Australia’s Department of Home Affairs has indexed the salary floors that employers must meet when sponsoring foreign talent, lifting all three skilled-visa income thresholds by 3.8 per cent as of 1 July 2026. The Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) that underpins most subclass 482 Skills in Demand and subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) nominations has risen from AUD 76,515 to AUD 79,423. The same figure now applies to the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) used for regional subclass 494 and legacy subclass 187 nominations.
![Australia lifts skilled-visa income thresholds by 3.8 per cent]()
VisaHQ’s online platform can help employers and assignees navigate these shifting thresholds by generating up-to-date visa checklists and income-benchmark alerts; its Australia portal lets HR teams start, track and amend subclass 482, 186 or 494 applications in minutes, ensuring that salary evidence and nomination data meet the latest CSIT, TSMIT or SSIT requirements.
The high-earner Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT) climbs from AUD 141,210 to AUD 146,576. Because the thresholds are hard-wired into the visa framework, any nomination or corporate agreement submitted on or after 1 July must satisfy the higher figure or the relevant market-salary rate – whichever is greater. Existing visa-holders and nominations that were lodged before 1 July retain the previous, lower benchmark, avoiding an unexpected payroll shock. For global mobility teams the update creates an immediate budgeting requirement. Companies with talent pipelines still in preparation will need to top-up guaranteed annual earnings or delay lodgement to complete remuneration reviews. Multinationals that use Australian entities to house APAC hubs should alert finance, HR and tax colleagues so that the higher wage outlays are captured in profit forecasts. The change also sends a policy signal: the government wants to ensure that skilled migration complements, but does not undercut, local wages. With Australia’s National Minimum Wage now sitting at AUD 26.44 per hour, the CSIT keeps skilled-visa remuneration roughly three-times higher than the minimum, underpinning the “higher-bar” migration reset announced in late 2025.
VisaHQ’s online platform can help employers and assignees navigate these shifting thresholds by generating up-to-date visa checklists and income-benchmark alerts; its Australia portal lets HR teams start, track and amend subclass 482, 186 or 494 applications in minutes, ensuring that salary evidence and nomination data meet the latest CSIT, TSMIT or SSIT requirements.
The high-earner Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT) climbs from AUD 141,210 to AUD 146,576. Because the thresholds are hard-wired into the visa framework, any nomination or corporate agreement submitted on or after 1 July must satisfy the higher figure or the relevant market-salary rate – whichever is greater. Existing visa-holders and nominations that were lodged before 1 July retain the previous, lower benchmark, avoiding an unexpected payroll shock. For global mobility teams the update creates an immediate budgeting requirement. Companies with talent pipelines still in preparation will need to top-up guaranteed annual earnings or delay lodgement to complete remuneration reviews. Multinationals that use Australian entities to house APAC hubs should alert finance, HR and tax colleagues so that the higher wage outlays are captured in profit forecasts. The change also sends a policy signal: the government wants to ensure that skilled migration complements, but does not undercut, local wages. With Australia’s National Minimum Wage now sitting at AUD 26.44 per hour, the CSIT keeps skilled-visa remuneration roughly three-times higher than the minimum, underpinning the “higher-bar” migration reset announced in late 2025.
