Australian Labour Agreements

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

Labour agreements are developed between the Australian Government represented by the Department of Home Affairs (the department) and employers. They are generally in effect for five years and provide for visas to be granted under one or both of the following visa programs:

There are five types of labour agreements:

There are nine industry agreements in place:

dairy
fishing
meat
minister of religion
on-hire
pork
restaurant (fine dining)
advertising
horticulture

Steps in the process:

Step	Action
1	Read Information about requesting a labour agreement (114KB PDF) and determine if you meet the minimum requirements and are in a position to lodge an online request for a labour agreement with all required supporting documentation.
2	Lodge your labour agreement request online using the Labour Agreement Request form in ImmiAccount. If you don’t have an ImmiAccount you will need to create one – ImmiAccount.
3	Attach required supporting documentation to your online Labour Agreement request.

On receipt of a complete labour agreement request:

The department will assess the information you have provided and advise you of the outcome.
If they are satisfied and approve your request for a labour agreement, they will send you a labour agreement document for review and signature.
When you and all parties have the signed the document and returned it, the labour agreement comes into effect. The department will send you a copy of confirmation when the agreement is in effect.

If you already have an existing labour agreement in place and you wish to renew it, you will need to lodge a new labour agreement request in ImmiAccount.

If you would like to make a change to your existing labour agreement email the department quoting your current PRID.

Ensure that you lodge your request and allow for at least three months in advance. Failing to do so may result in the cessation of your current agreement before a new agreement is approved.

Assessment process:

Labour agreements are assessed on a case by case basis and actual processing times can vary due to individual circumstances however may take up to 6 months. Additional time may be taken depending on:

whether you have lodged a complete application, including all necessary supporting documents
how quickly you respond to any requests for more information

If a request for further information is received, you have 7 to 14 calendar days to respond.

If the labour agreement is approved and it is in effect, you can sponsor workers from overseas on their visa application. The labour agreement usually lasts for up to 5 years.

Any nominations or visa decisions cannot be made until a decision is made on the labour agreement request.

Note: Processing times listed on the website and in ImmiAccount are for visa subclasses only—not for labour agreements.

Labour agreement sponsor obligations:

The labour agreement will tell you the number of workers from overseas you can nominate in each year for the first 3 years. It will also tell you which visas allow you to sponsor workers from overseas.

As the employer, you need to complete a nomination application for a worker from overseas through ImmiAccount. The worker then puts in their individual visa application. You must meet all labour agreement and visa requirements for the whole time of the agreement and the visa

Requesting a change:

You can ask for a change to the number of workers from overseas you nominate in any year of your agreement by writing to us. You will need to provide the following information with your request:

an updated workforce plan, including any retrenchment or redundancies of Australian workers
evidence of all recruitment activities in the immediate 6 months before your request
evidence of salary for each occupation in your agreement for an Australian employee and an overseas worker

Copies of labour agreement templates:

For company specific templates, the agreement template is below – noting that it will be adapted dependant on negotiations with the relevant employer.

Labour agreement template – Company Specific (228KB PDF)

Industry labour agreement templates are as follows:

Note: Templates for DAMA or Project labour agreement are not available on the departments’ website.

For assistance with your Labour Agreements and finding employees to fill them Contact us for a confidential discussion.

Australian Labour Agreements – All You Need To Know

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