DAMA South Australia Occupation List

A labour agreement enables a business to sponsor overseas workers where the standard skilled visa migration programs are not available. The benefit of a labour agreement is the flexibility it brings to the process, by allowing for a more tailored approach to meet the individual needs of the business, the region or industry in which it is operating, or for a specific project to be undertaken.

To be eligible, a business must apply to the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) for a labour agreement before it may nominate suitably skilled workers for one of the following skilled visas:

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

The following types of labour agreements are available:

• Company Specific labour agreements
• Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMA)
• Industry labour agreements
• Project agreements
• Global Talent Employer Sponsored (GTES) agreements

For a general overview of how labour agreements operate, please see the following article:

A Complete Guide to Labour Agreement Visa

You may also be interested in reading about the New Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement, which commenced on 1 January 2020 and which enables employers in rural and regional areas to sponsor overseas workers in skilled and semi-skilled occupations to fill labour shortages.

You can also find more information in the Labour agreement program information guide, November 2018, which is available on the Department’s website.

In this article, we turn our attention to Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMA), specifically in South Australia.

One important component of the programme is the requirement that for an occupation to be eligible for nomination under the DAMA, it must be listed on the DAMA occupation list for South Australia.

In certain cases, a skills assessment will be required. In this article, we delve further into the Adelaide DAMA list by exploring the skills assessment criteria for occupations nominated under the South Australia DAMA and which are assessed by the skills assessing body, VETASSESS.

Before we continue our discussion, we ask the question, what exactly is a DAMA?

What Is A Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA)?

A DAMA is designed to meet the specific economic and labour market needs of individual regions across Australia, which are often unique to the conditions experienced when compared with the more populous cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. It enables individual regional, state and territory authorities to formulate an agreement with the Australian Government (negotiated with the Department) which is tailored to their circumstances.

South Australia currently has the following two DAMAs in place:

• The Adelaide City Technology and Innovation Advancement Agreement (ACTIAA), covering the Adelaide Metropolitan region, with occupations in the defence, space, innovation, advanced manufacturing and technology industries; and
• The South Australian Regional Workforce Agreement (SARWA), which covers the entire state of South Australia. It contains occupations which are eligible for sponsorship in the key regional growth industries of agriculture, forestry, health, aged care, hospitality, tourism, mining and the construction sectors. Agribusiness occupations are also now eligible for nomination under the South Australia DAMA. 

We have prepared a series of articles which examine the South Australian DAMAs and how they work in more detail, which we recommend that you refer to below:

In South Australia DAMA, we discuss the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) framework and skill levels of each occupation which may be nominated under the DAMA in more detail.

In DAMA SA – New occupations available, you will find more information on the DAMAs in South Australia, including Skill Level 4 occupations which are eligible to be nominated under the programme.

In DAMA South Australia, we take a look at how an employer can apply for endorsement under a South Australia DAMA, including its benefits and key features.

In DAMA Adelaide, you can read about the obligations of sponsoring employers under the DAMA, and how PAX Migration Australia can help you to apply for sponsorship under the South Australia, whether you and employer seeking to sponsor workers, or you are a worker yourself.

And in South Australia DAMA Occupation List (to be inserted when published), we provide a more general overview of the South Australia DAMA, including the ANZSCO and occupation skill levels, and the benefits of sponsorship under a South Australia DAMA.

VETASSESS Skills Assessment Requirements For DAMA Occupations

Lets now look at the VETASSESS skills assessment requirements. Certain occupations that are nominated under the South Australia DAMA must meet DAMA-specific criteria for a positive VETASSESS skills assessment result. Before we turn our attention to these special requirements, be aware that all other occupations (which do not have DAMA-specific criteria) are assessed under the same process as for full skills assessment applications for migration.

The Adelaide City Technology And Innovation Advancement Agreement (ACTIAA)

The VETASSESS skills assessment criteria for occupations under the ACTIAA DAMA are as follows:

ANZSCO Skill Level 1 Occupations

For the above occupations, applicants must:

• meet the skill level for the nominated occupation in accordance with the ANZSCO; and
• have the following post-qualification experience in the nominated occupation:
• if applying for a subclass 482 visa, at least two years; and
• if applying for a subclass 186 visa, at least three years.

