In 2015 The government of Australia proposed a tax of 35 percent on income and 95 percent of superannuation of backpackers from previous zero percent. This tax was above the competitor countries viz New Zealand, Canada and others. The presentation covers the issue came up in the affected industries mainly tourism and agriculture and also provides some of the options for the issue to be resolved.

1. AUSTRALIAN
BACKPACKERS
TAX FIASCO
Presented By:
Mudit Srivastava

2. OUTLINE
BACKGROUND AND RELEVANCE
ISSUE
IMPACT ON KEY STAKEHOLDERS
MEDIA PRESENTATION
POSSIBLE FUTURE OUTCOMES
AND CONCLUSION

3. BACKGROUND
Australian Government Tax on Backpackers
• Taxation：0 % 32.5%
• Concession：32.5% 15%

4. RELEVANCE
ISSUE
• Issue Management
• Public Relation
• Media Relation

5. IMPACT ON KEY STAKEHOLDERS
Government
Backpackers
Employers
Competitive
nations
Accommodation
providers
Related
business
Customers
Tours
operator
•Increase revenue
•Face criticism
Government
32.5%
19%
15%

6. BACKPACKERS
Tax free threshold
15% on every single dollar
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
Total numbers of Working Holiday Maker visa applications from 2014- 2016 by month

7. •WHMs:
•25% of farm workforce
•85% in rural territory
•Employers’ reaction:
•54.5% “very important”
•27.5% “important”
EMPLOYERS OF BACKPACKERS

8. MEDIA PRESENTATION
MEDIA BIAS AND ITS TYPES
• When reporters and news producers intentionally chose the facts and angle
which are benefit for them instead of describing the whole issue is biased
media reporting. (D'Alessio & Allen, 2000)
• The types of media bias
■ Gatekeeping
■ Coverage bias
■ Statement bias

9. MEDIA PRESENTATION
■ The Guardian
– The articles generally covered the
information regarding the developments by
the government on the issue.
■ “The backpacker tax is a textbook case
of how not to develop policy” (Jericho, 2016)
– The focus photographs in article were
mostly from wide range of Key
stakeholders.

10. MEDIA PRESENTATION
■ ABC NEWS
– The articles covered most of the information
from the farmers and their developments in the
issue.
■ “Tasmanian fruit grower fears industry
destruction over foreign worker tax
changes” (Ryan, 2015)
– The focus photographs in article were mostly
from affected groups
■ Farmers
■ Backpackers

11. COMPARISON OF
MEDIA PRESENTATION
The newspapers tried to report information that they considered to be an
important piece of information public needs to know.
but
ABC NEWS articles were biased for the affected groups.
■ Gatekeeping- Selected most stories from affected groups.
■ Coverage bias- The lager amount of coverage in articles were from
affected group.

12. POSSIBLE FUTURE OUTCOMES AND
CONCLUSION
Strength
• Higher currency exchange rate.
• Average salary higher than
competitors countries.
• Great tourism destination.
• Safe environment.
Weakness
• Tax introduced.
• Less local labor.
Opportunities
• Higher currency exchange rate
can encourage backpackers.
• High rate of global
unemployment.
Threat
• Loss of revenue.
• Agriculture and Tourism
industries are dependent on
backpackers.

13. GAP
IN
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
AND
REQUIREMENT
■ Australian government is considering to
increase age limit from 30 to 35.
■ Government is also in negotiation with other
18 countries for Subclass 462.
■ But recent drop in WHM visa takes caused a
concern.
■ Apart for this, Government must consider
countries with high educated unemployed
workforce and greater exchange rates which
can encourage unemployed workforce of
countries to take opportunities.
19.9
42.6
47.5
70.6
50.1
21.2
40.7
47.5
67.6
52.3
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0
Sri Lanka
Serbia
Solomon Islands
Bosnia and Herzegovina
South Africa
Educated unemployed percentage
2016 2015
18.81
17.7
14.01
10.45
9.43
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Australia Casual Jobs
Australia Full-time Jobs
New Zeland
Canada
USA
Earnings in Australian Dollars

14. REFERENCES
■ Reeffree . (2017). What is the Backpacker Tax Australia 2017? Retrieved from https://www.reeffree.com.au/blog/view/what-is-the-backpacker-tax-in-australia/
■ Australian Government. (2016). Working Holiday Maker Visa Programme Report. Retrieved from https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/working-holiday-report-
dec16.pdf
■ D'Alessio, D., & Allen, M. (2000). Media Bias in Presidential Elections: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Communication , 133-156.
■ Gabrielle, C. (2016, December 1). Greens do deal with government for a 15% backpacker tax – as it happened. Retrieved from The guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-
news/live/2016/dec/01/malcolm-turnbull-flags-security-overhaul-police-let-protestors-off-scot-free-politics-live
■ Jericho, G. (2016, November 27). The backpacker tax is a textbook case of how not to develop policy- The guardian. Retrieved from The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2016/nov/27/the-backpacker-tax-is-a-textbook-case-of-how-not-to-develop-policy
■ ABC. (2016, December 2). Fruit grower Gary God will is relieved the backpacker tax debate is over. Retrieved from ABC NEWS: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-02/gary-godwill/8086540
■ Smith, L. (2017, October 2). Looking for farm workers. Retrieved from http://www.facebook.com/
■ Turner, C. (2017, September 26). We are hiring. Retrieved from http://www.facebook.com/
■ Vidot, A., & Henderson, A. (2016, September 28). Backpacker tax: Federal Government backs down on plan. Retrieved from ABC NEWS: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-27/federal-
government-backs-down-over-backpacker-tax/7880528
■ WTC. (2017). Work + Travel Company. Retrieved from Work + Travel Company: https://www.worktravelcompany.com/blog/backpacker-tax-need-to-know/
■ DIBP. (2017). Working Holiday visa (subclass 417). Retrieved from Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/417-
■ World Bank. (2017). Unemployment, youth total (% of total labor force ages 15-24) (modeled ILO estimate). Retrieved from The World Bank: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.1524.ZS
■ ABC. (2016, December 13). Backpacker tax changes: what does it all mean for working holiday makers and the farmers who employ them? Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2016-12-
13/backpacker-tax-changes-what-now/8115630

15. THANK
YOU!