements to qualify for a second Work and Holiday Maker visa."

Sources within the government said it was not up to the Australian parliament to subsidise poor business models with free labour.

But Traci Wilson-Brown said WWOOF Australia had a rigorous complaints process where bad hosts could be struck out of the program if they were found to be exploiting workers.

"This is extremely rare, in the 16 years I have worked here, I can only remember two instances where the police have advised us to remove a host," she said.

Xuan Wang said she fell into WWOOFing after previously being "exploited" in the agricultural sector.

"I've been there done that, I've been exploited. I earned $48 a day from 6am to 4pm. I had to pay my food, accommodation everything. So I quit like 10 days after and started WWOOFing and I have had some great experiences. I've had several families and I'm deeply grateful," she said.

Sitting in a leather armchair in Ms McKay's living room, with a puddle of milkdrunk kittens on her lap, Xuan said she couldn't imagine returning to live in the city she grew up in.

"It's not only a food or accommodation exchange, it's lifestyle, it's culture exchange. You can't get that unless you live with local people." she said.