Non-ANZSCO Skill Level 1 And 2 Occupations

For the above occupations, applicants must:

• meet the following indicative skill level for the nominated occupation in accordance with the ANZSCO:

• have the following post-qualification experience in the nominated occupation:
• if applying for a subclass 482 visa, at least two years; and
• if applying for a subclass 186 visa, at least three years.

The South Australian Regional Workforce Agreement (SARWA)

The VETASSESS skills assessment criteria for occupations under the SARWA DAMA are as follows:

ANZSCO Skill Level 3 Occupations

For the above occupations, applicants must:

• meet the skill level for the nominated occupation in accordance with the ANZSCO; and
• have at least two years post-qualification experience in the nominated occupation.

Non-ANZSCO Skill Level Occupations

For the above occupations, applicants must:

• meet the following qualification and skill level for the nominated occupation:

For the above occupations, applicants must:

• Have worked in the occupation for at least 12 months in the last three years
• have at least two years post-qualification experience in the nominated occupation.

ANZSCO Skill Level 4 Occupations – Community and Personal Service Occupations

For the above occupations, applicants must meet the following qualification and skill level for the nominated occupation:

• have at least a relevant AQF equivalent Certificate III qualification.

For the above occupations, applicants must have the following post-qualification experience in the nominated occupation:

• if applying for a subclass 482 visa, at least two years.

ANZSCO Skill Level 4 Occupations – General Occupations

For the above occupations, applicants must meet the following qualification and skill level for the nominated occupation:

• have at least a relevant AQF equivalent Certificate II qualification; or
• at least one year (20 hours or more per week) relevant experience; or
• at least two years (10 hours or more per week) relevant experience.

For the above occupations, applicants must have the following post-qualification experience in the nominated occupation:

• if applying for a subclass 482 visa, at least two years.

ANZSCO Skill Level 4 and 5 Occupations – Meat Industry Occupations

For the above occupations, applicants must meet the following skill level for the nominated occupation:

• Have a minimum skill level commensurate with the MINTRAC referenced AQF Certificate III in meat processing.

For the above occupations, applicants must have the following post-qualification experience in the nominated occupation:

• if applying for a subclass 482 visa, at least two years.

ANZSCO Skill Level 5 Occupations

For the above occupation, applicants must meet the following qualification and skill level for the nominated occupation:

• Have at least a relevant AQF equivalent Certificate II and at least one year (20 hours or more per week) relevant post qualification work experience; or
• Have at least two years (38 hours or more per week) relevant experience.

For the above occupations, applicants must have the following post-qualification experience in the nominated occupation:

• if applying for a subclass 482 visa, at least two years.

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Contact us to book a no-obligation consultation to find out more about the DAMA occupation list South Australia, whether you are an employer in South Australia who is seeking to sponsor overseas workers under this visa programme, or you are inquiring about applying for a visa as a skilled or semi-skilled overseas worker.

Sources/Links:

Immigration SA – Skilled & Business Migration – DAMA Occupation List

https://www.migration.sa.gov.au/occupation-lists/dama-occupation-list

Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs – Immigration and citizenship – Visas – Employing or sponsoring workers – Sponsoring workers – Nominating a position – Labour agreements – Labour agreement program information guide, November 2018

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/employer-subsite/files//requesting-labour-agreement.pdf

Australian Bureau of Statistics – 1220.0 – ANZSCO – Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, 2013, Version 1.3 – LATEST ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 05/11/2019

https://www.abs.gov.au/ANZSCO

VETASSESS – Skills Assessment for Migration – Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMA)

https://www.vetassess.com.au/skills-assessment-for-migration/designated-area-migration-agreements

VETASSESS – DAMA Information Sheet – Current as of 02 December 2019

https://www.vetassess.com.au/portals/0/downloads/dama/DAMA-Occupation_List.pdf