Greatest Good New Skills in Demand Visa and Core Skills Occupation List

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Changes to skills-based visas

New Skills in Demand Visa and Core Skills Occupation List

The Federal Government has released the new Skills in Demand (subclass 482) Visa which replaces the Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) Visa. As part of these changes, they also introduced a Call Skills Occupation List, which will guide the eligibility of the Court Skills Stream of the Skills in Demand Visa and the Direct Entry stream of the permanent Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) Visa.

Changes resulting from the Skills in Demand Visa introduction include:

  • closure of Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) Visa applications (those submitted before 7 December 2024 will continue to be processed)
  • new Skills in Demand Visa which employers and visa holders can submit nominations and applications for under the same subclass 482 as the TSS Visa, with the work experience requirement for applicants being reduced from two years to one year
  • a revised Core Skills Occupation list has been introduced to the Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) Visa, Direct Entry Stream, and the Skills in Demand Visa
  • sponsors are no longer responsible for ensuring that workers remain in their nominated occupation once their employment ceases
  • employment periods with any sponsor in Australia now count towards the two-year requirement for the Employer Nominated Scheme (subclass 186) Visa in the Temporary Resident Transition Stream which offers employees greater flexibility to move between sponsors.

Additional key changes that apply to both the Core Skills stream of the Skills in Demand Visa and the Specialist Skills Stream include the following:

  • the Visa now provides a four year stay for all streams
  • the English Language requirements replicates the Medium-Term stream of the TSS Visa
  • a new financial capacity requirement has been introduced for employers, who must demonstrate the ability to pay the market salary rate of the position for the duration of the Visa
  • the work experience requirement has been reduced from two years to one year with applicants now only needing to demonstrate 12 months of full-time equivalent work in the last five years (any combination of full-time, part-time or casual work).

The Specialist Skills Stream offers employers greater flexibility recruiting skilled workers for high salary roles including a broader range of classifications of occupations, minimum earnings of at least $135,000 (indexed annually) and faster Government processing of visas under this stream.

The Core Skills Stream merges the old TSS Medium term and short-term streams into a single pathway for temporary skilled migrants. Key features include:

  • the largest pathway to obtain skilled migrants
  • the new list of Core Skills eliminates several occupations but introduces several new occupations groups
  • some restrictions such as those limiting occupations to regional areas, have been removed
  • minimums earnings requirement is currently set at $73,150 (expected to be indexed annually)

 



Disclaimer: This does not purport to be comprehensive or to render legal advice. You should not act based on any information contained in this publication without first obtaining specific professional advice. Consult your legal advisor to determine if this applies to you.

Learn more

Greatest Good November Newsletter

Cyber Security Governance Principles