From 'Chief Funster' to 'Outback Adventurer' - the 'Best Jobs in the World' now open to applicants

The best jobs in the world are open for applications.

Tourism Australia has launched a search to find lucky employees for six dream roles across the country.

The 'Best Jobs in the World' each come with an attractive six month salary package worth £67,500 (A$100,000), including living costs, and are:

- Chief Funster (New South Wales)
- Outback Adventurer (Northern Territory)
- Park Ranger (Queensland)
- Wildlife Caretaker (South Australia)
- Lifestyle Photographer (Melbourne)
- Taste Master (Western Australia)

Previous winner Briton Ben Southall beat over 34,000 applicants from over 200 countries to win the 'Best Job in the World' in 2009. It required him "to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, snorkel, make friends with the locals and generally enjoy the tropical Queensland climate and lifestyle".

Ben says: "A few years ago I won 'The Best Job in the World' - being an Island Caretaker on the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately for me, my time is up. But luckily for the world 'The Best Job in the World' is back. This time there's not one, but six amazing jobs in Australia up for grabs."

The competition has been unveiled in Cairns, one of the country's most popular destinations amongst young travellers. The campaign will target travellers between 18 and 30 years of age in Australia and overseas, with particular focus on international markets eligible for Australian working holiday visas, including the UK and Ireland, the US and Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

The 'Best Jobs in the World' initiative is part of a major international marketing push which will focus on promoting tourism opportunities provided by Australia's Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the competition provided an excellent platform to entice more young people from around the world to come to Australia to holiday, but also to work, helping to fill many unfilled tourism jobs across Australia, a key challenge for the industry.

"We've taken one of the most successful tourism campaigns in recent times - 'Best Job in the World' - and made it bigger and better by coming up with a competition which represents the very best of our country - our breath-taking landscapes and scenery, our unique nature and wildlife, great food and wine and, of course, our huge sense of fun," Mr McEvoy said.

Mr McEvoy said the competition was expected to appeal to youth travellers' sense of fun and adventure. "The youth market contributes more than a quarter of all Australia's international arrivals. These are visitors who tend to stay longer, disperse widely and often come back again, with their families, later in their lives. For many young people, Australia's working holiday visa programs provide the economic means to fund travel plans, and this is at the heart of our new campaign," he said.

"Despite recent challenges - such as the high Australian dollar and the global financial crisis affecting some of Australia's traditional Western markets - the youth traveller segment remains an important part of Australia's visitor mix," Mr McEvoy said.

Tourism Australia has secured a number of key partners to support the campaign, including Virgin Australia, STA Travel, Citibank, DELL, IKEA, Sony Music and Monster.com, who have created an online jobs board, advertising temporary jobs within the Australian tourism industry aimed at travellers visiting the country under Australia's WHM program.

For further details of the competition visit Tourism Australia's Working Holidays Facebook page, or www.australia.com/bestjobs