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Job library › Queensland › Proserpine

Aquaculture and fishing・Prawn farm (land-based ponds) plus hatchery and processing plant

Tassal Proserpine Prawn Farm

A tiger prawn farm in Proserpine (between Airlie Beach and Bowen), with a hatchery and processing plant
Proserpine, Queensland 4800

Black tiger prawns
Specified work✓ Eligible
PayHourly rate
TransportCar recommended
AccommodationTo be confirmed
Overall score7.9・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 4800 is on the Department of Home Affairs "Regional Australia" list, and the work type is "Plant and animal cultivation".

Work address

Proserpine Prawn Farm (between Airlie Beach and Bowen), Proserpine QLD 4800; street address not published

Postcode 4800・Whitsundays · Map location is approximate

Open in Google Maps

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

1 casual / seasonal roles. Duties, requirements and required licences are listed separately.

Seasonal forklift driver (Proserpine, casual)Forklift Operator - seasonal casual (Proserpine)

Casual Check required

Driving forklifts in warehouses and freezers; supporting dispatch: picking, packing and preparing orders; loading and unloading trucks and containers; keeping stock records; following cold-chain safety rules.

Pay method

Hourly rate
Hourly rate $32.00 or more, including 25% casual loading (ad reposted on jobsearch.com.au, posted 2026-09-06).

Hours

Shifts, including early mornings and weekend shifts (ad)

Requirements

Available to work from early November 2026 until Christmas, Willing to work shifts, including early mornings, afternoons and possibly weekends, Good English; able to understand and communicate about safety, Full work rights in Australia, A reliable way to get to and from work, Fitness assessment and alcohol and drug testing before starting

Licences

A valid forklift licence (High Risk Work Licence) and hands-on experience

Multiple positions; the work period is early November 2026 to mid-May 2027. Driving forklifts and shipping out goods in the warehouse and cold-storage areas count as support work, and the Department of Home Affairs definition of specified work does not explicitly list prawn farming, so it is marked “To be confirmed”. Source: https://www.jobsearch.com.au/job/fee8698e-8f6c-40dc-9aa8-fb31c2e7c39b

Work duties

Land-based pond farming of black tiger prawns, harvesting, on-site processing / packing and dispatch (forklifts, freezers). Tassal also has a prawn farm at Proserpine (QLD 4800, eligible postcode, in the Whitsundays — Tassal's largest), with a hatchery and processing plant.

Work environment

Tropical coastal prawn farm with ponds; harvesting means getting wet (in-water work); processing and dispatch are in cold food-processing / freezer conditions; repetitive heavy lifting.

Pay and superannuation

What the employer publishes and the legal minimum are shown separately.

Pay
Forklift: hourly rate of $32.00 or more, including 25% casual loading (advertisement from 2026-09).
Applicable Award
Aquaculture Award (MA000114)
Legal minimum hourly rate
Level 1: $32.18/hour
Level 2: $33.05/hour
Casual (including the 25% casual loading), effective from 1 July 2026.Fair Work pay guide
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
To be confirmed
Under the Award: Paid weekly or fortnightly (as agreed)
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
Monday to Friday, possibly Saturdays (forklift ad)
Shifts
Shift work
Weather-dependent?
To be confirmed
Additional notes
Rosters include early mornings, afternoons and possibly weekends; a 2022 ad said rosters depend on operations, and weekend and public holiday shifts attract penalty rates and overtime.

When they need workers

123456789101112

Forklift vacancy: early November 2026 to mid-May 2027 (per the advertisement).

Hiring seasonal workers: jobsearch.com.au reposted Tassal's "Forklift Operators - Proserpine", posted 2026-09-06, casual and seasonal (Casual, Seasonal), multiple positions, hourly rate $32 or more including 25% casual loading, work period early November 2026 to mid-May 2027. No closing date is stated. Full work rights in Australia are required; the ad does not say whether Working Holiday visas are accepted. Note: on 2026-10-06 Tassal's official Taleo careers page listed only Tasmanian jobs and this ad was not seen, so whether it is still open needs to be confirmed.

