The Great South Coast (GSC) region, in south west Victoria, entered into a DAMA with the Commonwealth Government in March 2019.
The GSC region includes the Local Government areas of Glenelg Shire, Southern Grampians Shire, Moyne Shire, Corangamite Shire, Colac-Otway Shire and Warrnambool City Council.
Only employers based in these local government areas can apply for a GSC DAMA Labour Agreement.
The GSC DAMA enables the region’s employers sponsor skilled and semi-skilled Overseas Workers for specified positions they are unable to fill with local workers.
The objectives of the GSC DAMA are to complement existing Australian Government initiatives to address skills and labour shortages by:
- Providing the GSC with a flexible mechanism to address workforce shortages and support workforce planning.
- Enabling employers in the GSC, who are unable to recruit appropriately qualified Australians, to supplement their workforce with overseas workers.
- To support the expansion of the GSC economy through jobs growth.
- Ensuring that Overseas Workers sponsored through Labour Agreements receive terms and conditions that meet applicable Australian workplace law and are no less favourable than those provided to Australian workers.
- Promoting the training of Australians by employers entering into a Labour Agreement.
The DAMA program utilises the labour agreement stream of the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482) and the labour agreement stream of the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Visa (subclass 494).
Visa 482: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/tempo…
Visa 494: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/skill…
Employers enter into a Labour Agreement with the Australian Government and workers are then eligible to be considered for either the subclass 482 visa or the 494 visa.
Employers interested in a Labour Agreement under the DAMA must first be endorsed by the Designated Area Representative (DAR).
If the employer is endorsed, the DAR will provide a Letter of Endorsement to the employer and the Department of Home Affairs. The endorsed employer may then apply for a DAMA Labour Agreement.
The DAMA program is an employer-sponsored program and individual workers cannot apply independently.
The key elements of GSC DAMA are:
- Providing a pathway to permanent residency (refer to Frequently Asked Questions for more information)
- Restricted to one hundred and thirteen (113) Approved Occupations that reflect skilled and semi-skilled shortages in the GSC region
- English language concessions for some occupations
- Salary concessions for some occupations, but ensuring that worker terms and conditions of employment are not eroded
- Age concessions
- A range of risk and integrity actions to ensure that the rights of both workers and employers are protected