Understanding Labour Market Testing (With Advertising Example!)

What’s New?

Recently, the Australian Government made changes to the requirements of local businesses looking to sponsor non-Australians into skilled positions. One such change was further clarification in terms of the kinds of advertising it expects businesses to have conducted seeking to fill the position with Australian workers prior to submitting a Sponsorship application for a foreign worker. This is otherwise known as the Labour Market Testing requirement.
 
Where Should you Advertise?

Accordingly, Australian businesses will now need to demonstrate the following in relation to the position they wish to fill with a non-Australian worker:

What Should the Advertisements Say?

In order to meet DHA requirements, the advertisements should provide the following information:

• be in English
• the title, or a description, of the position;
• the name of the approved sponsor or the name of the recruitment agency being used by the sponsor; and
• the annual earnings for the position (unless the annual earnings will be greater than the Fair Work High Income Threshold, currently AUD 142,000);

 
How Long Should it Run For?

Under DHA policy, for online advertisements, it is expected that the advertisement would have remained live for at least 21 consecutive days. Similarly, for print or radio advertisements, it is expected that applications or expressions of interests were accepted for at least 21 consecutive days. That being said, further upcoming changes are likely to extend this period to 28 days (watch this space).

Do You Have an Example?
 
We sure do! Please see below for a template/example that you can use in your advertisements.

I Have Already Advertised. Can I Use It?

As long as your advertisement is similar to the example provided above and was placed within 12 months of lodging the Nomination, this may be acceptable. However, as eluded to above, further changes in the pipeline are likely to reduce this to advertisements having to have been placed within 4 months of lodging your application.
 
Accordingly, given the ever continuing changes surrounding this are of immigration law, we would encourage you to seek professional advice prior to submitting your application.

Is Anyone Exempt?

Due to current International Trade Obligations, exemptions do exist in certain cases. This blog will not necessarily summarize all of the exemptions under the relevant Legislative Instrument, however for the benefit of most of our readers, we can confirm that nominees who are Citizens/Nationals of China, Japan or Thailand as well as Citizens/Nationals/Permanent Residents of Chile, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore will be exempt under current rules (i.e. if you are one of the above, your employer will not be required to meet Labour Market Testing requirements in order to sponsor you).

Looking for Help?
 
If you have any questions relating to the LMT requirement and how to ensure your businesses satisfies these new requirements, please feel free to leave an online enquiry here.

​Salvo Migration