Australia’s New Migration Strategy & Skills in Demand Visa

Updated September 2025 – Australia is in the middle of a major multi-year migration reform. The government’s Migration Strategy, first released in December 2023, is now being implemented with a new Skills in Demand (SID) visa, a higher salary floor, and clearer pathways to permanent residence.

From TSS to Skills in Demand

On 7 December 2024, Australia began rolling out the Skills in Demand (SID) visa, a re-worked version of the old Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482). The SID visa is designed to be:

More responsive to real-time labour shortages

More protective of migrant workers

Clearer about options to transition to permanent residence

The SID visa has three main streams:

Specialist Skills Pathway

- For highly paid workers (generally earning above a high salary threshold, such as AUD 135,000+). - Offers priority processing for many applications.

Core Skills Pathway

- For most skilled occupations on a consolidated list linked to data from Jobs and Skills Australia. - Intended to be the main route for standard skilled roles.

Essential Skills Pathway (being piloted)

- For lower-paid but essential roles, often in care and service sectors. - Expected to include strong protections to prevent exploitation.

Visa holders can usually obtain up to 4 years of work rights and greater flexibility to change employers after a minimum period, improving mobility compared with the older TSS settings.

Higher Salary Floor: TSMIT

The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) has been raised to around AUD 73,150:

Employers generally cannot sponsor temporary skilled workers below this salary level (with limited exceptions).

Many junior or entry-level roles no longer qualify unless employers raise salaries.

The government has indicated that TSMIT will be reviewed regularly, not left frozen for long periods as in the past.

Processing Times and Business Concerns

While the government originally targeted median processing times of 7–21 days for many SID visa streams, in practice:

Many Core Skills applications take significantly longer (several weeks to a few months).

Business groups and migration professionals have raised concerns about delays, especially in sectors facing acute shortages (construction, healthcare, engineering, cybersecurity).

The government continues to face pressure to improve processing times while maintaining integrity checks.

Pathways to Permanent Residence

One of the strategy’s main goals is to ensure clearer PR pathways:

SID visa holders can often transition to employer-sponsored permanent visas such as the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) after a qualifying period.

Regional visas and state/territory nomination remain attractive for applicants willing to live outside major metropolitan areas.

Points-tested visas are being adjusted to give more weight to:

- Australian work experience - Higher English proficiency - Work in priority sectors like care, construction, clean energy and tech

What This Means for Applicants and Employers

For skilled workers:

Salaries must be competitive by Australian standards; low offers are less likely to meet TSMIT.

Experience in priority sectors (healthcare, aged care, construction, engineering, ICT, teaching) is a major advantage.

The new SID visa gives more flexibility to change employers, which can improve bargaining power and reduce exploitation.

For employers:

Sponsorship costs and salary expectations are higher than in the past.

Choosing the correct SID stream and ensuring compliance with salary and conditions is critical.

With ongoing processing delays, workforce planning has to start earlier, especially for hard-to-fill roles.

Australia’s overall direction is clear: fewer temporary migrants, but more targeted and better-protected skilled workers with realistic pathways to permanent residence.