Labour Market Testing Explained: What Employers Must Prove Before Sponsoring
October 6, 2026
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Labour market testing is the process of showing Home Affairs that you tried to fill a position with an Australian worker before nominating someone from overseas. For visas that require it, you must show that you cannot find a suitable Australian worker, and LMT generally involves advertising the position in Australia.
LMT applies to nominations under the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) Core Skills and Specialist Skills streams, and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) Employer Sponsored stream. For Labour Agreement stream nominations, proof of LMT is required where the labour agreement specifies it.
The rules changed on 11 December 2023. It is no longer a requirement to advertise on Workforce Australia, so employers now need two valid advertisements instead of three. The Home Affairs labour market testing page sets out the current rules, and our 482 visa page shows where LMT fits in the nomination process.
To meet the labour market testing requirements, your advertising must follow set rules on timing, content, placement and evidence. These apply to nominations lodged on or after 11 December 2023.
For most nominations, the position must have been advertised for at least four weeks within the four-month period immediately before you lodge the nomination. If an Australian citizen or permanent resident was made redundant or retrenched from the nominated occupation within those four months, the advertising must have taken place since the date of the redundancy or retrenchment. You must provide information about the redundancy or retrenchment with your nomination.
Each advertisement must be placed in Australia and written in English. It must include:
You need at least two advertisements published in any of these places:
A general classifieds website, or an advertisement placed only through social media, is not acceptable. LinkedIn’s online recruitment platform is acceptable, but vacancies restricted to LinkedIn profile members are not.
You must give Home Affairs copies of the advertising material when you lodge the nomination, including evidence of a total of two advertisements. Advertisements should have run for at least four weeks, and applications or expressions of interest must have been accepted for at least four weeks. A third party, such as a recruitment agency, can place the advertisements for you if you authorise them.
Genuine advertising reflects the real position you plan to fill. It should describe the actual duties, skills, location and pay, rather than a role written to suit a particular candidate, and it should not be created after the fact to satisfy the rule.
LMT is not a formality. You are expected to consider Australian applicants properly, and an advertisement that does not match your nominated role can cause problems at the nomination stage.
Advertising needs to be finished inside a four-month window before you lodge, and it needs to have run for long enough. Plan the timeline backwards from your intended lodgement date.
The same medium can be used twice if the advertisements run on two separate occasions, or you can use two different mediums at the same time or on separate occasions.
In some cases LMT is not required, but the exemptions are narrow. Occupation-based exemptions that existed under the older 457 visa are not available for 482 or 494 nominations. There are also no exemptions on the basis of skill level or because of a major disaster.
The main exemptions come from Australia’s international trade obligations. Whether one applies depends on the worker’s citizenship or residency, the category they apply under, and sometimes their relationship with your business. Employing someone from a particular country does not automatically make LMT unnecessary. The trade-obligation exemptions also do not apply to nominations under the 494 visa or under a labour agreement.
Alternative submission requirements apply in a few cases, including:
Establish whether an exemption genuinely applies before you rely on it. Professional advice is worth having here.
LMT errors can delay your recruitment or contribute to a refused nomination. Check your campaign against this list before you lodge.
Treat LMT as part of your recruitment plan rather than an afterthought tacked on to sponsorship. The right advertising, run at the right time and backed by the right evidence, protects your nomination.
Because MYAC brings recruitment and migration together, we can look at your hiring plan and the migration requirements side by side. If you are considering a regional role, our 494 visa page covers the additional regional steps.
For most 482 and 494 nominations, the position must have been advertised for at least four weeks within the four months immediately before you lodge the nomination. Applications or expressions of interest must be accepted for those four weeks. The advertising can run over overlapping periods that total four weeks.
You need at least two advertisements. Since 11 December 2023, employers no longer need to advertise on Workforce Australia, so two valid advertisements are required instead of three. You can place both in the same medium on two separate occasions, or use two different mediums at the same time or on separate occasions.
Only if you are an accredited sponsor. Accredited sponsors can count advertising on their own business website as one of the required advertisements. Other sponsors need to use prominent recruitment websites with national reach, relevant industry-specific sites, national print media or national radio. General classifieds sites and social media alone are not acceptable.
If you are preparing to sponsor, book a consultation with our team and we will help you plan your advertising and nomination timeline.
Reviewed by a MYAC Migration Agent. This article is general information only and is not migration advice. Speak to a Registered Migration Agent about your circumstances.
