Industry Labour Agreements

Industry Labour Agreements provide Australian employers in certain industries with an established pathway to sponsor overseas workers where ongoing workforce shortages have been recognised across the sector.

Unlike a company-specific labour agreement, the core terms of an Industry Labour Agreement have already been negotiated between the Australian Government and relevant industry stakeholders. This means employers access an existing framework rather than negotiating an entirely new set of terms with the Department of Home Affairs.

The occupations, visa pathways, salary requirements, skills and experience requirements, English language requirements and any available concessions vary considerably between industries.

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Which industries have Labour Agreements?

Industry Labour Agreements are currently available for:

• Advertising

• Aged Care

• Dairy

• Fishing

• Horticulture

• Meat

• Minister of Religion

• On-hire

• Pork

• Restaurant (premium dining)

Each agreement has its own eligibility criteria and permitted occupations. Access to an Industry Labour Agreement does not mean that an employer can sponsor any occupation within that industry.

For example, the Meat Industry Labour Agreement is specifically designed around the Skilled Meat Worker occupation, while the Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement covers selected direct-care occupations. The Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement provides access to a considerably broader range of occupations relevant to horticultural businesses.

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What visas can be used under an Industry Labour Agreement?

Depending on the particular agreement and occupation, an Industry Labour Agreement may provide access to one or more employer-sponsored visa programmes, including:

• Skills in Demand (SID) visa (subclass 482)

• Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa (subclass 186)

• Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494)

Not every Industry Labour Agreement provides access to all three visa subclasses, and permanent residence pathways can be subject to transitional periods and additional requirements.

For employers planning to retain overseas workers over the longer term, it is therefore important to consider the entire sponsorship pathway rather than simply the initial temporary visa.

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Why would an employer use an Industry Labour Agreement?

An Industry Labour Agreement can be particularly useful where an employer has genuine, ongoing vacancies that are difficult to fill from the Australian labour market and the standard skilled migration programme does not adequately address the business's workforce requirements.

Depending on the relevant industry agreement, the framework may provide access to occupations or visa arrangements that would otherwise not be available under the standard employer-sponsored programme.

However, an Industry Labour Agreement should not be viewed as a way of bypassing normal sponsorship requirements. Employers still need to satisfy the requirements applying to their particular agreement, nomination and visa applications.

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Labour market testing still matters

Access to an Industry Labour Agreement does not remove the underlying expectation that Australian workers should be considered first.

Employers may need to provide evidence of labour market testing and demonstrate genuine attempts to recruit suitably qualified Australian citizens and permanent residents before seeking to fill positions with overseas workers.

For businesses considering a labour agreement as part of a larger workforce strategy, maintaining appropriate recruitment records can be important well before the first application is lodged.

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Industry-specific requirements

One of the most important aspects of Industry Labour Agreements is that the rules are not uniform.

An employer may need to satisfy requirements relating to the following:

• business eligibility and industry participation

• approved occupations

• minimum salary or market salary requirements

• qualifications and work experience

• English language ability

• labour market testing

• industry endorsement

• regional location

• employment arrangements

• pathways to permanent residence.

Some agreements also have additional industry-specific requirements.

For example, aged care providers may obtain streamlined access to the Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement, where they enter into and maintain a Memorandum of Understanding with a relevant industry union.

Employers should therefore obtain advice on the specific Industry Labour Agreement that applies to their business rather than assuming that the requirements applying to another industry will be the same.

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Industry Labour Agreement or another sponsorship pathway?

An Industry Labour Agreement is not necessarily the best option simply because a business operates within an eligible industry.

Depending on the occupation, location and circumstances of the employer, workers may potentially be sponsored through the standard Skills in Demand visa programme, an Industry Labour Agreement, a Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA), or another employer-sponsored pathway.

Where an industry is already covered by an Industry Labour Agreement, this can also affect whether an employer can access a DAMA for the same workforce requirement.

The appropriate pathway should therefore be assessed against the employer's actual vacancies, locations, occupations, salary levels and longer-term workforce requirements.

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How Konnecting can assist you

Labour agreements can become complex when an employer needs to sponsor multiple workers, use different occupations or develop a longer-term international workforce strategy.

Konnecting can assist employers with:

• assessing whether an Industry Labour Agreement is available and appropriate

• identifying eligible occupations and visa pathways

• reviewing workforce and sponsorship requirements

• preparing the labour agreement request

• advising on labour market testing and supporting evidence

• preparing employer nomination applications

• managing Skills in Demand (subclass 482), subclass 494 and subclass 186 visa applications

• planning permanent residence pathways where available

• managing ongoing sponsorship and immigration compliance.

As both an international recruitment company and Australian migration practice, Konnecting can also assist employers that need support identifying suitable overseas workers as well as managing the immigration process.

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Planning to use an Industry Labour Agreement?

If your business is experiencing persistent skills shortages, we can assess whether an existing Industry Labour Agreement provides a suitable pathway and explain the requirements that would apply to your organisation.

The first step is to review your industry, occupations, locations, proposed salaries and anticipated number of sponsored workers. From there, we can determine whether an Industry Labour Agreement or another employer-sponsored pathway is likely to be the better option.