Labour Agreements

Labour agreements enable approved businesses to sponsor overseas workers when there is a demonstrated need that cannot be met in the Australian labour market and standard temporary or permanent migration arrangements are not appropriate.

Labour agreements are developed between the Australian Government, represented by the Department, and employers. They are generally in effect for five years and might have additional terms and conditions, because labour agreements provide a variation to standard migration requirements.

Employers are required to have made recent, genuine efforts to recruit, employ or engage Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents. They are also required to consult or make genuine efforts to consult industry stakeholders, including relevant trade unions and peak industry bodies when developing their agreement. Labour agreements are the only migration pathway for semi-skilled labour.

Company-specific labour agreements

A company specific labour agreement is developed directly with an employer and will be considered only where a genuine skills or labour shortage for an occupation exists which is not already provided for in an industry labour agreement, or relevant project or designated area migration agreement. The terms and conditions of a company-specific agreement are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Industry labour agreements

An industry labour agreement provides fixed terms and conditions agreed to by the Minister in consultation with key industry stakeholders, specific to an industry sector. An industry agreement might be considered if the Department has received a number of similar submissions from an industry and there is evidence of ongoing labour shortages within that industry. When an industry labour agreement is in place, no further concessions can be considered, other than the concessions written into the industry agreement.

There are currently industry agreements in place for the following industries: restaurant (fine dining), fishing, meat, on-hire, dairy, pork, snow sport and minister of religion.

Designated area migration agreements

A designated area migration agreement (DAMA) provides flexibility for states, territories or regions to respond to their unique economic and labour market conditions through an agreement-based framework. Under the DAMA framework employers in areas experiencing skills and labour shortages can sponsor skilled and semi-skilled overseas workers. DAMAs are designed to ensure employers recruit Australians as a first priority and prioritise initiatives and strategies to facilitate the recruitment and retention of Australian workers.

We conduct detailed assessments against various Australian visas, selecting the pathway that offers applicants the highest chance of success in the most time efficient and cost-effective manner.

Contact Karen to discuss your visa requirements, call 0448 304 422 or email visas@avasmigration.au