Picker (raspberry crew)Fruit picker - raspberry crew
Casual Counts as specified workPicking raspberries under tunnels in any weather; you may be moved to blueberries at any time.
Job library › New South Wales › Upper Corindi (near Corindi Beach)
Farms and orchards・Blueberry and raspberry farm (about 350 ha, operates all year, with a packing shed)
Costa Berries Corindi
Large blueberry and raspberry farm north of Coffs Harbour
Upper Corindi (near Corindi Beach), New South Wales 2456
Specified work✓ Eligible
PayHourly / piece rate
TransportCar needed
AccommodationFind your own accommodation
Overall score7.8・Worth considering
Specified work eligibility
Use the postcode of the work location — not the company's head office, and not where you live.
✓
This location counts as specified work
Postcode 2456 is on the Department of Home Affairs "Regional Australia" list, and the work type is "Plant and animal cultivation".
Work address
Range Road, Upper Corindi NSW 2456
Postcode 2456・Coffs Harbour · Map location is approximate
Work category
Plant and animal cultivation
Harvesting and packing fruit and vegetables, pruning trees and vines, livestock work, and primary meat processing such as slaughtering, cutting and packing. Secondary processing such as winemaking or processed meats does not count.
Within one employer, not every role counts as specified work (for example office admin or cleaning depends on Home Affairs' current temporary concession). Check the label on each role below, and keep every payslip.How specified work days are counted
Note: on 17 September 2026 the government announced second and third visas will move to a ballot. Completing specified work makes you eligible to enter, but it no longer guarantees a visa (start date not yet announced).Details
Jobs
5 casual / seasonal roles. Duties, requirements and required licences are listed separately.
Picker (blueberry crew)Fruit picker - blueberry crew
Casual Counts as specified workPicking blueberries (blueberry season runs from July to January).
Packer (packing shed)Packing shed worker
Casual Counts as specified workPacking berries indoors in a cold environment.
Pruning and farm maintenance workerPruning and maintenance worker
Casual Counts as specified workPruning and farm maintenance outdoors or under tunnels.
Seasonal truck driverSeasonal truck driver
Casual Check requiredDriving harvest / farm trucks and keeping records; outdoor work in changeable weather.
Casual / seasonal role; the ad closes 1 November 2026. Driving is support work — Home Affairs currently says support work in specified industries "may be accepted", so confirm before counting it toward your days.
Work duties
Hand-picking blueberries or raspberries into punnets / containers on a 350 ha farm; packing, pruning and farm maintenance roles too.
Work environment
Picking, pruning and maintenance are outdoors or under tunnels: it gets hot (sometimes around 35°C), it rains, there are animals and insects and uneven ground — it is physical work. The packing shed is indoors and cold. The farm provides cold water and clean toilets and has an on-site WHS team.
Pay and superannuation
What the employer publishes and the legal minimum are shown separately.
- Pay
- Mostly piece rate: raspberries per punnet, blueberries per kilogram; a few roles are hourly. Costa's fact sheet says piece rates are set so that an average competent picker earns the Award hourly rate. The amounts in the fact sheet (hourly roles $23.62/hour; average pickers about $23–26/hour, about $700–900 a week) are old / undated and below the 2026 minimum wage — rely on the current Award. Horticulture Award (from 1 July 2026, per Fair Farms): Level 1 casual $32.18/hour (permanent $25.74), Level 2 casual $33.05/hour; piece rates must also meet the Award's minimum piece-rate guarantee.
- Applicable Award
- Horticulture Award (MA000028)
- Legal minimum hourly rate
- Level 1 (new starter, up to 3 months): $32.18/hour
Level 2: $33.05/hour
Level 3: $33.55/hour
Casual (including the 25% casual loading), effective from 1 July 2026.Fair Work pay guide - Piece-rate guarantee
- Piece rates have a floor: each day you must get at least the hourly rate × hours worked that day (casual Level 1 $32.18 an hour). The piece rate must let an average worker earn at least 15% more than the hourly rate (about $37.01). Before you start, the employer must give you a written piece-rate record signed by both of you.
