Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement (HILA): Sponsoring Skilled and Semi-Skilled Horticulture Workers

What is the Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement?

The HILA is a formal legal arrangement between an eligible Australian horticulture employer and the Commonwealth of Australia, administered by the Department of Home Affairs under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth). It sits alongside other published industry template agreements including those for Dairy, Fishing, Advertising, Meat, Pork, On-hire, Minister of Religion, and Restaurant (Premium Dining).

Because the HILA uses a standard template, its terms are set by the Department in advance. These include which occupations are covered, what concessions apply, and what obligations the employer takes on. An employer joining the HILA agrees to those terms rather than negotiating individual clauses. The HILA was developed in consultation with the horticulture industry and first made available from 1 January 2020. With 31 approved occupations, it covers the largest number of occupations of any published Australian industry labour agreement.

For a broader overview of how labour agreements work in Australia, see our Labour Agreements page.

HILA occupations list

The HILA covers 31 occupations spanning all skill levels from 1 to 5. The tables below group them by skill level with their ANZSCO code or administrative equivalent and confirm whether a VETASSESS assessment is required.

Skill Level 1 — Professional and Management

Skill Level 2

Skill Level 3

Skill Level 4

Skill Level 5 — SESR Visa Not Available

HILA concessions

The concessions under the HILA are fixed by the template and apply equally to every employer that enters the agreement. They cannot be further negotiated or expanded.

Visa options under the HILA

HILA skills assessment (VETASSESS)

The skills assessment requirements under the HILA depend on whether the nominated occupation appears on the standard eligible occupation lists for the SID, SESR, or ENS visas.

Employer eligibility for the Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement

• To enter the HILA, the employer must be an Australian horticulture business that is actively and lawfully operating in Australia, financially viable, and engaged in genuine horticultural production. The employer must have been operating in Australia for the previous 12 months, supported by a statement from a chartered or certified practising accountant.
• The employer must demonstrate a genuine need for overseas workers in the nominated occupation that cannot be met through local recruitment. Evidence of genuine and recent local recruitment attempts must accompany the request and every subsequent nomination.
• The employer must demonstrate a plan to reduce reliance on overseas workers over the life of the agreement and to develop its Australian workforce. Overseas workers must not exceed one third of the employer’s total workforce in any 12-month period.
• All nominated workers must be engaged on a full-time basis.

Requirements for overseas workers

• The qualifications and experience required depend on the nominated occupation and whether it appears on the standard eligible occupation lists.
• For occupations on the eligible lists (Table 4 occupations), the standard skill and qualification requirements for the relevant visa stream apply, with no concessions to work experience requirements for SID or ENS applications. For SESR nominations, the worker must demonstrate at least two years of relevant work experience.
• For occupations not on the eligible lists, assessed by VETASSESS, the requirements differ by occupation and are set out in Schedule 4, Table 5 of the official template. Common pathways include holding a relevant AQF qualification at Certificate II, III, or Diploma level combined with a period of relevant experience, or demonstrating a longer period of work experience without a formal qualification. The specific combination required varies by occupation and should be confirmed from the current template before any assessment is initiated.
• All workers must meet the English language requirement applicable to their visa stream as described above, and must meet the health and character requirements under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). For SESR and ENS visa applications, the worker must be under 50 at the time of visa application lodgement.

How to apply for a HILA

1. 1

   Confirm eligibility and occupation mapping

   Before preparing any documentation, confirm that the roles the employer needs to fill are covered by the HILA’s approved occupation list and that the worker’s actual duties genuinely match the task descriptions in the template. Our migration lawyers can complete this assessment.

2. 2

   Effettuare analisi del mercato del lavoro

   Labour market testing must be completed and evidence must accompany every nomination. The requirements differ by location category.

   For Category 1 locations, evidence equivalent to the standard employer-sponsored visa program LMT requirements must accompany nominations.

   For Category 2 locations, the employer must demonstrate at least two separate attempts with national reach, conducted within 12 months before lodging the nomination.

   For Category 3 locations, at least two separate attempts within 12 months before lodging the nomination are required. One must have national reach, through Seek, Indeed, Workforce Australia, a relevant industry website, national print media, or national radio. The second may be local or regional.

3. 3

   Prepare and lodge the request

   The employer lodges the request through ImmiAccount, providing evidence of the horticulture business’s operations, genuine workforce need, labour market testing outcomes, proposed salary arrangements, and any additional information the Department requires. The Department sets nomination ceilings for each year of the five-year agreement term, with an annual review mechanism built into the agreement.

4. 4

   Agreement executed

   Once the Department is satisfied, the agreement is executed. The employer becomes an approved sponsor and can begin lodging nominations within the approved ceilings. The agreement is reviewed after three years and on an annual basis where additional nomination ceilings are sought.

5. 5

   Lodge nominations and visa applications

   After the agreement is in place, the employer lodges a nomination for each overseas worker. Once a nomination is approved, the worker lodges their visa application. The Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy is payable by the employer at each nomination.

Pay and compliance obligations

• Sponsored horticulture workers must be engaged on a full-time basis and paid at least the minimum rate required under the Horticulture Award 2020 (MA000028) for the relevant classification. The Horticulture Award 2020 is the federal modern award covering employees in the horticulture industry across Australia. Award minimum wages increased by 4.75% from 1 July 2026.

• Under the Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement, sponsored workers must receive guaranteed earnings that meet the applicable reduced income threshold: 90% of the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) for Subclass 482 and 186 nominations, or 90% of the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) for Subclass 494 nominations. Employers must also comply with the agreement’s requirements concerning the remuneration of equivalent Australian workers and any applicable minimum wage obligations under the Horticulture Award 2020 (MA000028).

• Where an equivalent Australian worker receives a higher amount than the sponsored worker over any 12-month period, the employer must pay the difference as a top-up in the following month.

• Salary must be paid directly to the worker from the employer’s Australian bank account, including taxes and superannuation. The employer must not deduct amounts from the worker’s pay except where authorised in writing by the worker for their own benefit, authorised by an enterprise agreement, authorised by a modern award or Fair Work Act order, or required by law.

• Where the employer provides accommodation, it must not be compulsory for the worker to accept it, it can only be charged at a fair and reasonable market rate, and the charges must satisfy the Commonwealth as being fair and reasonable and compliant with workplace laws.

• The employer must not recover recruitment costs, English language testing, or English language training costs from the sponsored worker.

• The employer must not nominate workers who are reasonably suspected of owing money as a result of being recruited.

Common HILA mistakes

Information for overseas horticulture workers

Overseas workers cannot apply for a HILA independently. The arrangement must be held by an Australian horticulture employer, who lodges the nomination and takes on the associated obligations. Only after the nomination is approved can the worker apply for their visa.

If you are an overseas worker with relevant horticulture skills or technical qualifications, the first steps are confirming whether your occupation is on the HILA list, confirming whether your qualifications and experience meet the VETASSESS or standard assessment requirements for the nominated role, and finding an Australian horticulture employer willing to enter the HILA.

Permanent residence is available through the Subclass 186 Labour Agreement stream after three years (Skill Level 1, 2, and 3) or four years (Skill Level 4 and 5) of full-time employment in the nominated occupation with the same sponsoring employer, provided the worker is under 50 at the time of visa application lodgement. Workers on a Subclass 494 also have a potential pathway through the Subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa after meeting the relevant residence and employment requirements.

How our migration lawyers can help