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Labour Market Testing for Businesses in Designated Regional Cities & Major Regional Centres of Australia
The Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) subclass 482 visa, and Skilled Employer Regional Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (SESR) subclass 494 visa, allow employers holding a Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) Labour Agreement, to sponsor overseas workers to live and work in Australia on a temporary basis. You must provide evidence that you have tested the labour market by attempting to recruit a suitably qualified and experienced Australian worker for the nominated position.

LABOUR MARKET TESTING REQUIREMENTS

To satisfy the LMT requirement, when the DAMA endorsement is requested, the labour agreement is lodged and when each position nomination is lodged, you MUST provide evidence that you have advertised the position within the last 12 months, for a total period of at least 4 consecutive weeks (unless the nominated position is subject to alternative requirements).

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If your business is in a ‘Category 2’ designated regional city or major regional centre (please contact us to check if your business qualifies), the advertising must meet the following criteria:

  • the nominated position must be advertised in Australia with at least TWO advertisements (paid or unpaid) published:

    • on a prominent or professional recruitment website with national reach, that publishes advertisements for positions throughout Australia

    • in print media i.e., newspapers or magazines with national reach that are published on at least a monthly basis, and are marketed throughout Australia

    • on national radio i.e., radio programs that are broadcast or syndicated nationally

NOTES: Industry-specific recruitment websites that are relevant to the nominated occupation and in significant use by the industry are also acceptable.

General classifieds websites and advertisements solely through social media notification (e.g. Twitter or Instagram) are NOT acceptable. Although LinkedIn’s online recruitment platform is acceptable, job vacancies restricted to LinkedIn profile members only are NOT acceptable.

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NOTES: the nominated position may be advertised in the same media type (such as newspaper advertisements − on two separate occasions) or in any two different media types simultaneously, or on two separate occasions. Nominated positions may be advertised over two or more overlapping periods totalling a minimum of 4 weeks.

  • applications or expressions of interest for the position were accepted for at least 4 consecutive weeks from when the advertisement for the nominated position was first published

  • the advertisements must be in English, and must include:

    • the position title or description (multiple positions in one advertisement are permitted)

    • the name of your business (or the recruitment agency used)

    • the skills or experience required for the position and

    • the annual salary (or salary range or applicable enterprise agreement salary) for the position (unless the salary exceeds $AU96,400 per year)

NOTE: If within the last 12 months your business, or an associate entity of your business, has made any Australian citizens or permanent residents redundant or retrenched from positions in the nominated occupation, you must have undertaken this advertising SINCE these events occurred. You must also provide information about these redundancies and/or retrenchments.

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You are required to supply copies of the advertisements placed as evidence that your advertising meets these criteria. Please also provide a brief statement regarding the results of your recruitment process, including how many candidates (if any) you interviewed, and why they were deemed unsuitable. If LMT evidence is not submitted at the time of the relevant application process, the application will be refused.

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Alternative Labour Market Testing Arrangements

Alternative LMT requirements may apply in certain circumstances, i.e. where:

  • the position requires someone with an internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement in a profession or field (e.g. sport, academia or research, or as a top‑talent chef); OR

  • the nomination is lodged for an existing subclass 482, 494 or 457 visa holder solely due to a change in earnings or business structure; OR

  • the nomination relates to an intra-corporate transfer; OR

  • the annual earnings for the position are at least AU$250,000; OR

  • the position nominated is a key medical occupation: i.e. most medical practitioners (excluding GPs), as well as ambulance officers and paramedics

In these circumstances, the mandatory LMT requirements referred to above do NOT apply. Instead, you must provide a written submission explaining why a suitably qualified and experienced Australian is not readily available to fill the nominated position. Please contact us for further details regarding the information that you must provide in your submission, if applicable.

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