Under Australia’s Migration Strategy, the existing Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa will be replaced by a new Skills in Demand (SID) visa. The SID visa will include three new visa pathways:

• Specialist Skills pathway (salary over $135,000)
• Core Skills pathway
• Essential Skills Pathway (salary under $70,000

Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) has opened a consultation focused on the Core Skills pathway, which generally covers occupations with a median salary at or above $70,000 (the current Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT)) and below $135,000. The Core Skills Pathway will be available to applicants whose occupation is on a new Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL).

JSA have developed a draft CSOL using recent employment and labour market data. You can view the draft on their website. It categorises occupations into three groups:

1. ‘Confident On List’: Occupations JSA is confident will be on the CSOL
2. ‘Confident Off List’: Occupations JSA is confident will NOT be on the CSOL
3. ‘Targeted for Consultation List’: Occupations JSA suggests should be targeted for stakeholder feedback
   

For roles with median salaries between $70,000 and $135,000, the Core Skills Pathway is set to become the main avenue for employers to sponsor skilled overseas workers. This makes the CSOL consultation process extremely important for businesses. The occupations included on the final CSOL will determine the pool of global talent that employers can access through the Core Skills Pathway. Any exclusions or limitations on the list could severely constrain a business’ ability to fill critical skills gaps.

In particular, the fact that certain in-demand occupations including:

• Accountant (General) ANZSCO 221111
• External Auditor ANZSCO 221213
• Internal Auditor ANZSCO 221214
• Marketing Specialist ANZSCO 225113, and
• Corporate General Manager ANZSCO 111211

appear on the 'Targeted for Consultation List' suggests (although does not confirm) that JSA is considering excluding them from the final CSOL. This would be a major change from the current Skilled Occupation List, which does include these roles.

Businesses should engage actively to ensure the CSOL aligns with their current and future skills needs across a range of key occupations. The consultation process provides an important opportunity to make a case for retaining certain occupations on the CSOL. We recommend that employers give feedback during this consultation process as JSA is likely to give significant weight to evidence-based submissions from these stakeholders.

There are 3 options for providing feedback on the JSA website:

1. Complete the survey questions, or
2. Complete the survey questions and upload a separate submission, or
3. Upload a separate submission only.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, 10 May 2024 at 5:00pm AEST. Submission guidelines are available.