What is Labour Market Testing？

Labour Market Testing (LMT) is a regulatory measure mandated by the Australian government to safeguard the interests of the domestic workforce. Its primary objective is to ensure that Australian employers exhaust all avenues to recruit local talent before turning to overseas workers to fill skilled positions. By implementing LMT, the Australian government aims to prioritize the employment of Australian citizens and permanent residents, thereby fostering a robust and sustainable labour market. Labour market testing (LMT) generally involves advertising the position in Australia.

TSS visa (subclass 482) Short-term stream and Medium-term stream and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) Employer Sponsored stream labour market testing

When sponsors nominate an applicant they must provide a copy of the advertising material used to advertise the position (that is, copies of all advertisements that meet the advertising requirements).

For most nominations, the position must have been advertised for at least four weeks within the four month period immediately prior to lodging the nomination application. If an Australian citizen or permanent resident worker has been made redundant or retrenched from the nominated occupation within 4 months before lodging the nomination application, the advertising must have occurred since the date of the redundancy or retrenchment.

Note: information about these redundancies or retrenchments must also be provided with the nomination.

In addition, the advertising of the nominated position must meet all of the requirements below:

• the advertisement was in Australia, in English and included the following information:
  • the title, or a description, of the position (multiple positions in one advertisement is acceptable)
  • the skills or experience required for the position
  • the name of the approved sponsor or the name of the recruitment agency being used by the sponsor
  • the salary for the position – if the annual earnings for the position are lower than AUD96,400 (it is acceptable to publish a salary range, for example, AUD80,000 to AUD90,000).
• at least 2 advertisements were published in any of the below:
  • on a prominent or professional recruitment website with national reach that publishes advertisements for positions throughout Australia
    • industry-specific recruitment websites relevant to the occupation that are in significant use by the industry are an acceptable method of LMT advertising
    • a general classifieds website or an advertisement solely through social media notification (such as Twitter or Instagram) are not acceptable methods. LinkedIn’s online recruitment platform is acceptable for LMT purposes. Job vacancies restricted to LinkedIn profile members only are not acceptable for LMT purposes.
  • in national print media (that is, newspapers or magazines with national reach that are published at least monthly and marketed throughout Australia)
  • on national radio with national reach
  • on the business’s website if the sponsor is an accredited sponsor.
• advertisements, including on websites, are expected to run for at least 4 weeks
• applications or expressions of interest for the advertised position must have been accepted for at least 4 weeks.

Note:

• the nominated position may be advertised in the same medium (such as newspaper advertisements, on two separate occasions) or in any two different mediums simultaneously, or on two separate occasions
• the nominated position may be advertised over two or more overlapping periods totalling a minimum of 4 weeks
• advertising may have been undertaken by a third party if authorised to do so by the sponsor (for example, an associated entity or a contracted party, such as a recruitment agency) – there is no requirement that the sponsor placed the advertisement themselves.

Evidence of a total of 2 advertisements must be provided at the time the nomination is lodged.

Exemptions – International trade obligations (ITOs)

LMT is not required where Australia has waived this requirement under its ITOs, including in any of the following circumstances:

• the worker you nominate is applying in one of the LMT exempt categories under these ITOs and is a citizen/national of Brunei, China, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Thailand, Vietnam or is a citizen/national/permanent resident of Canada, Chile, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore or the United Kingdom.
• the worker you nominate is a current employee of a business that is an associated entity of your business, and the associated entity is located in an Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) country (Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam), Canada, Chile, China, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Peru, Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Niue, the Cook Islands or Vanuatu.
• the worker you nominate is a current employee of an associated entity of your business, and that associated entity operates in a country that is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the nominated occupation is an Executive or Senior Manager occupation for the purposes of ITOs, and the nominee will be responsible for the entire or a substantial part of your company’s operations in Australia.
• your business currently operates in a WTO member country or territory, or Tuvalu, Kiribati, Niue, or the Cook Islands, and is seeking to set up a business in Australia, and the nominated occupation is an Executive or Senior Manager occupation for the purposes of ITOs. Countries that are currently WTO members are listed on the World Trade Organization website. For the purposes of ITOs, the following occupations are considered to be Executives or Senior Managers.

Occupation	ANZSCO Code
Advertising Manager	131113
Chief Executive or Managing Director	111111
Chief Information Officer	135111
Corporate General Manager	111211
Corporate Services Manager	132111
Finance Manager	132211
Human Resource Manager	132311
Sales & Marketing Manager	131112
Supply and Distribution Manager	133611

• the worker you nominate is a citizen or an eligible permanent resident* of a WTO member country or territory and has worked for you in the nominated position in Australia on a full-time basis for the last two years.

Note: the above ITO exemptions do not apply for nominations lodged under a labour agreement and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494).