Labour Market Testing
in Australia
What the law actually requires of an employer-sponsored nomination, where nominations come unstuck, and the labour market testing report we run end to end — advertising, applicant assessment and the evidence the delegate works through.
What labour market testing is
Labour market testing is the statutory requirement that an Australian employer show it tried to fill a position locally before sponsoring an overseas worker. It sits in section 140GBA of the Migration Act 1958, and the detail — how long, how recently, in what form — is set by a legislative instrument, LIN 18/036.
It is a nomination requirement, not a visa requirement. It is the employer who must satisfy it, at the point the nomination is lodged, and a nomination that fails it is refused however strong the nominee.
The thing most often missed is what the test is actually about. Advertising is the method; it is not the requirement. The requirement is that the delegate be satisfied, on the evidence, that no suitably qualified and experienced person is readily available to fill the position — and that means two groups, not one: Australian citizens and permanent residents, and eligible temporary visa holders. A submission that addresses only Australians answers half the question.
The test is availability, not advertising. You can advertise impeccably and still be refused, because running the advertisement proves the process, not the conclusion. What discharges the test is the reasoning about who applied and why none of them could do the job.
Which nominations need it — and which do not
The requirement attaches to nominations made under section 140GB of the Act. That is why the answer differs sharply between the temporary and permanent programs.
| Nomination | Labour market testing |
|---|---|
| Subclass 482 Skills in Demand — Core Skills | Required |
| Subclass 482 Skills in Demand — Specialist Skills | Required |
| Subclass 494 — Employer Sponsored | Required |
| Subclass 482 / 494 — Labour Agreement | Only where the labour agreement says so |
| Subclass 186 ENS — Direct Entry | Not required |
| Subclass 186 ENS — Temporary Residence Transition | Not required |
Subclass 186 does not require labour market testing — either stream. This surprises people, because the permanent visa feels like the heavier process. The reason is structural: 186 nominations are approved under regulation 5.19 of the Migration Regulations rather than under section 140GB of the Act, so section 140GBA never attaches to them. A 186 Direct Entry nomination has its own demanding criteria — a Core Skills Occupation List occupation, three years of experience, a skills assessment — but advertising is not among them.
The advertising rules in force
These are the current requirements under LIN 18/036 for a standard nomination. They have been stable since 11 December 2023.
| Requirement | What the instrument says |
|---|---|
| How many advertisements | At least two |
| How long | Applications accepted for at least four weeks, continuously |
| How recent | Within the four months ending on the day the nomination is lodged |
| Where | Published in Australia |
| Language | English |
| Who places it | The sponsor, or someone the sponsor authorised — a recruiter or an associated entity is fine |
Four months, not six
The Government’s own Migration Strategy proposed extending labour market testing validity from four months to six. It never happened, and it cannot be done quietly: section 140GBA(4) of the Act caps the testing period at four months before the nomination is received, so six months would take an amendment to the Act, not to the instrument. Anyone telling you that you have six months is working from the announcement rather than the law.
There is one real exception, and it is widely described for the wrong reason. Under a labour agreement or DAMA, testing evidence can generally be up to twelve months old at lodgement — because a labour agreement’s testing obligation attaches under regulation 2.76A(1), on an unquantified “recent and genuine efforts” standard, rather than under section 140GBA. It is a concession set by the published labour agreement guidelines and by each head agreement, and it is not a Category 2 rule: Western Australia, which splits its state into Category 2 and Category 3, states the twelve-month window once for both. Each designated area representative’s own published criteria govern.
Two advertisements no longer means three
Until 11 December 2023 a nomination also needed an advertisement on the Government’s employment service, Workforce Australia — three advertisements in total. That requirement was removed. Two qualifying advertisements is the rule now, and it has been for some time, though the three-advertisement version still circulates.
Advertising on Workforce Australia is still perfectly sensible — we do it as standard — but it counts toward the two only if the platform meets the test in its own right.
What each advertisement must contain
Four elements, on the face of the advertisement:
Title or description of the position One advertisement may cover several positions.
Skills or experience required What the position actually calls for, not a restatement of the occupation.
Name of the sponsor Or of the recruitment agency acting for them.
Salary, where earnings are below A$96,400 A range is expressly acceptable — the Department’s own example is “AUD80,000 to AUD90,000”.
The salary threshold catches people out
A$96,400 has never been indexed. It has sat unchanged since 2018 while the income thresholds moved every July, and the gap now produces a clean practical split: a Core Skills nomination sits below it, so the advertisement must state salary, while a Specialist Skills nomination sits above it, so salary may be omitted.
What is not required, despite what you may have read
The instrument does not require the advertisement to set out the duties of the position, and does not require it to state the location. Both are good practice and both appear in every advertisement we run, but neither is a legislated content element — and an otherwise compliant advertisement is not defective for omitting them.
