Changes occurring in August – October 2020
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has indicated that it will be providing a set number of interim allocations for subclass 491, 190, 188 and 132 visa nomination places to states and territories. The specific number of allocations will be revealed after the 2020-21 Federal Budget is handed down in October.
According to the DHA, all nominations must act as a contribution towards enhancing Australia’s economic recovery and comply with 3 major principles:
- High quality subclass 188 and 132 (Business Innovation and Investment Program) nomination applications.
- Applicants critical to supporting Tasmania’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including individuals providing critical or specialist medical services, critical skills required to maintain the supply of essential goods and services, or delivering services in sectors critical to Australia’s economic recovery.
- Applicants currently in Australia who can demonstrate their capacity to meaningfully contribute to economic recovery.
The selection criteria will depend on these 3 factors and priority will be given to those whose occupation is deemed as critical.
This does not mean that those who have non-critical occupations are not able to apply – they can – but will only be considered after priority applications for critical roles have been processed.
What is considered to be a ‘critical’ role?
For the state of Tasmania, critical roles include:
- directly assisting Tasmania’s COVID-19 response directly engaged by the Tasmanian Government
- providing critical/specialist medical services or delivering medical supplies potentially associated with COVID-19 response. This includes all general nursing and medical positions with the Tasmanian Health Service
- directly involved in the supply of essential goods and services (medical technology, critical infrastructure, telecommunications, engineering and mining, supply chain logistics, agricultural technology, food production, and the maritime industry) including highly skilled and specialised roles in:
- infrastructure engineering and maintenance such as dams, large-/high-complexity bridges, irrigation schemes, transport logistics planning and maintenance
- agriculture such as artificial insemination technicians, wool classers, livestock pregnancy scanners
- the supply of essential goods and services which would be in jeopardy without the applicant.
491/190 applications lodged before 1pm (AEST), Tuesday 25th August 2020
Applicants who request their application continue to be considered for nomination will not receive a refund regardless of the outcome.
Applicants who are not employed in critical roles will not be nominated unless they can strongly demonstrate that their nomination will genuinely benefit economic recovery in Tasmania.
There is no guaranteed timeframe for an outcome and applicants in non-critical roles may not receive an outcome until October or later.
With the very limited number of nomination places available, nomination cannot be guaranteed and only those in critical roles or able to provide the most compelling claims will be supported.
491/190 applications lodged after 1pm (AEST), Tuesday 25th August 2020
Any new applications lodged after 1pm (AEST), Tuesday 25th August 2020 must meet the minimum requirements of their chosen nomination category and demonstrate that the applicant is critical to supporting Tasmania’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery.
Applicants must provide a letter of support from their employer clearly explaining how their role is critical to providing medical services, the supply of essential goods and services, or delivering services in sectors critical to Tasmania’s economic recovery. If an applicant cannot show that their role is critical, it will not be supported for nomination.
This requirement will be reviewed after the Federal Budget in October when full details of the 2020-21 nomination allocations and requirements are announced by the Department of Home Affairs.
