Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA)

 

What is DAMA?

A designated area migration agreement (DAMA) is a formal agreement between the Australian Government and a regional, state or territory authority. It provides access to more overseas workers than the standard skilled migration program. DAMAs operate under an agreement-based framework, providing flexibility for regions to respond to their unique economic and labour market conditions. DAMAs are administered by the Australian Government and are managed by Designated Area Representatives which are usually local, state or territory governments.

DAMA head agreements are between the Australian Government and a Designated Area Representative. They contain a range of occupations as well as agreed terms and concessions to skilled visa eligibility criteria, as negotiated between parties. Once a DAMA head agreement is established, businesses in the region may seek individual DAMA labour agreements under the head agreement terms and concessions to standard migration programs under the:

• Temporary Skill Shortage visa (Subclass 482)
• Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa (Subclass 494)
• Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186)

 

How To Apply Under A DAMA?

The DAMA is an employer-sponsored visa program and individual workers cannot apply independently. Employers must apply to the relevant Designated Area Representative to access the DAMA for the occupations, concessions and number of workers they required.

Generally, the application process consists of:

• Step 1. An Employer must seek and gain endorsement from the Designated Area Representative.
• Step 2. The Designated Area Representative will issue a letter of endorsement to the employer and notify the Department of Home Affairs once the endorsement has been approved.
• Step 3. The employer needed to make an application to enter into an individual DAMA labour agreement with the Department of Home Affairs.
• Step 4. Once receiving a positive outcome from the Department of Home Affairs, the employer can proceed to lodge a nomination for employees. Also, the employees can lodge visa applications under the labour agreement stream with the Department after the nomination has been submitted.