Australia’s long-awaited 2025-26 Permanent Migration Program has finally taken shape and, to the relief of employers, the Albanese government will keep the overall ceiling at 185,000 places. An internal briefing circulated to state premiers on 3 January and obtained by VisaHQ confirms that roughly 70 per cent of places will again flow to the Skill stream, consolidating a policy pivot that began in 2023 toward talent attraction over family reunification.
Behind the steady headline number, however, lie some of the toughest settings Australia has introduced in a decade. The Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) has already climbed above AUD 76,000 and will be indexed again on 1 July. A newly consolidated Core Skills Occupation List will funnel visas into three priority clusters—health & aged care, clean-energy engineering and advanced manufacturing—while removing hundreds of lower-paid roles. Higher English-language score requirements will also bite. State and territory nomination quotas reflecting the tougher filters are due in February once the Centre for Population releases updated forecasts.
Amid these fast-moving policy tweaks, employers don’t have to navigate the system alone. VisaHQ’s Australian immigration specialists can help companies and skilled migrants interpret the updated occupation lists, prepare compliant documentation and submit applications through their streamlined portal (https://www.visahq.com/australia/), reducing turnaround times and costly errors.
![Canberra keeps 185,000-place migration cap for 2025-26 but tightens skilled-visa rules]()
For corporate mobility managers the message is mixed. Twelve months of policy certainty will help with workforce planning, yet tighter occupation lists and salary thresholds will inflate cost-to-hire. Regional hospitals and renewable-energy projects—often operating on slim margins—must revisit recruitment budgets and accelerate labour-market testing so offers can be issued before occupations disappear. Employers should also build scenario plans in case Treasury re-balances Skill and Family streams mid-year if unemployment ticks up.
HR teams have practical work to do immediately: audit pending skills-assessments against the draft list, refresh offer templates with the higher CSIT figure, and brief hiring managers on the tougher IELTS/PTE benchmarks. Companies that depend heavily on 482 Temporary Skill Shortage visas are also being urged to budget for the government’s next increase in the TSMIT minimum salary floor, expected in the May budget.
Looking further ahead, Home Affairs has hinted that a streamlined “Talent & Innovation” points visa could debut by July 2026, replacing several niche pathways (including the current Global Talent visa). If legislated, that reform could restore a fast, employer-agnostic route to permanent residence for R&D and deep-tech professionals—high on the wish-list of Australia’s advanced-manufacturing sector.
Behind the steady headline number, however, lie some of the toughest settings Australia has introduced in a decade. The Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) has already climbed above AUD 76,000 and will be indexed again on 1 July. A newly consolidated Core Skills Occupation List will funnel visas into three priority clusters—health & aged care, clean-energy engineering and advanced manufacturing—while removing hundreds of lower-paid roles. Higher English-language score requirements will also bite. State and territory nomination quotas reflecting the tougher filters are due in February once the Centre for Population releases updated forecasts.
Amid these fast-moving policy tweaks, employers don’t have to navigate the system alone. VisaHQ’s Australian immigration specialists can help companies and skilled migrants interpret the updated occupation lists, prepare compliant documentation and submit applications through their streamlined portal (https://www.visahq.com/australia/), reducing turnaround times and costly errors.
For corporate mobility managers the message is mixed. Twelve months of policy certainty will help with workforce planning, yet tighter occupation lists and salary thresholds will inflate cost-to-hire. Regional hospitals and renewable-energy projects—often operating on slim margins—must revisit recruitment budgets and accelerate labour-market testing so offers can be issued before occupations disappear. Employers should also build scenario plans in case Treasury re-balances Skill and Family streams mid-year if unemployment ticks up.
HR teams have practical work to do immediately: audit pending skills-assessments against the draft list, refresh offer templates with the higher CSIT figure, and brief hiring managers on the tougher IELTS/PTE benchmarks. Companies that depend heavily on 482 Temporary Skill Shortage visas are also being urged to budget for the government’s next increase in the TSMIT minimum salary floor, expected in the May budget.
Looking further ahead, Home Affairs has hinted that a streamlined “Talent & Innovation” points visa could debut by July 2026, replacing several niche pathways (including the current Global Talent visa). If legislated, that reform could restore a fast, employer-agnostic route to permanent residence for R&D and deep-tech professionals—high on the wish-list of Australia’s advanced-manufacturing sector.
