Australia’s Department of Home Affairs has quietly replaced the long-standing Ministerial Direction 119 with a brand-new Direction 122 that came into force on 19 September 2026. A detailed analysis published today by Brisbane consultancy Migration Star shows that the change instantly alters the order in which ten permanent and provisional skilled-migration subclasses are assessed – including the 189, 190, 491, 186 and 494 visas. Under Direction 122, the first files to be opened are now those that “relate to” construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing or resources, as well as applications connected to Australia’s law-enforcement and defence interests. Only once that priority work is cleared will officers move on to on-shore applicants, followed by offshore single applicants and finally all other cases. In practical terms a carpenter sponsored by a regional builder may now leapfrog a software engineer who lodged much earlier, simply because the carpenter’s occupation sits inside the construction bucket. For employers this means workforce planning timelines may shift overnight. Recruitment managers in the priority sectors can expect faster outcomes, while HR teams in professional services and ICT may need to factor in fresh delays. Migration Star stresses that the new hierarchy applies to all undecided cases – even those lodged months ago – so companies with critical roles on hold should re-audit their pipelines immediately. The Direction also confirms that separate processing rules now apply to temporary Skills-in-Demand (subclass 482) visas under Ministerial Direction 121, creating a two-tier system that favours both critical sectors and very high-salary roles. Although Direction 122 keeps the long-standing advantage for on-shore applicants, that benefit now sits below the seven priority industries. Migration advisers are urging sponsors to obtain written confirmation that a nomination truly “relates to” one of the listed sectors before relying on faster processing. Until Home Affairs releases granular guidance, borderline occupations – for example health-administration managers or construction-project accountants – may require a test case or formal clarification. Applicants are warned not to make travel or employment commitments based on the old queue position; case officers will simply apply the new direction on the day they pick up the file.
Source: Migration Star
