1. What is Labour Market Testing
Labour Market Testing (LMT) is a mandatory pre-nomination step in the employer-sponsored migration process. Its purpose is to ensure that employers have made genuine and reasonable efforts to fill a vacancy with an Australian citizen or permanent resident before seeking to sponsor an overseas worker.
The legal basis for LMT sits in the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994. It was introduced as a condition of the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa program and applies to both the Short-term and Medium-term 482 streams in most circumstances. The Department of Home Affairs assesses LMT compliance as part of the nomination assessment — deficient LMT is one of the most frequently cited grounds for nomination refusals and Procedural Fairness letters.
LMT is assessed prospectively — the advertising must have been conducted before the nomination is lodged, and the evidence submitted must demonstrate that the process was genuine, not merely procedural.
2. The Advertising Requirements
To satisfy LMT, the employer must conduct advertising that meets each of the following requirements:
Number of Advertisements
At least two separate advertisements must be placed. These can be placed on different platforms, or as separate ad runs on the same platform — but they must be genuinely distinct advertising efforts. Republishing the same advertisement after minor formatting changes does not constitute two separate advertisements.
Platform Requirements
At least one advertisement must be placed on a national recruitment website accessible to Australian workers. The Department has identified the following platforms as acceptable national recruitment websites:
- Seek (seek.com.au)
- LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
- Indeed (indeed.com.au)
Other platforms — including industry-specific job boards, state employment portals, and regional websites — may be used for the second advertisement but cannot substitute for the required national platform advertisement.
Duration
Advertisements must run for a total of at least 28 days across the advertising period. The 28 days do not need to be continuous on one platform — the cumulative active advertising time across all advertisements can satisfy this requirement. However, a single advertisement that ran for only 14 days would not satisfy the requirement regardless of how many platforms it appeared on simultaneously.
Recency
LMT must be completed within 4 months of the nomination lodgement date. This means the advertising must have concluded (not just commenced) within the 4-month window. Applications lodged where the most recent advertisement closed more than 4 months before nomination will be assessed as not meeting LMT, even if all other requirements are met.
3. What Makes Advertising Acceptable
The content of job advertisements is assessed as well as the platform and duration. Advertisements must include each of the following elements to be considered compliant:
| Required Element | Notes |
|---|---|
| Position title | Must be a genuine job title consistent with the nominated ANZSCO occupation |
| Duties or responsibilities | Sufficient detail to allow Australian applicants to self-assess their suitability |
| Work location | City/region at minimum; street address not required |
| Salary range or indication | Must include a salary figure, range, or statement that salary is commensurate with market rates — vague "competitive salary" language is not sufficient |
| Employer name or recruiter | The employer or recruiting agency name must be identifiable |
| Contact details or application instructions | How to apply must be clear |
The salary indication requirement is frequently omitted in error. Advertisements that state only "salary negotiable" or "competitive package" without any numerical reference are not compliant and will generate a Procedural Fairness response from the Department.
Genuine Recruitment Effort
Beyond meeting the technical checklist, the Department assesses whether the recruitment effort was genuine. Red flags that indicate a non-genuine process include:
- Advertisements with criteria so specific that only the nominated worker could possibly qualify
- Very short response windows that effectively exclude Australian applicants from applying
- Failure to consider or respond to Australian applicants without documented reasons
- Advertisements placed after the employer had already identified and committed to the overseas worker
4. When LMT Is Not Required
There are specific circumstances where LMT requirements do not apply to a 482 nomination:
- The nomination is made under an applicable international trade obligation (ITO), where an exemption has been specifically gazetted for the relevant trade agreement and occupation skill level.
- The worker is a citizen of a country with a relevant Free Trade Agreement and the nominated occupation is at ANZSCO Skill Level 1 (see exemptions section below).
- The worker is being sponsored in a position with a salary exceeding a designated high-income threshold — where the salary is above the threshold, LMT exemption may apply in certain circumstances (confirm with current DHA guidance as this threshold is adjusted periodically).
5. LMT Exemptions — Free Trade Agreement Nationals
Citizens of countries that have entered into relevant Free Trade Agreements with Australia may be exempt from LMT requirements if the nominated occupation is at ANZSCO Skill Level 1. The relevant agreements and their national coverage are:
| Agreement | Covered Countries | LMT Exemption Applies To |
|---|---|---|
| ASFTA (ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand FTA) | Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam | ANZSCO Skill Level 1 occupations |
| USFTA (Australia–United States FTA) | United States | ANZSCO Skill Level 1 occupations |
| CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) | Canada, Mexico, Peru, Japan, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam | ANZSCO Skill Level 1 occupations |
| ChAFTA (Australia–China FTA) | China | Specific occupations only (check DHA gazette) |
6. Documenting Your LMT Correctly
The nomination must be supported by documentary evidence that demonstrates each element of LMT compliance. Inadequate documentation is as problematic as inadequate advertising — the Department cannot accept assertions without supporting evidence.
Evidence Required at Nomination
- Screenshots of each advertisement showing the full content, the platform name, and the date the screenshot was taken during the active advertising period
- URL of each advertisement where available, or the posting confirmation email from the platform
- Confirmation of posting dates — either from the platform's confirmation email, invoice, or a date-stamped screenshot of the live advertisement
- Number of applications received — total applicant count for each advertisement
- Record of Australian applicants considered and why each was not offered the position (brief notes, not extensive HR documentation, but sufficient to show genuine consideration)
Contemporaneous vs. Retrospective Evidence
One of the most important documentation principles is that LMT evidence must be contemporaneous — captured at the time of advertising, not recreated after the fact. Screenshots that appear to have been taken weeks or months after the advertisement closed, URLs that no longer resolve to the advertisement, or platform confirmation emails that postdate the claimed advertising period are all red flags that the Department will note.
Best practice is to archive all LMT documentation at the time of advertising: the original posting confirmation, a dated screenshot on the first day of advertising and the last day, and a brief written record of the applicant assessment process. This archive should be retained for the duration of the sponsorship period plus a minimum of 5 years.