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Change to Labour Market Testing – New Requirement For A ‘Continuous Period’ Of Advertising

The Department of Home Affairs has recently announced a change to the policy for LMT.

Previously, employers were allowed to conduct LMT over non-consecutive periods to reach the 28-day requirement. For instance, employers could post job advertisements for 14 days and then, after a few days, lodge another round of job advertisements for 14 days to bring them to 28 days in total.

However, the Department has confirmed that under current policy, the period of LMT must be conducted over a continuous period of 28 days. For instance, if two advertisements are run from 01 October 2023 to 20 October 2023 (20 days) and then from 23 October to 03 November (11 days), this would not meet the requirement for 28 days of LMT.

Back-to-back advertisements will also not be considered as a continuous period. For instance, if two separate advertisements are run from 01 October 2023 to 20 October 2023 (20 days) and from 21 October to 29 October 2023 (8 days), this will not meet the required 28 days of LMT.

Notably, two overlapping job advertisements will be considered to meet the 28 days of LMT. That is, if you post an advertisement from 01 October 2023 to 20 October 2023 (20 days) and from 16 October to 30 October 2023 (14 days), this will meet the required 28 days.

If you are an employer looking to sponsor a worker on a TSS (Subclass 482) visa, it is necessary that you conduct LMT over a continuous 28-day period. If you do not complete this by the time of the nomination application, it will be refused.

For more information visit Department of Home Affairs.