Under the changes, Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge said employers would be able to hire the same backpackers for up to a year (instead of the usual 6 months) in fire-affected areas.

Voluntary work in disaster zones will also count towards the required days for second-year or third-year visas.

French backpacker Gulee Lehmann described the move as a "good thing".

Ms Lehmann has been in Australia since November.

"It is difficult to find work in Port Macquarie," she said.

"In France we do not speak good English so this is a good thing."

Owner of Port Macquarie Backpackers on Gordon Street Ben Wardle said most backpackers only stay in Port Macquarie for a "night or two".

"They usually are just passing through Port Macquarie," he said.

But he said the message from backpackers he conversed with was that it was difficult to find work on farms in Australia.

The general consensus is they are finding it pretty hard due to drought and fires," he said.

"This will be a great boost for them and also help the community."

BlazeAid Wauchope camp coordinator David Edgerley also welcomed the move.

BlazeAid has set up a camp at the Wauchope Showground to help fire-affected residents in the Hastings. Volunteers help to rebuild fences and other structures that have been damaged or destroyed.

"It is going to enable us to make better use of backpackers then we have been able to," Mr Edgerley said.

"We have had a minimum number of backpackers coming here.

"We had six young girls from Argentina who gave us a week of their time and they proved to be very effective volunteers."

Mr Edgerley said it has been a "frustrating" few weeks for BlazeAid volunteers.

" The rain has meant we haven't been able to get on the farms," he said.

"The farms get very slippery and it is unsafe to work in those conditions."

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