Young backpackers visiting Australia for working holidays could be recruited to help the rebuilding efforts in bushfire-affected areas, says a French visitor.
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But, says Ben Giuffrida, the most successful way to make sure such a plan worked would be to amend working holiday visa arrangements and allow young backpackers to help recognised charities.
Currently, many young backpackers have to spend at least 88 days working in a rural area to meet their visa conditions.
Mr Giuffrida says amending these conditions slightly to allow "work" to include volunteering with a recognised charity like BlazeAid would see a lot more people stepping up to lend a hand.
BlazeAid, a volunteer farm repair group, works alongside rural families to rebuild fences and other structures damaged and destroyed by natural disasters such as the widespread bushfires felt in recent days.
Volunteers from BlazeAid have been in the area around Adelong in recent weeks, helping to rebuild after the Dunns Road bushfire.
Mr Giuffrida and fellow traveller and French national Clothilde Gizardin spent two weeks working in with BlazeAid in the area around Wauchope, after they had to evacuate from Tumbarumba.
The pair had been in Tumbarumba to help harvest blueberries, but after being told they had to evacuate because of the approaching bushfires, they initially went to Sydney.
"We had a couple of days in Sydney, so then we went to Port Macquarie and Wauchope and we helped BlazeAid there. We did it for about two weeks. It was really good to help."
The pair needed to return to the Tumbarumba area to collect a car and some belongings, and are now contemplating where to head next so they can both satisfy the work requirements of the visa conditions and try to help rebuild people after the bushfires.
"The damage from the fire around was really bad, so we've definitely lost our jobs here, so now we are maybe going to Kangaroo Island to help again with BlazeAid and maybe find a farm job there," Mr Giuffrida said.
"People don't really know about BlazeAid, and this kind of thing.
"But if people can do it in their 88 days, it could be a really good thing for Australia. There are a lot of people here who are on tourist visas and could lend a hand, just to help get their days.
"It makes them feel helpful. If they could get the days, they would help more and more again."
The Department of Home Affairs has been contacted for comment.
