Grape picking - part-time job of many international students in Australia

In addition to studying useful subjects at school, Vietnamese international students also have the opportunity to “go farming” to pick fruit in the fields of Australia. This is considered an ideal job, easy to find, does not require much experience or foreign language.

"In addition to a relatively stable income, you can also immerse yourself in nature on vast, straight farms. This practical experience is very interesting and worthy of studying in the Kangaroo country," international student Hoang Thuy shared.

Willow Point Wines, Murray Bridge, is one of the most prestigious vineyards and wineries in South Australia.

The common fruits to harvest are grapes, cherries, plums, and apples. When harvesting grapes, you can eat them right off the branch without washing them because the grapes here do not use chemicals during the growing process. Australian grapes have a very high natural sugar content, contributing to the wine industry in this country.

When you first hear about grape picking, you might think that this is a light and romantic job, but in reality it is not simple at all. Usually, pickers have to wake up at 4:30 am to have breakfast and prepare food for lunch, then drive to the grape fields at around 5:30-6:00 am. When the sun just rises, everyone rushes to pick grapes at this time because the noon and afternoon sun of over 40 degrees in Australia will make the pickers feel dizzy. Wearing a wide-brimmed hat and applying sunscreen are the most effective measures.

The grape picking process is simple. Each person will have to prepare tools including plastic boxes and specialized scissors to cut grapes. You place the plastic or cotton boxes right under the grape trellis, then cut the bunches of grapes and put them in these boxes. When one plastic box is full, you move to another plastic box, and finally these plastic boxes will be loaded onto a specialized cargo vehicle.

Grape picking requires stamina because you have to work continuously. At noon you will have a break of about an hour for lunch, usually everyone prepares a lunch box. Some kind hosts will even bake cakes and bring them to the workers during their lunch break. Lunch in the vineyard is not as romantic as you think because there are often a lot of flies. You have to eat and wave your hands to get rid of the flies.

A typical day of grape picking ends at 4pm. According to experienced farm workers, grape picking is considered easier than picking other fruits such as strawberries, plums, and peaches. The rows of grapes are higher than the head, so the pickers can avoid the sun a bit, and the grape crates are not as heavy as other fruit crates such as apples, peaches, etc. However, for international students who are not familiar with farm work, grape picking is really hard. Usually, after a grape picking session, everyone goes home to rest immediately.

Grape picking in Australia brings in an average of $100 AUD per day. Depending on the location, some orchard owners pay by the hour and others by the number of boxes picked, around $10 AUD per hour or $3 AUD per box. In places that charge by the box, the more boxes you pick, the higher your pay.

For those who do not have to work much, they can only harvest about 30 boxes of grapes a day, while others can harvest 50 or 70 boxes. Whether you work a little or a lot, you are still subject to tax. Each person must have a personal tax file number and submit it to the vineyard owner. At the end of the period, you can get a tax refund according to Australian law.

Thuy believes that through grape picking in Australia, most international students can feel the difference between agriculture in Vietnam and Australia. Firstly, Australian grapes do not use pesticides but are of high quality. Secondly, fairness in labor is reflected in income. Whoever works more, gets more.

Third, no matter how simple the job, Australia's tax policy has a direct and immediate impact on your income. If you have a tax file number, you will get a tax refund, but if you do not register for a tax file number, you will not get that tax refund. To earn money, you have to really work hard and be serious about your work. Fourth, this is a way for international students to promote the image of Australia through their real-life experiences, she said.

According to VNE