- How you are paid
- To be confirmed
By law wages must be paid in money (cash, cheque or bank transfer) at least monthly; whichever method is used, the employer must give you a payslip within 1 working day of paying you. - How often you are paid
- Weekly (the fact sheet says payslips are emailed weekly; keep them as proof of your specified work)
- Superannuation
- Yes. Your employer must also pay 12% of your wages into your super account — this applies to working holiday makers too, however much you earn. From 1 July 2026 it must be paid within 7 working days of each pay day. You can claim it back after leaving Australia (taxed at 65% for working holiday makers).
- Tax
- If the employer is registered as a Working Holiday employer, 15% is withheld on the first $45,000 of income. Being taxed 30% suggests the employer may not be registered; without a tax file number (TFN), 45% is withheld.
Statutory figures last checked: 2026-10-05. Your actual pay is what your employer's contract and payslips show.
Hours
- Usual hours
- Raspberry crew 5–6 days a week, about 6 hours a day; blueberry crew 5–7 days a week, 6–8 hours a day; pruning / maintenance 7–8 hours a day, 5–6 days a week
- Shifts
- Day shift
- Weather-dependent?
- Yes. Work may stop if it rains or is too hot, and there is no income that day.
- Additional notes
- The blueberry crew's daily start time depends on the weather and is posted on Facebook each morning; the packing shed follows the blueberry harvest. Minimum hours are not guaranteed, and crews are cut back in the low season.
When they need workers
123456789101112
Raspberries are harvested all year (52 weeks), with peak and quieter periods; blueberry season runs from July to January.
The careers site has a standing ad for "Fruit Picking and Packing - Corindi" stating there are jobs all year round. A seasonal truck driver role is on Costa's careers site, closing 1 November 2026. Costa's fact sheet states that work here meets second visa requirements (counts as specified work).
Hiring now
Fruit Picking and Packing - Corindi (ongoing recruitment)
Hiring status is checked automatically every day; last checked: 2026-10-06.See the job ad
How to apply
Online form on the official website
Before you apply
Apply online on the careers site (role "Fruit Picking and Packing - Corindi", jobs available all year). Costa checks your work rights first and then invites you to an induction at the farm; work usually starts 2–14 days after the induction. The seasonal truck driver role is on Costa's careers site (closes 1 November 2026). Costa's fact sheet states that work here counts as specified work.
Only apply through the channels listed on this page or published on the employer's official website. Legitimate employers never ask you to pay for a job; for look-alike job sites or people who message you privately, check the official website first.Avoiding illegal work
You will need
- Legal work rights in Australia (checked before the induction)
- Able to work in heat and rain
- After training you must reach the required picking speed and quality
- Your own transport, or able to ride with crew members (you drive between blocks during the day, up to about 10 minutes)
Restrictions
- Costa does not guarantee you can complete 88 days here; it depends on your performance and the workload
- In the low season crews are cut back, and performance decides who stays
- No accommodation on the farm
Licences required
- A driver licence, or a valid medium rigid (MR) licence or higher — the ad says "desirable, not essential"
Each role needs different licences — see the role descriptions above.
- Official website
- costagroup.com.au
- Careers page
- Go to the careers page
Legitimacy
Make sure it is a registered company that gives payslips and pays super, so your specified work days will hold up.
- Company registration
- ABN 41 002 687 961・COSTAEXCHANGE PTY LTD (trading names: Costa (Berry Category), FRESH CORINDI BLUEBERRIES, BLUEBERRY FARMS OF AUSTRALIA)・Active
View on ABN Lookup - Employment arrangement
- Employed directly by the company
- Notes
- Parent company Costa Group Holdings Pty Ltd, ABN 68 151 363 129 (Active). The employing entity on payslips has not been confirmed; the Corindi berry business's trading names are registered to CostaExchange Pty Ltd. Costa is not on the Fair Farms certified farm list (checked 2026-10-05).
