Labour Agreement — Employer Request to Enter a Labour Agreement
An online application submitted by an employer through ImmiAccount requesting the Department of Home Affairs to enter into a labour agreement, which allows the employer to sponsor overseas workers outside standard skilled migration caps for sectors such as aged care, meat processing, and horticulture.
Issuing authority
Department of Home Affairs
Official source
immi.homeaffairs.gov.auCost
Free (no application fee for the labour agreement request itself; subsequent nomination fees and SAF levy apply per worker nominated)
How to apply
- Identify the appropriate labour agreement type: Industry Labour Agreement (ILA) for sectors such as aged care, meat, dairy, fishing, or horticulture; Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) for regional businesses; Company-Specific Labour Agreement (CSLA) for individual employer arrangements; or Project Agreement for infrastructure/construction
- For Industry Labour Agreements (e.g. aged care): negotiate and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the relevant union(s) — this is a mandatory prerequisite that must accompany the application
- For DAMA: obtain endorsement from the relevant Designated Area Representative (state/territory authority) before lodging
- Demonstrate a genuine labour market need by documenting that no standard visa pathway exists for the required roles and that local recruitment has been exhausted
- Log into ImmiAccount and complete the online labour agreement request form, uploading all supporting evidence (MoU for ILA, business case, market salary data, union endorsement or DAR endorsement as applicable)
- Note: there is currently a known system issue in ImmiAccount on page 18 of the ILA form requiring a 'stakeholder consultation' field — enter 'n/a' unless applying for an Aged Care ILA (which requires the union MoU)
- The Department of Home Affairs will assess the request; processing typically takes up to 6 months — respond to any information requests within 7–14 days
- If approved, sign and return the executed agreement within 4 weeks; the labour agreement is valid for 5 years and enables nominations under subclass 482 (labour agreement stream), subclass 494, and subclass 186 (labour agreement stream)
- Once the agreement is in place, lodge individual worker nominations through ImmiAccount under the labour agreement stream, after which workers can apply for the relevant visa subclass
Related topics
labour agreement Australiaemployer labour agreement requestindustry labour agreementaged care labour agreementmeat processing labour agreementDAMA designated area migration agreementcompany specific labour agreementCSLA applicationImmiAccount labour agreementsubclass 482 labour agreement streamsubclass 186 labour agreementoverseas worker agreement Australiaskilled migration outside capsDepartment of Home Affairs labour agreement
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