The Australian government has introduced the new Skills in Demand (SID) visa, which replaces the Temporary Skill Shortage visa (TSS) from 7 December 2024.
While the SID visa retains many features of the TSS visa, it also brings updates that will have an impact on the agriculture sector – here’s what you need to know about the transition and its potential impact on your workforce.
Key changes to the SID visa
The new SID visa (subclass 482) brings with it new occupation lists and visa streams, while maintaining requirements from the Temporary Skill Shortage visa including skill assessments, labour market testing and sponsorship obligations.
Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL)
The CSOL replaces previous occupation lists, and has significant updates for agricultural employers:
- Occupations such as Horticultural Crop Farmers, Beef Cattle Farmers, Crop Farmers, Mixed Crop Farmers, and Vegetable Growers have been removed.
- Most other agriculture, trades and ag-tech roles remain eligible.
New visa streams
The SID visa introduces three streams:
- Specialist Skills Stream: Open to high-salary roles ($135,000+) in all ANZSCO occupations except Major Group levels 3/7/8 – trade workers, machinery operators, drivers and labourers.
- Core Skills Stream: Similar to the Temporary Skill Shortage visa, applicable to CSOL occupations with a minimum salary of $73,150.
- Labour Agreement Stream: Currently unchanged, this stream is set to be replaced by an Essential Skills stream that’s now under development.
The SID visa also provides a pathway to permanent residency and requires one year of relevant work experience for applicants, with English proficiency requirements remaining the same.
Impact on horticultural employers
With certain horticultural roles removed from the CSOL, employers may need to adjust their recruitment strategies. Options include:
- Specialist Skills Stream: For high-salary positions meeting the $135,000 threshold.
- Regional SESR visa (subclass 494): A viable alternative for roles removed from the SID visa’s Core Skills Stream, where applicants will need to obtain a positive skills assessment and slightly higher English proficiency (at least 6s in IELTS).
- Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement (HILA): This bilateral agreement addresses hort-specific labour shortages, and offers employers sponsorship of specific horticulture roles not available on ANZSCO or the main core skills list, such as farm managers, section supervisors, forklift drivers, mobile plant operators and section supervisors.
- Company-specific labour agreements: These bilateral agreements address labour shortages specific to an organisation, and like HILA, employers are permitted to sponsor a variety of lower skilled occupations not available on the main core skills list, as long as industry stakeholders are consulted.
- Short-term subclass 400 visa: An interim option for urgent placements while navigating other visa processes.
Preparing for the transition
As the SID visa comes into effect, it’s crucial to assess how these changes impact your workforce planning. If you need guidance on adapting to the SID visa framework, including the Temporary Skill Shortage visa updates, our expert team is here to support you – contact us on 1300 015 132 or reach out to Will Du on LinkedIn.
