Australia has thrown its support behind Indonesia’s proposal to introduce a ballot system for Working Holiday Visa (WHV) applicants, a move that could replace the current first-come, first-served process and eventually eliminate the need for a government-issued support letter.

The proposal was raised by Indonesia’s Director General of Immigration, Hendarsam Marantoko, during a bilateral meeting with Australia’s Department of Home Affairs at the 29th ASEAN Directors-General of Immigration and Consular Affairs Meeting in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Australia responded positively, saying the ballot system would make the application process fairer while reducing administrative barriers.

“We propose for the procedure in issuing work and holiday visas for Indonesians to be managed through a lottery system, which is more appropriate to ensure fairness, transparency, and efficiency in managing the large quota of applicants from Indonesia,” Hendarsam said.

Although Hendarsam described the proposal as a “lottery system,” Australia officially refers to the process as a ballot, the term used for its pre-application selection system.

Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Immigration Matt Thistlethwaite said Australia supported Indonesia’s recommendation and was looking at introducing the ballot while removing the requirement for applicants to obtain a letter of support from the Indonesian government.

“We think that’s an appropriate recommendation, and we’re looking at implementing that ballot system to remove the need for the letter of support. It will remove some of the barriers in the system and make it much fairer,” Thistlethwaite said during a visit to Jakarta.

When asked whether Australia supported Indonesia’s proposal, he replied: “Yes, we support the proposal suggested by your Director General.”

For years, Indonesian applicants have competed for limited opportunities to secure the documents required before submitting a Working Holiday Visa application. The proposed ballot system is expected to replace that race with a random selection process, giving all eligible applicants an equal chance of being chosen.

Indonesia currently receives an annual allocation of 5,000 Working Holiday Visas, but demand consistently exceeds the available places, making the program one of the country’s most competitive overseas work opportunities.

The ballot system would not be new for Australia. Similar pre-application selection processes are already in place for several countries where demand for Working Holiday visas significantly exceeds annual quotas, including China, India and Vietnam.

No timeline has been announced for the change. Australian authorities said work is still underway to develop the electronic ballot system before it can be introduced for Indonesian applicants.