New changes to the various occupation lists for a number of temporary and permanent visas are in effect today. In their January newsletter, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), stated that that a summary of changes will be available prior to the date these changes would occur. While technically true, posting these changes on their website yesterday, and the day the occupations lists were registered, does not seem to be in the spirit of giving nominators and applicants fair warning.

Nevertheless, these changes are now in force, and the DHA have a webpage summarising these amendments. Of note are:

Added to the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL)

612112 Property Manager

272314 Psychotherapist

612115 Real Estate Representative

Moved from the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) to the STSOL

121316 Horse Breeder

224711 Management Consultant

Removed from the STSOL

312112 Building Associate

142114 Hair or Beauty Salon Manager

Many of the above occupations are subject to caveats. On caveats, a few occupations have had their caveats amended, including:

223112 Recruitment Consultants, which now require a base salary of at least AUD 90 000, and

411611 Massage Therapists, which now must not be nominated in a retail setting where previously they had to be nominated in a retail setting.

Each list has transitional arrangements for applications lodged prior to today. There was no change to the occupation list for subclass 187 – Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme visas.

Any planned future applications should carefully consider any caveat tweaks. These changes are only an entrée to the reforms that will occur in a couple of months.