Exactly at midnight Canberra time on 1 November 2025, the Department of Home Affairs activated the first ballot for the Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early-professionals Scheme (MATES) under Subclass 403 (Temporary Work – International Relations) . The pilot grants up to 3 000 Indian citizens—aged 18--30 and holding recent STEM-related degrees—a two-year, open-work visa with full employment rights and no sponsorship requirement.
The ballot model mirrors New Zealand’s Working-Holiday system: eligible candidates pay a nominal AUD 25 fee to enter a random draw that runs until 14 December 2025. Those selected can then lodge a simplified visa application (AUD 365) and, once approved, bring immediate family members without affecting the primary annual cap. The Australian and Indian governments hail the programme as a centrepiece of their Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, designed to deepen professional links in renewables, critical minerals, fintech and agritech.
![MATES ballot opens 1 November 2025, offering 3 000 visas for young Indian professionals]()
For Australian employers, the visa offers rapid access to work-ready graduates in scarce niches such as battery-materials engineering and AI modelling, without the red tape of sponsorship. Consulting giants in Melbourne’s Docklands and Sydney’s Tech Central have already scheduled virtual job fairs targeted at ballot entrants. The Indian National Skill Development Corporation is running orientation webinars to ensure successful candidates transition smoothly to Australia’s workplace culture.
Migration lawyers expect demand to be intense: last year’s pilot expression-of-interest site crashed within minutes of opening. Applicants are advised to prepare digital scans of passports, degree certificates and IELTS/PTE results before the selection window closes. Corporates planning to leverage the scheme should review remuneration packages to ensure competitiveness against the AUD 90 000 benchmark now common under the parallel 4 + 1 visa.
The ballot model mirrors New Zealand’s Working-Holiday system: eligible candidates pay a nominal AUD 25 fee to enter a random draw that runs until 14 December 2025. Those selected can then lodge a simplified visa application (AUD 365) and, once approved, bring immediate family members without affecting the primary annual cap. The Australian and Indian governments hail the programme as a centrepiece of their Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, designed to deepen professional links in renewables, critical minerals, fintech and agritech.
For Australian employers, the visa offers rapid access to work-ready graduates in scarce niches such as battery-materials engineering and AI modelling, without the red tape of sponsorship. Consulting giants in Melbourne’s Docklands and Sydney’s Tech Central have already scheduled virtual job fairs targeted at ballot entrants. The Indian National Skill Development Corporation is running orientation webinars to ensure successful candidates transition smoothly to Australia’s workplace culture.
Migration lawyers expect demand to be intense: last year’s pilot expression-of-interest site crashed within minutes of opening. Applicants are advised to prepare digital scans of passports, degree certificates and IELTS/PTE results before the selection window closes. Corporates planning to leverage the scheme should review remuneration packages to ensure competitiveness against the AUD 90 000 benchmark now common under the parallel 4 + 1 visa.