Where the advertising may be placed
At least two advertisements, on or in one or more of: a recruitment website with national reach in Australia; national print media; national radio; or, if the sponsor is an accredited sponsor, the sponsor’s own website. That last concession is real and under-used — accredited sponsors can satisfy one of the two advertisements from their own careers page.
| Platform | Position |
|---|---|
| National recruitment websites | Acceptable |
| Industry-specific job boards | Acceptable where in significant use by the industry |
| LinkedIn recruitment platform | Acceptable — but not a vacancy visible only to LinkedIn members |
| National print, published at least monthly | Acceptable |
| The sponsor’s own website | Only if the sponsor is an accredited sponsor |
| General classifieds sites | Not acceptable |
| Social media posts alone | Not acceptable |
The timing trap: four weeks has to be continuous
This is the single most expensive mistake in labour market testing, and it is invisible until the nomination is assessed.
The four weeks must be continuous. Two or more advertisements can be added together to reach it, but only where they overlap — each advertisement has to share a day with the next. Two tidy fortnight-long advertisements run back to back, one finishing on the Friday and the next starting on the Monday, do not make four weeks. They make two fortnights, and the nomination fails.
Worked example. Advertisement A runs 1–14 March. Advertisement B runs 15–28 March. That is twenty-eight days of advertising and it does not satisfy the requirement, because there is no overlapping day. Run B from 14 March instead and the two periods join — the shared day is counted once, and the run is continuous.
What the Department actually wants to see
There is a gap here that explains most refusals, and it is worth understanding before you assemble a file.
The instrument itself asks for very little: copies of the advertising material. It does not require receipts, proof of fees paid, applicant lists or interview notes. But the delegate has a separate and harder job — being satisfied that nobody suitable was readily available. Copies of advertisements cannot discharge that on their own once applications have come in.
So the evidence that decides a nomination is wider than the evidence the instrument names:
Copies of each advertisement, showing all four required elements
Publication dates and platform, proving the four months and the continuous four weeks — and the overlap, where periods are being added together
Enough about the platform to show it meets the national-reach test
Every applicant, assessed against the requirements of the occupation, with the specific respect in which they fell short
Any redundancies or retrenchments in the four months before lodgement
For a position using one of the alternative pathways, the written submission in place of advertising
Assess applicants against the position, never against the nominee. The question is whether a suitably qualified Australian or eligible temporary visa holder was available — not whether the nominee was the better candidate. Reasoning that compares the two answers a question nobody asked, and reads as though the outcome was decided first.
Redundancies change the timing
If an Australian citizen or permanent resident was made redundant or retrenched from the nominated occupation — in the business or an associated entity — in the four months before lodgement, two things follow. The advertising must have been run after those redundancies, and the redundancies must be disclosed with the nomination.
Advertising that predates the redundancy cannot be fixed by explanation. It has to be run again. This is why we ask the question on the intake form rather than discovering it later.
Exemptions, and the things that look like exemptions
International trade obligations
Labour market testing does not apply where it would conflict with Australia’s international trade obligations — broadly, where the nominee is a citizen or national of a country Australia has the relevant agreement with, where they are an existing employee of an associated entity overseas, or where a senior executive is being moved to run Australian operations.
Two carve-outs matter more than the lists: these exemptions never apply to a Subclass 494 nomination, or to any labour agreement nomination. A UK or Japanese national nominated under a 494 still needs full testing.
Occupation and skill exemptions: there are none
The old Subclass 457 occupation-based exemptions are gone and were not carried into the 482 or 494 programs. The Act still contains the power to exempt by occupation or skill level, and to exempt in a major disaster, but no instrument has ever been made under either. In practice, assume there is no exemption for your occupation, however senior.
Alternative requirements are not exemptions
A handful of positions replace advertising with a written submission — an internationally recognised record of achievement, an intra-corporate transfer, a re-nomination where only earnings or business structure changed, annual earnings of A$250,000 or more, and most medical practitioners and paramedics. The obligation does not disappear; the way you discharge it changes, and the submission has to do real work.
Note that General Practitioners are specifically carved out of the medical practitioner pathway. A GP nomination advertises like any other.
How we run labour market testing
Zeolla Solutions runs the whole process, not the paperwork at the end of it. That is the difference between a report that describes a campaign and a report built out of one.
We write the advertisement so the four content elements are satisfied on its face. We place it and we run it — Workforce Australia and CareerOne as standard, with SEEK as an upgrade — and we capture the evidence as it runs, dated at the time, rather than reconstructing screenshots afterwards from a campaign that has already closed. As applications arrive we assess each one against the occupation and record it. When the advertising period ends, the report is substantially written.
You are not asked to supply advertising details, interviewer contacts or selection reasoning. We do the job end to end: the advertisement, the resume assessment, the interviews where a candidate meets the criteria, and the report.
