Sponsored Visa Red Tape Leaves Regional Employers Struggling: Law Council

The Law Council of Australia has told a parliamentary inquiry that the rules governing sponsored work visas have become so rigid they are doing little to protect Australian jobs, while making it harder for regional and small employers to fill genuine skill gaps.

Appearing before the Joint Standing Committee on Migration’s inquiry into the value of skilled migration, Carina Ford, co-chair of the Law Council’s Migration Law Committee, and senior policy lawyer Alan Freckelton took aim at “labour market testing” (LMT)—the rule requiring employers to advertise a job locally, usually for four months, before sponsoring someone from overseas.

“There is a sense of a box-ticking exercise in some cases. An employer may have been advertising for a considerable period longer than they actually have to … [but] that advertising is considered to be defective because they offer $5 less than … the necessary salary, or they haven’t been advertising in quite the right areas,” Freckelton told the Committee.

He added that the focus should be “whether the employer has made a genuine attempt to engage Australian citizens or permanent residents in the position.”

Ford went further, saying the advertising requirement rarely prevents rorts. She said a separate assessment is instead used to determine whether the position itself is genuinely needed.

The Council’s written submission (pdf) wants employers given more time and flexibility to advertise, while also calling for the rule to be dropped altogether for occupations already confirmed as facing national shortages.

New Visa Direction Fails Regional Employers

The Council also raised concerns about a new rule, Ministerial Direction 119, which changes the priority order in which visa applications are processed. It took effect in July and, for the first time, covers the main sponsored-work visa.

Ford said the changes had pushed regional employers to the back of the queue, with the government no longer prioritising regional employer-sponsored visa applications despite labour shortages in many parts of regional Australia.

She also said processing times had slowed for workers applying from overseas and that the government had introduced the changes without consultation.

Ford and Freckelton said the Core Skills Occupation List, which determines eligibility for the visa’s primary stream, was assessed against national demand. This can exclude occupations experiencing shortages in regional areas, but not nationally, including construction and medical workers.

The submission also noted that the Essential Skills Pathway, meant to cover hard-to-fill jobs like aged care, childcare and truck driving, remains unopened more than two years after it was announced.

Ford proposed a new pathway to let migrant workers already in Australia undertake formal trade apprenticeships with a route to permanent residency.

“It then needs to have an opportunity to transfer to permanent residency because otherwise it’s going to defeat the purpose of it,” she said.

Smaller Employers Disadvantaged by Visa Costs

Cost was the other recurring theme, with Ford saying smaller businesses are disadvantaged because visa charges are the same regardless of the size of the business.

His comment was echoed by Freckelton who said some small employers “just can’t afford the upfront costs” of sponsoring even one worker they badly need.

The Council also urged a bipartisan public campaign explaining why Australia needs skilled migrants, warning that debate has narrowed to simply cutting the headline migration number.

Freckelton said the focus should be on “why we need immigration of various kinds,” not treating it “purely as a numbers exercise.”

Freckelton’s comments came as Australia has seen a drop in migration amid public pressure.

Net overseas migration fell to 306,000 in the 2024-25 financial year, down from 429,000 the previous year, driven largely by fewer temporary and student arrivals rather than a decline in skilled migration, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

A separate report published in May estimated that barriers to recognising migrants’ overseas qualifications cost the economy $104 billion a year in lost productivity.