Not every postcode counts towards your 88 days of specified work — and a postcode alone does not confirm visa eligibility. Your subclass, the industry, your dates and other conditions all matter. Always check before you accept a job.
Regional rules differ by subclass
For subclass 417, Home Affairs defines regional Australia by postcode and includes all of South Australia — so Adelaide postcodes can count for 417 specified work. The 417 list excludes the major cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, the Gold Coast and Canberra, plus Newcastle, the Central Coast and Wollongong.
For subclass 462, the regional definition is different — confirm the 462 specified work areas separately on the official 462 specified work page. There is no single regional list that applies to both subclasses.
A postcode is only one factor
A regional postcode means the location can qualify — it does not by itself prove your work counts. The work must also be a specified work type, performed in a qualifying period, with a pattern equivalent to a full-time employee's normal days (part-time patterns can accumulate over a longer period — see the counting guide).
Tourism and hospitality
Tourism and hospitality count as specified work only in postcodes 4406, 4416, 4498 and 7215, or in Northern Australia, or in Remote or Very Remote Australia — subject to the other rules.
Check any postcode
Use the free Postcode Finder to check whether a postcode is in a regional, Northern or Remote area. Note: the finder checks postcode regionality only — it does not assess your full visa eligibility.
Always confirm the current postcode lists for your subclass on the Home Affairs specified work page.