What the report contains
Position and occupation analysis, with the duties mapped to the ANZSCO unit group the nomination relies on — the edition in force on 23 November 2022, which is what a 482 or 494 nomination is classified against
The advertisement text as published, with dated screenshots of each platform
An advertising compliance table — platform, dates, duration, content elements and the salary as advertised — set against each statutory requirement
Every applicant assessed, with their application evidenced by screenshot and their suitability reasoned against the occupation
A shortlist table where an applicant warranted further consideration, and why the process ended where it did
The redundancy and retrenchment position for the four months before lodgement
Any exemption or alternative pathway claimed, and the basis for it
A findings table against each testing requirement, and a conclusion that follows from the evidence rather than being asserted after it
Timing and price
Because we run the advertising, the clock is the advertising period the visa requires rather than our drafting time: 28 days of advertising, plus up to five working days for interviews where a candidate meets the criteria. The report is written as the campaign runs, so it is finished when the testing is.
A labour market testing report is A$1,150 incl GST on Workforce Australia and CareerOne, or A$1,750 with SEEK added. Where it is ordered with a Genuine Position report and a Market Salary report, the package price applies automatically. If you have a lodgement date in mind, say so on the form and we will confirm before you pay whether it can be met.
General information, current at October 2026. This page explains the labour market testing requirements as they stand and how we document them. Zeolla Solutions prepares migration documentation, research and reports — we are not a law practice and this is not immigration advice. Your registered migration agent or lawyer advises on your matter; we build the evidence.
Labour Market Test (LMT) Report
Complete the form and you receive a case reference immediately. Nothing is payable until we confirm scope and price in writing.
Common questions
What is labour market testing?
Labour market testing is the requirement that an Australian employer demonstrate it tried to fill a position locally before sponsoring an overseas worker. It applies at the nomination stage under section 140GBA of the Migration Act, and the detail is set by legislative instrument LIN 18/036. The employer must satisfy it, not the visa applicant.
How many job advertisements are required?
At least two. Until 11 December 2023 a third advertisement on Workforce Australia was also required; that requirement was removed, so two qualifying advertisements is the current rule.
How long does the advertising have to run?
Applications or expressions of interest must be accepted for at least four weeks, continuously. Two or more advertisements can be added together to reach four weeks only where they overlap — back-to-back advertisements with no shared day do not count.
How recent does the advertising have to be?
It must fall within the four months ending on the day the nomination is lodged. It is four months, not six: the Migration Act itself caps the period at four months, so the extension to six that was announced in the Migration Strategy would require an amendment to the Act. The exception is a labour agreement or DAMA nomination, where testing evidence can generally be up to twelve months old — a concession under the labour agreement program rather than a change to the Act, set by each head agreement, and not a Category 2 rule. Check the designated area representative’s own published criteria.
Does a Subclass 186 nomination need labour market testing?
No — neither the Direct Entry nor the Temporary Residence Transition stream. Subclass 186 nominations are approved under regulation 5.19 of the Migration Regulations rather than under section 140GB of the Act, so the labour market testing condition does not attach to them.
Do I still have to advertise on Workforce Australia?
No. It stopped being mandatory on 11 December 2023. We still advertise there as standard because it is a sound platform for the evidence, but it counts toward the required two only if it meets the national-reach test in its own right.
Does the advertisement have to state the salary?
Only where annual earnings for the position are below A$96,400. A salary range is acceptable. Because that figure has never been indexed, a Core Skills nomination will almost always sit below it and must state salary, while a Specialist Skills nomination sits above it and may omit it.
What if nobody applies?
That is a result, and a good one for the nomination. The report evidences the advertising, records the nil response and reaches the conclusion the evidence supports. Nil response is far easier to document than a strong field.
Do you assess applicants against the nominee?
No. The test is whether a suitably qualified and experienced Australian citizen or permanent resident — or eligible temporary visa holder — is readily available for the position. Each applicant is assessed against the requirements of the occupation, never against the nominee.
What happens if labour market testing is not met?
The nomination is refused. The nomination fee and the Skilling Australians Fund levy are not refunded, the visa application falls with it, and the position has to be advertised again from the beginning — which is four more weeks before a fresh nomination can be lodged.
Often ordered with this
Genuine Position (GP) Report
The position, the business, the organisational structure and the tasks mapped to the ANZSCO unit group, with the findings table against the Department considerations.
Market Salary Rate (AMSR) Report
Comparable advertised roles, Jobs and Skills Australia, ABS and remuneration survey data and the applicable award, assembled into an annual market salary range and a recommended rate.
Migration Report Package (LMT + GP + AMSR)
All three reports for one nomination, written together so the position, the salary and the testing evidence tell a single consistent story.
FromEvery Service, Every Price
All seventeen services with their prices and intake forms sit on one page.