The labour market testing (LMT) requirement is a critical part of the subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa process.
As many are now well aware, in 2020 an additional requirement was introduced for businesses to advertise on the government JobActive website.
From 4 July, ‘Workplace Australia’ will replace JobActive as the Department of Education, Skills and Employment’s employment service.
The LMT requirement to advertise on the Jobactive platform will change to the Workforce Australia platform as a result.
The Department of Home Affairs will also provide suitable transitional arrangements so that employers who advertise on Jobactive prior to 4 July 2022 will not be disadvantaged.
Specific details about how the transition will take place are not yet known, but we would expect that existing ads on JobActive would migrate to Workplace Australia, and the JobActive website will redirect users to the new platform to avoid any confusion.
We will keep clients updated accordingly. In the meantime, further information about this new system can be found here: https://www.dese.gov.au/workforce-australia
As a reminder, to satisfy the LMT requirement, employers must advertise the role they wish to nominate on three national recruitment websites for at least 28 days in the four months prior to the nomination being lodged (including the JobActive – soon to be Workplace Australia – website).
The job ads must include:
- the title, or a description, of the position (ideally both);
- the skills or experience required for the position;
- the name of the approved sponsor;
- the salary for the position (if below $96,400).
If at the end of the LMT period no Australian was found to fill the role, a foreign national can be offered the role and visa sponsorship.
There is no discretion with assessment of the LMT requirement. If it is not satisfied in full at the time the business nomination is lodged, the nomination will be refused. The nomination must be submitted with copies of the ads as they appeared online, and evidence of their post-date and duration as well as details of how many people applied and how many were offered roles (or if none, why not).
Limited exemptions apply, such as where the nominated person is:
- to receive a salary above AUD $250,000.
- an intra-company transfer (i.e. transferring to Australia from an associated entity overseas);
- a citizen of a WTO member country and has worked in Australia for the sponsor on a continuous, full-time basis for two years;
- citizen/national of China, Japan, Mexico, Thailand or Vietnam or a citizen/national/permanent resident of Canada, Chile, Korea, New Zealand or Singapore