Hiring now

Forklift Operators - Proserpine (temporary/seasonal, posted 2026-09-06, early November to mid-May 2027); not listed on the official Taleo page, to be confirmed

Hiring status is checked automatically every day; last checked: 2026-10-06.See the job ad

How to apply

My application status Saved only in this device's browser

Online form on the official website

Apply via online form

Before you apply

The advertisement says to apply with a résumé and cover letter through the job portal (the contact is Jeff; the email address is not shown on the repost page). Tassal’s official careers page: https://phe.tbe.taleo.net/phe03/ats/careers/v2/searchResults?org=TASSALGROUP&cws=41

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

  • Full work rights in Australia
  • A valid forklift licence and hands-on experience
  • Able to stay for the whole season
  • Shifts, including early mornings and weekends
  • Good English; able to communicate about safety matters
  • A physical assessment and alcohol and drug testing before starting

Restrictions

  • Work period is early November 2026 to mid-May 2027; you must be able to complete the whole season
  • The advertisement requires “full working rights” and does not say whether the Working Holiday visa is accepted
  • This job is not listed on the official Taleo careers site, so please check before applying

Licences required

  • A valid forklift licence (High Risk Work Licence) and hands-on experience

Each role needs different licences — see the role descriptions above.

Official website
tassalgroup.com.au
Careers page
Go to the careers page

Transport

Car recommended. The ad requires "a reliable way to get to and from work"; the plant is at Bingil Bay, north of Mission Beach township.

Getting there without a car

Greyhound stop: Mission Beach Transit Centre (2002 Tully Mission Beach Rd, Wongaling Beach). The nearest Spirit of Queensland station is Tully (Mission Beach is 28.5 km north-east of Tully; the train only stops at Tully if booked in advance). Proserpine (the second site) has a Spirit of Queensland station (Queensland Rail timetable) and a Greyhound stop (Bus Stop, 21 Blair St, Proserpine).

Public transport

No local bus to the plant was found

Nearest airport

Cairns — Mission Beach is about 139 km south-south-east of Cairns (Wikipedia)

Nearest town: Mission Beach (Bingil Bay is 6.8 km north-north-west of Mission Beach)

Accommodation and local amenities

Mission Beach has a Woolworths; the nearest hospital is in Tully (about 30 km).

Accommodation

To be confirmed

The ad does not mention accommodation.

Grocery shopping

Woolworths Mission Beach (38-40 Dickinson Street, Wongaling Beach QLD 4852).

Medical

Tully Hospital (17 Bryant Street, Tully), open 24 hours (about 30 km away).

Other

To be confirmed

Weather

December and January average highs of 31.3°C; July average low 15.3°C; January–March is wettest (608.8 mm in March), annual rainfall 3,311 mm (South Johnstone weather station; no local averages for Mission Beach).

Climate data to be added.

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.

7.9out of 10
Worth considering
Specified work eligibility
10.0Postcode 4800 is on the official "Regional Australia" list
Legal and transparent
8.0ABN active, Employed directly by the company
Pay transparency
9.0Some hourly-paid roles with steadier income
Transport
6.0Car recommended
Accommodation
5.0To be confirmed
Amenities
7.0Basic shopping in nearby small towns
Weather
6.0Climate data to be added

Pros

  • Australia's largest prawn producer (according to its advertisement), a large direct employer
  • Published hourly rate ($32 or more, including casual loading)
  • Long work period (about 6 months)
  • Postcode 4800 is eligible
  • Proserpine has a train station and a Greyhound stop

Watch out for

  • Home Affairs' definitions do not explicitly say whether prawn farm / processing work counts — check first
  • Full work rights, a fitness assessment and drug testing are required; a forklift licence is required
  • Shift work including weekends; cold and wet conditions
  • Accommodation information was not found

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.

3.8/5

Indeed・6 reviews
Tassal company-wide (reviews mostly from Tasmanian salmon sites)

See the original reviews

Common praise

  • Pay and benefits rated highly (4.8/5)
  • Safety-focused, with learning opportunities

Common complaints

  • Long hours; hard, stressful work
  • A long-term employee said they were disappointed with how the company handled their injury
No employee reviews of the Proserpine prawn farm were found; most Indeed reviews relate to Tassal's Tasmanian salmon business (using the Tassal Mission Beach data already recorded).

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.

Loading reviews…

Reviews on other sites: Indeed (Tassal, 6 reviews) · Indeed (Tassal Group, 9 reviews)

Sources

Last checked: 2026-10-06. If you see outdated or incorrect information, let us know.

Not yet confirmed: The advertisement comes from a repost on jobsearch.com.au; the page gives the location as Gregory River 4660 (probably a repost error), while the title and text say Proserpine, so Proserpine 4800 is used here.; The official Tassal Taleo job page listed only Tasmanian vacancies on 2026-10-06 and did not include this one; whether it is still open has not been confirmed.; The same jobsearch repost batch also included Aquaculture Technician - Farm (Proserpine, posted 2026-09-08, marked 'full-time fixed-term contract to 2027-03-31', with no mention of casual or seasonal); it was not included because the employment type does not match.; The coordinates are the centre of Proserpine town.