Transport
Car needed. You have to sort out your own commute, and during the day you drive between blocks (up to about 10 minutes). Costa suggests carpooling with crew members or asking people at your hostel for a lift.
Getting there without a car
Costa does not mention a staff shuttle, so carpool with housemates or crew members. You can take the NSW TrainLink XPT to Coffs Harbour and then local buses; Forest Coach Lines runs Coffs Harbour–Grafton, and the Coffs Harbour bus network goes north to Red Rock and Grafton, but no bus to the farm blocks has been confirmed.
Public transport
Coffs Harbour railway station: NSW TrainLink XPT runs north to Casino / Brisbane daily, plus two southbound services to Sydney. Forest Coach Lines runs Coffs Harbour–Grafton. CDC route 364 links Coffs Harbour Airport and the city centre.
Nearest airport
Coffs Harbour Airport (3 km south of Coffs Harbour): Link Airways, Qantas, Regional Express
Nearest town: Corindi Beach (33 km north of Coffs Harbour, 50 km south of Grafton); Woolgoolga is between Corindi and Coffs Harbour
Accommodation and local amenities
Small coastal villages; the main amenities are in Coffs Harbour (about 33 km south of Corindi Beach).
Accommodation
Find your own accommodation
Costa cannot provide accommodation on the farm. The employer suggests backpacker hostels or share houses in Grafton, Corindi, Woolgoolga and Coffs Harbour, or searching on Gumtree and Facebook.
Grocery shopping
Coffs Harbour has three large shopping centres (individual supermarkets not verified).
Medical
Coffs Harbour has public and private hospitals (Coffs Harbour Health Campus).
Other
Grafton, Corindi, Woolgoolga and Coffs Harbour all have backpacker hostels and share houses (information from Costa). Mobile coverage not verified.
Weather
January is hottest with an average maximum of 27.0°C; July is coldest with an average minimum of 7.6°C; wet, with annual rainfall of 1702.4 mm, wettest in March (234.6 mm) (Coffs Harbour weather station, 1943–2015 data).
Average maximum temperatureAverage minimum temperatureAverage monthly rainfallUnits: °C / mm (months 1–12)
See monthly figures
| Months | Average high | Average low | Rainfall | Days above 35°C | Days below 0°C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27.9°C | 19.5°C | 124 mm | 0.8 | 0 |
| Feb | 27.2°C | 19.4°C | 175 mm | 0.7 | 0 |
| Mar | 25.7°C | 18.5°C | 269 mm | 0.1 | 0 |
| Apr | 23.3°C | 15.4°C | 82 mm | 0 | 0 |
| May | 20.9°C | 12.6°C | 84 mm | 0 | 0 |
| Jun | 18.5°C | 9.7°C | 67 mm | 0 | 0 |
| Jul | 18.6°C | 8.6°C | 60 mm | 0 | 0 |
| Aug | 20.2°C | 9.3°C | 59 mm | 0 | 0 |
| Sep | 22.5°C | 11.6°C | 63 mm | 0.1 | 0 |
| Oct | 24.3°C | 14.1°C | 99 mm | 0.2 | 0 |
| Nov | 25.9°C | 16.1°C | 86 mm | 0.7 | 0 |
| Dec | 27.7°C | 18.2°C | 119 mm | 0.9 | 0 |
Data: Open-Meteo historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), 2016–2025 average, coordinates -30.049, 153.135. Farms in the same area may differ by 1–2°C.
Next 7 days
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Overall score
Calculated from public information with a fixed formula — not a paid ranking. Ratings from past workers are shown separately in the reviews section.
7.8out of 10
Worth considering
Worth considering
Pros
- Raspberries are picked all year, so you may be able to complete 88 days outside blueberry season
- The employer states in writing that work here counts as specified work
- Weekly payslips by email, which makes it easy to prove your work days
- Large, long-established employer with an on-site work health and safety (WHS) team
Watch out for
- Piece-rate pay depends on picking speed and fruit volume
- No accommodation; in practice you need your own car or a carpool
- Pickers who are too slow may be let go; crews shrink in the low season
- Outdoors: heat, rain and insects; the packing shed is cold
Weights: specified work eligibility 25%, legal and transparent 20%, pay transparency 15%, transport 10%, accommodation 10%, amenities 10%, weather 10%.How it is calculated
Online reviews and past workers' experiences
Compiled from Indeed, Glassdoor, backpacker blogs and the news. Everything is a paraphrased summary — follow the links to read the originals.
