As part of its Migration Strategy, the Federal Government is proposing to replace the current TSS visa with a new ‘Skills in Demand’ visa with three targeted pathways:
- A new Specialist Skills Pathway for any occupation except trades workers, machinery operators and drivers, and labourers earning at least $135,000 (the Specialist Skills Threshold) and no less than Australian workers in the same occupation.
- A Core Skills Pathway whereby occupations will need to be on the ‘Core Skills Occupation List’ (CSOL) which relates to occupations identified by Jobs and Skills Australia as being in shortage or where Australia has committed to providing access to our labour market in relation to that occupation through international trade agreements. Under this pathway, the salary will need to be above the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) currently set at $70,000 but due to increase on 1 July 2024.
- An Essential Skills Pathway which will become a more regulated pathway for lower paid workers with essential skills—in consultation with state and territory governments, unions.
There is no start date for the proposed changes.
As part of the consultation process, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) has now released a draft Core Skills Occupations List (CSOL (second pathway listed above) for discussion. The CSOL will determine which skills are given priority for visas under the temporary skilled migration program. JSA has divided skills into three categories:
- Confident On List: Skilled occupations the JSA Migration Model is confident should be on the CSOL.
- Targeted for consultation: Skilled occupations the JSA Migration Model suggests should be targeted for stakeholder feedback.
- Confident Off List: Skilled occupations the JSA Migration Model suggests should not be on the CSOL.
A copy of the Draft Core Skills Occupations List (CSOL) for Consultation | Jobs and Skills Australia is available for review and the JSA is inviting stakeholders to provide feedback on these occupations by Friday, 10 May 2024 5.00pm AEST. This can be provided through their online Survey with the ability to upload a separate submission.
There are a number of occupations in the IT, hospitality, financial services and entertainment industry that are on the Confident Off List that could adversely impact clients where salaries are below $135,000 pa.
We will be contacting all potentially impacted clients to discuss the implications and we can also assist with submissions for clients wanting to provide feedback to JSA.
We will continue to monitor this closely and will send further alerts as more information becomes available.
As always you should contact your Ajuria team for more information and assistance.
