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London: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being accused of unfairly raising the hopes of young Australians and Brits by falsely claiming new visa arrangements would come into effect at the end of the month.

Albanese made the claims while spruiking the Australia-UK free trade agreement during his five-day trip to London for the coronation of King Charles III.

The Governor-General, David Hurley and his wife Linda Hurley, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon.Credit: Getty

Albanese praised the deal, struck by the former Morrison government when the UK was led by Boris Johnson, as one of the best that Australia has negotiated and welcomed that it would come into effect on May 31.

In an interview with the ABC he said that when the deal starts on May 31 it would unlock new working holiday visas which last three years and raise the applicant age to 35.

“Well it will be in place by May 31,” Albanese said of the FTA.

“It will also have changes to the labour market, increased periods in which Australians can work here and vice versa and increased ages as well.

“So lifting the age, for example, for people to come down to Australia up to 35, and allowing them to stay for three years. And that will provide for better career opportunities than just casual work.

“If you can go into a workplace for three years there are obvious benefits where people come get that experience here, in the British economy, and then I hope go back to Australia and make a greater contribution as a result of that experience,” he said.

Currently, the working holiday visa is open to adults aged up to 30 and they last two years. The new visas will also remove entirely any obligation for Brits to carry out work on farms which proved unpopular.

These two-year visa remain in place until the Australian and UK governments agree for the extended visas to come into effect, something neither side has agreed.

This is because the visa changes were struck on the side of the FTA and not as part of it and state that they will come into effect within two years of the FTA taking effect.

The opposition’s trade spokesman Kevin Hogan said the prime minister had given misleading information.

“The prime minister has form when it comes to not being across the detail of policy commitments he claims credit for,” Hogan said.

“This not a benign action that can be overlooked.

“It is unfair of the prime minister to get the hopes up of so many young Australians and Brits keen to access the revised working holiday visa arrangements negotiated by the Coalition when we were in government.

“It will also place undue pressure on small and regional businesses in agriculture, tourism and hospitality sectors having to explain that the changes are not yet in effect, disappointing the hopes of many.

Hogan said it was further evidence that Albanese was not across the detail of his job as prime minister.

The prime minister’s office declined to comment.

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