Australian Farming Visas

Australia Farm Work Visa Updates | Industry labour shortages

Australia is renowned for its vast agricultural industry, and working on a farm can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Whether you’re interested in fruit farming, crop or horticultural farming, livestock farming or even winemaking, Australia offers a wide range of farm work opportunities. So, if you’re ready to embark on an exciting farming adventure in Australia, let’s get started!

Types of farm work available in Australia

Australia offers a wide variety of farm work opportunities for those looking to migrate as farmers or gain practical experience and contribute to the country’s agricultural industry. Some of the common types of farm work include cattle farming, sheep farming, fruit picking, vegetable farming, dairy farming, and winemaking (see list below).

Cattle farming involves tasks such as mustering, branding, and feeding livestock. Dairy farming focuses on the care and management of dairy cows and milk production. Winemaking involves tasks such as grape harvesting, fermentation, and bottling. Fruit farming, on the other hand, requires you to harvest fruits such as apples, oranges, berries, and grapes. Vegetable farming may involve planting, weeding, and harvesting various types of vegetables.

The type of farm work you choose will depend on your interests, skills, and preferences. It’s important to research different farm work options and consider factors such as the seasonality of the work, the physical demands, and the location.

What Are the Possible Visa Options for A Farm Visa Australia?

Working on a farm in Australia comes with certain requirements that you need to meet. Firstly, you will need to obtain a valid work visa.

There are several visa options available for farm work, including the working holiday visa (subclass 417) and the work and holiday visa (subclass 462). These visas allow you to work and travel in Australia for a short period.

Selected farming occupations are eligible for a temporary and permanent visa, as well as a provisional visa which provides a pathway to a permanent residency visa. Before we dig into the detail about the farmer occupations which may qualify for a farming visa for Australia, let us start our discussion by introducing the main types of skilled visas that may be available for Australian immigration for farmers:

• General Skilled Migration: Subclass 190 Skilled (State Sponsored) visa and Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa

• Skills in Demand 482 Employer Sponsored Skilled Visa

• 186 Employer Nominated Skilled Visa

• 494 Employer Sponsored Regional Visa

• Student Visa (Studying a course in Agriculture which also provides work rights with restrictions)

Which Farmer Occupations May Qualify For A Farmers Visa Australia?

For migration law purposes, each nominated farming occupation is defined based on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). The ANZSCO occupational classification system provides a general description of each occupation, skill level, registration and/or licensing requirements and the tasks that may be required to be performed as part of each occupation. Each occupation is assigned a unique ANZSCO code, which is used to identify the occupations that are eligible for a skilled visa for farmers in Australia.

Please see the table below for more details:

121111 Aquaculture Farmer

121313 Dairy Cattle Farmer

121318 Pig Farmer

121321 Poultry Farmer

121315 Goat Farmer

234111 Agricultural Consultant

234114 Agricultural Research Scientist

234115 Agronomist

234116 Aquaculture or Fisheries Scientist

234213 Wine Maker

311112 Agricultural and Agri tech Technician

311113 Animal Husbandry Technician

311114 Aquaculture or Fisheries Technician

311115 Irrigation Designer

311314 Primary Products Quality Assurance Officer

362411 Nurseryperson

362712 Irrigation Technician

Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement – Skills in Demand (subclass 482 visa)

1. The Labour Agreement application is where your Australian business applies to the Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) to become a Business Sponsor under the Labour Agreement stream  . Your business as the  employer will conclude a labour agreement with the Commonwealth to source skilled overseas workers, where there is a demonstrated need that cannot be met in the Australian labour market and the standard skills in demand subclass 482 visa stream is not applicable This is a once off application and remains intact for 5 years for the business to sponsor overseas employees.
2. The NOMINATION application where your Australian business nominates an occupation for the foreign candidate/employee to be sponsored that is consistent with the nature of your business and is genuinely required for its business operations.

The nominated occupations under the Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement are listed below:

Dairy Industry Labour Agreement

The Dairy Industry LA lets the business sponsor skilled overseas workers in the occupations of ‘Senior Dairy Cattle Farm Worker‘ and ‘Dairy Cattle Farm Operator’ for a temporary stay of up to 4 years and/or for permanent residence.

Designated area migration agreements (DAMA)

DAMA is a five-year labour agreement between the Federal Government and certain Regional Governments. DAMA has been negotiated to provide Australian employers a specific tool to sponsor skilled overseas workers in specified industries in a region that is currently experiencing critical skill and labour shortages.

There are currently 13 DAMAs in place. Below is a list of those DAMAs with links to the respective DAR* websites that contain information on how to access each DAMA as well as which regions/locations/shires are covered:

• Adelaide City Technology and Innovation Advancement, SA: Skilled & Business Migration
• East Kimberley, WA: East Kimberley Chamber of Commerce and Industry​
• Far North Queensland, QLD: Cairns Chamber of Commerce, 
• Goulburn Valley, VIC: Goulburn Valley​
• Great South Coast, VIC: Warrnambool City Council​
• Northern Territory, NT: Northern Territory Designated Area Migration Agreement
• Orana, NSW: Regional Development Australia – Orana, NSW
• Pilbara, WA: RDA Pilb​ara​
• South Australia Regional, SA: Skilled & Business Migration
• South West, WA: Shire of Dardanup
• The Goldfields, WA: City of Kalgoorlie Boulder​​​​​
• Townsville, QLD: Townsville Enterprise Limited​
• Western Australia: Department of Training and Workforce Development​

Australia’s migration laws are complex, and each case is different. We recommend that you seek professional advice if you are seeking to migrate to Australia as a farmer, as being fully informed will give you the best chance of achieving a successful outcome on your case. A migration professional can help you to do this.

Should you require advice on your options for a Farm Worker Visa in Australia, we encourage you to contact our team to discuss your circumstances.

You can use job search websites like Seek (www.seek.com.au) and Indeed (www.indeed.com.au).

Additionally, as a Phillip Silver & Associates client you have access to our dedicated Farming recruitment service for new migrants to Australia. We have successfully placed farmers all over Australia through our extensive network.