About this Program

Labour Agreements are formal arrangements between an employer and the Commonwealth which allows for the recruitment of an agreed number of overseas skilled workers. Both temporary and permanent visas can be granted under the agreement. Agreements are generally effective for two to three years.

Who is this program for?

Situations where an employer may consider accessing a Labour Agreement include:

• occupations that are not on the list of approved occupations for the Temporary Business (Long Stay) subclass 457 visa, permanent Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) or Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme yet a genuine skills shortage exists or occupations are not covered under the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO)
• where a business recruits labour for the supply to an unrelated business and/or the hiring of labour to unrelated businesses
  See: Labour agreement arrangements for the on-hire industry
• meat companies - there are special arrangements for sponsoring skilled meat workers including for permanent residence.
  See: Subclass 855 – Labour Agreement Visa

What does this program let me do?

This program allows you to employ a number of overseas workers on temporary and/or permanent visas.

Temporary Visa

This visa allows people you employ from overseas to:

• work in Australia for up to four years
• bring any eligible secondary applicants with them to Australia - secondary applicants can work and study
• after entering Australia, travel in and out of Australia an unlimited number of times.

Permanent Visa

This visa allows people you employ from overseas, and any dependent family members included in their visa application, to live as permanent residents in Australia.

Australian permanent residents can:

• live and work in Australia on a permanent basis
• study in Australia at school or university
• receive subsidised healthcare through Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
• access certain social security payments (subject to waiting periods)
• be eligible for Australian citizenship (subject to the residency eligibility criteria)
• sponsor people for permanent residence.