How the days are counted
The official rules in plain words, with the exact Home Affairs text for each one. Works for 88 and 179 days.
Official list last changed 5 Apr 2025 · checked 19 Oct 2026
The 88 days are calendar days, weekends included, but you need as much work as a full-timer in that job does in that time. Your payslips are the proof. The simple way to count them: 38 hours = 7 days, a normal full week. Work fewer hours and it takes longer.
Do weekends count?
Yes, inside a period of full-time work. If you work Monday to Friday full-time, the weekends between count too.
“…a minimum period of 88 calendar days, including weekends or equivalent rest days during your period of employment.”
Home Affairs, specified work pageCasual and part-time work
Casual is fine. What counts is how much you worked compared with a full-timer in the same job. Work half the normal hours and each week counts as half a week.
“…you must complete the same number of normal work days or shifts as a full-time employee in that role and industry would normally work in a 3 month (88 calendar day) … period.”
Home AffairsHome Affairs' own example uses hours: Karla works half the usual full-time hours for 122 days, and that counts as 61 days. Count yours in the calculator.
Is there an hours rule?
Not officially. Home Affairs counts days or shifts, compared with a full-timer in your job. But payslips show hours, so the practical way to count is 38 hours = 7 days, because 38 hours is the standard full-time week in Australia. That's what our calculator does.
- Many people say 35+ hours a week has been accepted as a full week. There's no official rule saying so, so 38 is the safe number.
- A month can't count more days than it has. About 168 hours fills a 31-day month.
- One long day is still one day of work. A 12-hour shift isn't two days on its own, but a week of long shifts can still reach a full week of hours.
“You cannot count work carried out on one calendar day as more than one day of specified work.”
Home AffairsWhy do calculators give different answers?
For the same 13 weeks of casual hospitality at 36 hours a week, popular calculators give anywhere from about 52 to 91 days, because each uses its own rule. Counting 38 hours as 7 days gives 86 days: just short of 88.
Public holidays, sick days and rain
- Paid public holidays and paid sick days count.
- Unpaid days off don't count, including days lost to rain or heat.
- Weeks with no work need no payslip and add nothing, but the hours you work in the same month still count, up to the days in that month.
- Rosters like 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off count in full if that's normal for the job and you're paid for the whole period.
Which types of work count?
- Farm work (plant and animal cultivation): picking, packing, pruning, livestock, dairy.
- Fishing and pearling, tree farming and felling.
- Mining (417 only) and construction.
- Tourism and hospitality, only in Northern and remote areas, from 22 June 2021.
- Bushfire and natural disaster recovery, paid or volunteer.
Not included: winemaking, brewing, retail, and general garden maintenance. The work must be paid at the legal rate.
Each type of work has its own page with the official definition, examples and places: farm work, mining, construction, tourism and hospitality, fishing and pearling, tree farming, bushfire recovery and disaster recovery.
Which areas count?
Only postcodes in the six official tables. It depends on the type of work and your visa. Check a postcode.
Third visa: 179 days
For a third visa you need 6 months (179 calendar days) of specified work, done while on your second visa, on or after 1 July 2019. 179-day calculator.
UK passport holders
If you apply on a UK passport on or after 1 July 2024, you don't need specified work for a second or third 417 visa.
The 2026 ballot announcement
On 17 September 2026 the Minister announced ballots for second-year (45,000 places) and third-year (5,000 places) visas. Specified work would still be needed to enter. As of 19 October 2026 this is not law yet: no instrument or start date has been published. The current rules still apply.
Sources
- Home Affairs: Specified subclass 417 work (also 462). Quotes checked October 2026.
- Our sources and method