Labour Market Testing (LMT) requirement
Labour market testing (LMT) in the Subclass 457 programme was introduced by the Migration Amendment (Temporary Sponsored Visas) Act 2013 and commences on 23 November 2013.
LMT requires business sponsors to test the local labour market prior to lodging a nomination and then provide evidence with their nomination of their attempts to recruit Australian workers.
They must show that they have determined on the basis of these attempts that there is no suitably qualified and experienced Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible temporary visa holder available to fill the position.
Evidence
Labour market testing must have been undertaken within the previous twelve months prior to lodging a nomination and evidence of this must be provided at the time the nomination is lodged.
You must provide information with the nomination about your attempts to recruit Australians, including the details and expenses of any advertising you conducted.
Exemptions from Labour Market Testing (LMT) requirement
LMT will not need to occur where it would conflict with Australia’s international trade obligations, in any of the following circumstances:
- The worker you nominate is a citizen of Chile or Thailand, or is a Citizen/Permanent Resident of New Zealand.
- The worker is a current employee of a business that is an associated entity of your business that is located in an Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) country (Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), Chile or New Zealand.
- The worker is a current employee of an associated entity of your business who operates in a country that is a member of the World Trade Organisation, where the nominated occupation is listed below as an “Executive or Senior Manager” 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 World Trade Organisation member country and is seeking to establish a business in Australia, where the nominated occupation is listed below as an “”Executive or Senior Manager”.
- The worker you nominate is a citizen of a World Trade Organisation member country and has worked for you in Australia on a full-time basis for the last two years.
Redundancies or retrenchments
If an Australian citizen or permanent resident has been retrenched or made redundant in your business within the four months prior to lodging your nomination, you must also provide information about those redundancies or retrenchments.
You must have undertaken labour market testing after those redundancies or retrenchments, and you must provide information and evidence of that labour market testing with your nomination.
Lodging a subclass 457 visa nomination
To lodge a subclass 457 visa nomination you must be an approved business sponsor or have lodged a sponsorship application, which can be lodged at the same time as the visa nomination. The list of eligible occupations changes from time to time and can be found at the Skilled Occupation Lists (Formerly Known as Form 1121i).