Mining and Extractive Labour Agreements: Sponsoring Overseas Drillers and Mining Workers

Is there a mining industry labour agreement?

No. Mining and extractive industries are not among the sectors for which the Department of Home Affairs has published a template industry labour agreement. The current published industry agreements cover sectors including advertising, aged care, dairy, fishing, horticulture, meat, pork, on-hire arrangements, minister of religion, and restaurant (premium dining). Mining does not appear on that list, and no peak body in the sector holds a co-signed industry template with the Department of Home Affairs.

This matters for any operator or drilling contractor that has encountered references to a “mining labour agreement” online. While it is accurate to say that mining companies can obtain a labour agreement, that agreement will be a company-specific arrangement negotiated individually with the Department of Home Affairs, a project agreement for qualifying large-scale resource developments, or access under a Designated Area Migration Agreement where the site falls within a covered region. There is no industry template a mining company can join by demonstrating membership of an industry body.

For a broader overview of how the different types of labour agreements operate, see our Labour Agreements page.

Your routes to sponsor mining workers

The right pathway depends on the occupation, whether it appears on the Core Skills Occupation List, the location of the site, and the nature of the project. Most professional and trade roles in mining have standard sponsorship pathways available. The labour agreement pathway is most relevant for Drillers and other frontline extractive roles that do not appear on the standard occupation lists.

Drillers and drilling contractors

Driller (ANZSCO 712211) is classified at Skill Level 4 under ANZSCO and covers workers who assemble, position, and operate drilling rigs and related equipment to extract ore, liquids, or gases from the earth. Specialisations within this code include Directional Driller and Exploration Driller, covering a wide range of drill types across mineral exploration, production drilling, water bore drilling, and geotechnical drilling. The occupation is not on the Core Skills Occupation List and cannot be sponsored through standard Skills in Demand visa (Subclass 482) Core Skills stream employer sponsorship.

Mining occupations commonly sponsored

Visa options for mining workers

Concessions you can negotiate

A company-specific or project labour agreement becomes most valuable where standard sponsorship requirements create a genuine barrier for the operator. Concessions are not automatic and must each be supported by specific evidence and approved by the Department of Home Affairs during negotiation.

Requirements for mining employers

To request a company-specific or project labour agreement, the employer must satisfy the following conditions under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth).

• The business must have been lawfully and actively operating in Australia for the previous 12 months and must be financially viable, evidenced by a statement from a chartered or certified practising accountant. Businesses with adverse compliance histories, including findings under workplace health and safety legislation, industrial relations law, or previous migration sponsorship monitoring, will face heightened scrutiny.
• The employer must demonstrate a genuine shortage of suitably qualified local workers for the nominated positions. Evidence of recent, genuine local recruitment attempts is required, including copies of job advertisements. The Department of Home Affairs will not proceed with a request submitted without this evidence.
• Evidence of local recruitment effort is required before lodging a labour agreement request. For nominations lodged under an executed agreement, the labour market testing requirements that apply are governed by the terms of the executed agreement, which may differ from the standard program requirements.
• Sponsored workers must be paid at the market salary rate for the role, consistent with the Mining Industry Award 2020 (MA000011) or the Black Coal Mining Industry Award 2020 (MA000001) where it applies, or any applicable enterprise agreement. On major mining sites, enterprise agreements commonly set rates well above the award floor.
• The employer must demonstrate a plan to reduce reliance on overseas labour over the term of the agreement. In line with the Department’s published position, overseas workers should not comprise more than one-third of the total workforce in any one year period, and reliance must decrease over the life of the agreement. The executed agreement’s terms and any applicable current guidance govern how this requirement applies in practice.
• Stakeholder consultation with the relevant industry body and applicable union must be completed and documented before the request is submitted to the Department of Home Affairs.
• The Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy is payable by the employer at each nomination stage.

Requirements for overseas mining workers

Overseas mining workers seeking to be sponsored under a labour agreement must satisfy the requirements set by both the visa program and the executed agreement.

• A positive skills assessment from the designated assessing authority is required where the visa program mandates one. For trade occupations including Diesel Motor Mechanic and Electrician (General), this is TRA. For engineering roles such as Mining Engineer, it is Engineers Australia. For Geologist, Metallurgist, and Mine Deputy, it is VETASSESS. For Driller (712211) accessed through the Goldfields Western Australia DAMA, the specified assessing authority is VETASSESS. Workers should confirm the correct assessing authority and assessment program for their specific occupation, visa pathway, and agreement terms before lodging any application.
• The worker must demonstrate English language proficiency at the level required under the agreement, which may be the standard requirement or a negotiated concession.
• All workers must meet the health and character requirements under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Mining work commonly involves pre-employment medical assessments and fitness-for-work requirements set by the employer and applicable state or territory mining safety legislation. These are employer and regulatory requirements separate from visa grant.
• Workers in mine site roles must comply with the site induction requirements set by the mine operator and any mandatory safety training required under state or territory work health and safety legislation. Workers holding high risk work licences for crane operation, rigging, dogging, or plant operation must ensure their licence is recognised or transferable under the relevant state or territory authority.
• Drilling roles may require specific state or territory drilling licences or registration depending on the type of drilling and the jurisdiction. Workers should confirm licensing requirements with the relevant state or territory work health and safety regulator before commencing work.

