Booklet 5 - Department of Immigration & Citizenship

Agreement stream
A labour agreement is a formal agreement between an Australian employer and the Australian
government which allows for the recruitment of a specifi ed number of skilled workers from overseas in
response to identifi ed skills shortages in the Australian labour market.
A labour agreement is designed to ensure that overseas recruitment supports the longer term
improvement of employment and training opportunities for Australians. Employers are required to make
commitments to the employment, education, training and career opportunities of Australians as part of
the agreement. Employers must also demonstrate there is a genuine employer-employee relationship.
A labour agreement can include the permanent resident visa ENS subclass 186 visa or RSMS
subclass 187 visa, as well as the temporary resident subclass 457 Business (Long Stay) visa. The
information in this booklet only relates to the permanent resident visa subclasses.
An employer wishing to enter into a labour agreement will be asked to provide information including:
18 Employer Sponsored Migration
• the background of the company
• the benefi ts the agreement will provide to Australia
• the types of occupation and skill level sought
• evidence of skills shortage
• the level of English language skills required to perform the work;
• salary and work conditions
• the employer’s training programs.
People who are currently on the SkillSelect database may be nominated by an employer under a labour
agreement.
The negotiation period for a labour agreement can be around 6 months. The agreement comes into effect
when it has been signed by all parties involved with the negotiations.
A Centre of Excellence located in Perth, Melbourne or Sydney will process all employer nominations
and visa applications lodged under a labour agreement. The employer will be notifi ed which Centre of
Excellence will be responsible for their Labour Agreement.
In the case of a labour agreements, nominations will be assessed against the criteria specifi ed in the
relevant labour agreement.