What happened?
On 22 May 2018, the Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Bill 2017 and the Migration Amendment (Skilling Australians Fund) Bill 2018 received Royal Assent.
The bills introduce:
- a ‘nomination training contribution charge’ payable at time of nomination lodgement for businesses nominating employees for a Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) (Subclass 482) and Permanent Employer Nominated Scheme visas (subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme and subclass 187 Regional Skilled Migration Scheme visas)
- the legislative version of the new labour market testing policy, including some key changes to the new policy.
Please note that this legislation is not yet in effect. The implementation date will be fixed by Proclamation, or alternatively on 22 November 2018 (whichever is earliest). As soon as we have more information about the date of implementation, we will advise.
What are the details?
Nomination Training Contribution Charge (Skilling Australians Fund Levy)
The Department has previously advised that the amount of the training levy will be dependent on the size of the organisation and whether a temporary or permanent employer nominated visa is being lodged:
Organisation size |
TSS Visa |
ENS/RMS |
Small (annual turnover less than $10 million) |
$1200 per year or part thereof |
$3000 one-off |
Other |
$1800 per year or part thereof |
$5000 one-off |
Please note that this charge is in addition to the standard government lodgement fees for nominations.
Labour Market Testing – Key Changes
The new Labour Market Testing policy that has been in place since 18 March 2018 will be amended so that:
- The advertising must occur within four months of the date of lodgement of the nomination (it was previously 12 months).
- Advertising must be in place for a total of at least four weeks instead of the current 21 days
The legislation also flags that a legislative instrument will be introduced that will describe the exact requirements to be met for labour market testing. It is likely that this will include the current requirements already in place under policy, namely:
- The position must be advertised in Australia;
- The advertisement must be in English and include:
- The title or description of the position
- The name of the approved sponsor or recruitment agency
- The annual earnings (a range is acceptable
- The advertisement must be published in at least two places, on either:
- A national recruitment website
- National print media
- National radio
- For accredited sponsors: the business’ website
- Based on the new requirements, the advertisement must be live for at least 4 weeks, within 4 months of the date of lodgement of the nomination.
How does this impact me?
If there is a possibility that your company will need to hire a person who is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you need to be aware of the advertising requirements for lodging a TSS or a ENS/RSMS visa.
We recommend that your HR areas incorporate these requirements for all advertising for staff going forward, to ensure you have the flexibility to hire the best candidate for the role, and are not restricted to Australia citizen/permanent resident candidates only.
More information?
If you have any questions or are interested in more information about these changes and how they impact your organisation, please contact a member of our Migration Team.