Additional Requirements for Labour Agreement Stream Nominations – SESR Visa Subclass 494

Employers sponsoring workers under the Labour Agreement (LA) stream of the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (SESR) visa subclass 494 must satisfy all of the general nomination requirements covered earlier, plus a number of additional obligations that are specific to this stream. Here is a straightforward breakdown of what those extra requirements involve.

The Nominated Occupation Must Be Specified in the Labour Agreement

The first and most fundamental additional requirement is that the occupation being nominated must be explicitly listed in the executed labour agreement as one that the sponsor is permitted to nominate. This is not a discretionary check — if the occupation does not appear in the agreement, the nomination cannot proceed. Decision makers are required to verify this against the terms of the signed agreement as well as the relevant system information.

Additional Labour Agreement Requirements Must Be Met

Beyond the occupation check, any other specific requirements set out in the labour agreement itself must also be satisfied before the nomination can be approved. Labour agreements are individually negotiated, which means the conditions can vary from one agreement to another. Decision makers are responsible for reviewing both the system records and the specific terms of each agreement to confirm that all conditions have been met.

When it comes to Labour Market Testing (LMT), the same requirements that apply to other SESR streams generally apply to the LA stream as well, unless the agreement states otherwise. For employers operating under a Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA), the LMT requirements are the same as those for standalone labour agreements.

However, there are some important distinctions for Category 2 and Category 3 regions under DAMA arrangements. In these cases, LMT must demonstrate at least two genuine attempts to recruit Australian workers, and the advertising must have taken place within the 12 months before the nomination is lodged — rather than the standard four-month window that applies to other nominations.

For Category 3 regions specifically, there is some added flexibility around how LMT evidence can be provided. Sponsors in these regions may satisfy the requirement with:

• One advertisement with national reach, and
• One local advertisement — such as on the company's own website or through local media

While Workforce Australia is recommended as an advertising platform in these cases, it is not mandatory.

Nomination Ceilings Must Not Be Exceeded

Another requirement unique to the LA stream is that the total number of approved nominations for a particular occupation cannot exceed the occupation-specific ceiling set out in the labour agreement. In other words, each labour agreement places a cap on how many workers can be nominated in each occupation for any given period, and that cap must not be breached.

In practice, system controls are generally in place to prevent this from happening automatically, but decision makers are still required to verify manually that the ceiling has not been reached before approving any nomination.