3.6/5
Indeed・99 reviews
Costa Group company-wide (all sites, including berries and tomatoes)
Common praise
- Friendly team atmosphere with many nationalities
- Paid on time every week, with payslips
- Hard workers can earn more on piece rates
- The farm provides drinking water, sunscreen and clean toilets
Common complaints
- Piece-rate income is unstable: in the low season you may pick only 2 hours a day, with very low weekly pay
- New pickers are slow at first and often earn below the minimum wage on piece rates
- Managers focus on output; some say they do not understand conditions on the ground
- Some say only picking time is paid, and other tasks are not paid separately
Experiences from past workers
Simplified Chinese post: 9 weeks picking raspberries and blueberries at Corindi Simplified Chinese
About A$1 per punnet of raspberries and about A$3 per kg of blueberries (2019); hours depend on the season — in the low season you might earn just over A$100 a week, in peak season over A$100 a day. A share house in Woolgoolga cost about A$120 a week; without a car it is almost impossible to work, so find a carpool at the induction.
Published: 2019-10-25・Source
Taiwanese blogger: two seasons picking blueberries at Costa Berry Exchange Traditional Chinese
Piece rates are worked out from the whole crew's output; in the winter season (June–October) days are 5–6 hours and in summer about 8 hours, and work cannot start when it rains or the dew is heavy. The farm is large so you drive between areas; newcomers often earn little because they are slow and crews are competitive.
Published: 2017-01-05・Source
News and official records
- In 2015 the AWU union accused Costa of undercutting working conditions on its berry farms (ABC report — a union allegation, not a ruling). (2015-07-29・Source)
The Indeed rating is for the whole Costa Group; there is no separate score for Corindi.
Review summary last checked: 2026-10-06. Online reviews are personal experiences and may be out of date or not reflect the whole picture; ratings change over time, so the original sites prevail.
Reviews from past workers
Worked here? Your experience can help the next person avoid mistakes.
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Reviews on other sites: Indeed (Costa Group company-wide, 94 reviews)
Sources
Last checked: 2026-10-05. If you see outdated or incorrect information, let us know.
- https://web.martianlogic.com/smejobsearch/jsponly/downloadFile.jsp?jobAttachmentId=48153
- https://external-jobboard.myrecruitmentplus.com/job-details/query/7305040/
- https://costagroup.currentjobs.co/Job
- https://costagroup.currentjobs.co/job/truck-drivers-corindi-nsw/corindi/3169
- https://www.coffscoastharvest.com.au/listing/costa/
- https://auspost.com.au/postcode/upper-corindi
- https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/work-holiday-417/specified-work
- https://www.fairfarms.com.au/pay-rates-01-july-2026
- https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?abn=41002687961
- https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?abn=68151363129
- https://www.fairfarms.com.au/certification
- https://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_059040.shtml
- https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/search?format=json&q=Upper%20Corindi%2C%20NSW
- https://au.indeed.com/cmp/Costa-Berry-Exchange/reviews?fcountry=AU&floc=Corindi+NSW
- https://www.iwhver.com/61960
- https://www.maruplayplay.com/working-holiday/australia/au-working/costa-blueberry/
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-07-29/costa-group-union-dispute-berry-farm-workers/6656186
Not yet confirmed: Costa's fact sheet is undated, and the amounts in it are older than the current Award; The Coffs Coast Harvest website lists the postcode as "2546" (a typo); Australia Post shows Upper Corindi as 2456; No street number is published; coordinates are the centre of the Upper Corindi area, not the farm gate; The actual employing entity has not been confirmed; The amenities level is an estimate: whether nearer small towns such as Woolgoolga and Corindi have supermarkets was not verified