Nomination Eligibility

The sponsor must lodge a nomination to employ domestic workers in their household. The nomination must provide details of the position and the experience required by the overseas person who will fill the position.

Nomination requirements

To nominate a position the sponsor should:

• have been approved as a domestic worker sponsor
  or
• have already lodged an application to become an approved domestic worker sponsor.

For the nomination to be approved:

• it must identify the experience required to undertake the duties of the nominated position
• it must identify the nominated person and show that their experience is suitable to perform the duties of the nominated position
• it must demonstrate compelling reasons to employ the nominated person
• labour market testing must have been undertaken unless the reasons to employ the nominated person are so compelling as to warrant waiving this requirement
• the position must be for a full-time domestic worker in the sponsor's private household
• the nominated person must be 18 years or older
• no more than three domestic workers can be sponsored at any one time.

Salary or wages

The salary or wages payable to the primary sponsored person in relation to the proposed work is required to be in accordance with Australian labour laws and practices.

If there is no award, and it is not a volunteer position, the primary sponsored person is to receive at least the minimum Federal award rate.

Labour market testing

The sponsor must undertake Labour Market Testing (LMT) in order to show that they have been unable to find a suitable person in Australia for the relevant position unless they can demonstrate sufficiently compelling reasons for employing the nominated person for this requirement to be waived.

The sponsor is required to:

• lodge the vacancy with a job placement provider for national listing for a minimum of four weeks during the eight weeks before lodging the application, or
• obtain a waiver of this requirement from a job placement service provider, and
• advertise the vacancy in a Saturday and a weekday edition of both a metropolitan and a national daily newspaper (a total of four separate advertisements), or
• if the business is outside major metropolitan areas, advertise the vacancy in both the Saturday edition and a weekday edition of both a major local or regional and a national daily newspaper (a total of four separate advertisements), and
• advertise the vacancy through other appropriate means.
  Example: In trade or professional journals, private employment agencies or union consultations. Advertisements in local community language newspapers may also be appropriate.

Advertisements must accurately reflect the duties of the position, salary and other benefits offered and they must be prominently displayed to attract as big a response as possible.

Original advertisements, evidence that they have appeared in the last six months, details of all local applicants including whether they were Australian citizens or permanent residents, and reasons for non-suitability of the applicants must be provided.

Supporting documentation

The sponsor should provide the following:

• evidence of labour market testing and/or compelling reasons to employ the nominated person
• evidence that the employment to be undertaken is in the sponsor's private household and consists of duties which are normally attributable to a full-time position. The evidence may take the form of an Employment Agreement between the sponsor and the nominated person and should:
  • detail the duties of the position of domestic worker in the household
  • indicate that the proposed employment will provide the nominated person with full-time employment as a domestic worker
  • state that the duties are connected with the sponsor's household only
  • be signed by both the sponsor and the nominated person.

 

Before lodging an application, please read all related eligibility requirements.
See: Other eligibility