Foreign workers in Australia must now earn minimum AUD 76,515 for sponsorship

The Australian government has announced a minimum salary threshold of AUD 76,515 for foreign workers seeking employment- sponsored visas.

This raises the bar for most skilled migration categories.

Current projections suggest Australia will face a shortage of 250,000 workers in technology, finance, and business roles by 2030. To meet the needs of the decade, the country is estimated to require roughly 3.5 million professionals in these sectors, ensuring that Australia will remain a key destination for highly skilled migrants who can meet the new salary benchmarks.

Announced by the Department of Home Affairs, this new threshold will apply to visa applications lodged between July 1 2025 and June 30, 2026.

The policy aims to ensure that migrant wages remain consistent with the pay of local Australian workers.

Key visa changes
The revised salary requirements will impact several major migration pathways, specifically:
Subclass 494: Skilled Employer-Sponsored Regional visa.
Subclass 187: Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme.
Subclass 482: Skills in Demand visa.
Subclass 186: Employer Nomination Scheme.

For top-tier talent in highly specialised fields, the entry requirement is even higher. Professionals in these sectors must now earn a minimum of AUD 141,210 under the “Specialist Skills Income Threshold.”

Fairness in the labour market
The updated figures are part of Australia’s annual wage indexation policy. By linking migration salary requirements to the Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings, authorities intend to prevent the underpayment of foreign staff.

According to a spokesperson from the Department of Home Affairs, the system is designed to “ensure foreign workers are not underpaid compared to Australian employees and to maintain fairness in the labour market.”

The government further clarified the timeline for future changes, noting:
“These thresholds will continue to be reviewed annually, with the next adjustment expected to take effect from July 1 2026.”

While the new rules introduce stricter conditions for mid-level roles, they are expected to provide greater financial stability and higher earning potential for successful applicants.

However, Australian employers now face tighter compliance hurdles. They must provide evidence that offered salaries meet both the new government thresholds and current market rates to prevent “wage suppression”, a practice where migrant labour is used to drive down local pay. Sectors such as hospitality, retail, and healthcare are expected to feel the most pressure as they adjust their pay structures to meet these standards.

These changes come at a time when Australia is tightening its migration quotas, with only 20,350 visa places allocated for the 2025–2026 state-nominated pathways.

Ngozi Ekugo

Ngozi Ekugo is a Senior Correspondent at BusinessDay. She holds a Masters in management from the University of Lagos, an undergraduate from University of Lagos, and is in an alumni of Queen's College. Shes currently an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM). She has a brief experience at Goldman sachs, London in its Human Capital Management division. She is interested in human capital development and is leveraging her varied experience across sectors to report labour and global mobility trends for stakeholders to make informed decisions.