FIFO, remote sites, and work location rules

Many mining operations in Australia run on fly-in fly-out (FIFO) rosters, with workers based in capital cities flying to remote site locations. FIFO visa sponsorship raises specific considerations because the visa work location must reflect where the work is actually performed, not where the worker lives or from which city they travel.

For a standard 482 nomination, the employer must nominate the work location at which the overseas worker will be employed. For FIFO workers, this is ordinarily the mine site where the work is performed, not the city from which the worker flies. The physical location of the work, not the roster base, determines whether the position falls within a regional area for the purposes of the Subclass 494 or a DAMA.

Operators should not assume that FIFO workers flying from Perth, Brisbane, or another capital city will be treated as working in that city for visa purposes. What matters is the location of the mine site or rig where the work is actually carried out. A FIFO role at a site in the Pilbara, for example, will be treated as regional work for visa eligibility purposes even though the worker lives in Perth and flies in.

For DAMA purposes, the worker must be employed to work within the geographic boundaries of the designated area. If a worker operates across multiple sites that span different areas, the primary work location must fall within the DAMA coverage area. Our migration lawyers can assess how your roster structure and site geography affect visa options and regional eligibility.

Where a 494 nomination is proposed, the employer must confirm that the nominated position is at a site in a designated regional area and that the work will genuinely be performed there. Nominating a regional site as the work location when the worker is predominantly deployed elsewhere is a compliance risk.

How to get a mining labour agreement

1. 1

   Assess your route

   Before preparing any documentation, establish which pathway is most appropriate for your site and workforce. The assessment depends on your business location, the occupation, the salary, whether your project qualifies for a project agreement, and whether your site is within a DAMA area. Given the time pressures that mining and resources projects operate under, this route assessment should be completed as early as possible. Our migration lawyers can advise on the most efficient pathway given your project timeline and site location.

2. 2

   Gather evidence of local recruitment

   Evidence of genuine local recruitment effort is required before lodging a labour agreement request. Advertise the position through appropriate channels, document all outcomes, and retain the evidence in a form that can be submitted with the request. For nominations lodged under an executed agreement, the labour market testing requirements are governed by the terms of that agreement.

3. 3

   Prepare and lodge the request

   For a company-specific agreement, prepare and lodge the formal request through ImmiAccount. The submission must include the basis for the agreement, the nominated occupations, proposed salary and conditions, evidence of genuine workforce need, documentation of local recruitment efforts, any concession requests with supporting justification, and the outcomes of stakeholder consultation with the relevant industry body and applicable union.

   For a project agreement, the project company first negotiates the overarching deed with the Department of Home Affairs. Individual employers on the project can then apply for their own agreements under that deed.

4. 4

   Agreement negotiated and executed

   The Department of Home Affairs reviews the submission and, if satisfied, negotiates and executes the agreement. Once executed, the agreement specifies the terms under which nominations can be lodged, including any labour market testing requirements for individual nominations. The Department does not publish processing timeframes for labour agreement requests.

5. 5

   Lodge nominations and visa applications

   After the agreement is in place, the employer lodges nominations for each overseas worker. Once a nomination is approved, the worker lodges their visa application. The SAF levy is payable at each nomination.

Obligations after approval

• Holding a company-specific or project labour agreement carries ongoing obligations in addition to the standard duties of an approved sponsor under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) and Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth).

• Employers must pay each sponsored worker at the agreed salary rate and must not reduce conditions below what was approved. Accurate employment records must be maintained and made available to the Department of Home Affairs upon request.

• Any material change to the worker’s employment arrangements or to the business that affects compliance with the agreement must be reported to the Department of Home Affairs.

• Overseas workers should not comprise more than one-third of the total workforce in any one year period, and reliance on overseas labour must decrease over the life of the agreement. The executed agreement’s terms govern how this applies in practice.

• For project agreements, workers’ visas are often linked to the specific project. If the project concludes ahead of schedule or undergoes significant scope changes, the worker’s visa status may be affected. Employers and workers should seek advice as soon as early project completion becomes likely.

• Employers must ensure that all sponsored workers hold the required licences, site inductions, and certifications for their role, and that they comply with applicable state and territory mining safety legislation throughout their employment.

Common mistakes mining employers make

For overseas mining workers

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