The 482 visa salary threshold 2026 figure is $79,423. It is not $79,499, which is the number republished across dozens of migration websites this month.
Australia’s employer-sponsored visa income thresholds were indexed on 1 July 2026. The Core Skills Income Threshold rose from $76,515 to $79,423. The Specialist Skills Income Threshold rose from $141,210 to $146,576.
The gap matters. An employer who budgets a nomination at the wrong number risks refusal at lodgement.
Australia indexed its skilled visa income thresholds on 1 July 2026. The correct Core Skills Income Threshold is $79,423, reflecting 3.8 per cent wage indexation. Many law firms and visa blogs published $79,499, a figure based on a forecast 3.9 per cent rise that did not eventuate. Employers and sponsored workers should verify against the Department before lodging any nomination.
The correct 482 visa salary threshold 2026 figures
Here are the thresholds that apply to nominations lodged on or after 1 July 2026.
| Threshold | 2025-26 | From 1 July 2026 | Applies to |
| Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) | $76,515 | $79,423 | Subclass 482 Core Skills stream, Subclass 186 |
| Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT) | $141,210 | $146,576 | Subclass 482 Specialist Skills stream |
| Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) | $76,515 | $79,423 | Subclass 494, Subclass 187 |
All three figures exclude superannuation. They are base earnings only.
Nominations lodged before 1 July 2026 are assessed against the old $76,515 figure. The date of lodgement fixes the threshold, not the date of decision.
Why so many sites published $79,499?
The error is a copying error, and it is instructive.
Indexation under regulation 5.42A of the Migration Regulations 1994 is tied to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings series. Commentators forecast a 3.9 per cent rise and published $79,499 months in advance.
The actual indexation came in at 3.8 per cent. Applying that to $76,515 produces $79,422.57, which rounds to the $79,423 figure the Department carries.
Migration firm Peak Migration flagged the discrepancy directly, noting that the Department’s own website reports $79,423 rather than the widely circulated forecast. Several post-July sources have since converged on the same figure.
CloudColleague publishes the Department’s number. Where a threshold governs whether a nomination can even be lodged, a rounding assumption is not good enough.
What the threshold actually requires?
Meeting the income threshold is necessary. It is not sufficient.
Every nomination must satisfy two tests at once. The salary must meet or exceed the relevant income threshold. It must also meet the Annual Market Salary Rate, which is what an Australian worker would earn in the same role in the same location.
Whichever figure is higher becomes the floor. If the market rate for a software engineer in Sydney is $110,000, offering $79,423 will not save the nomination.
The market salary test does not apply where guaranteed annual earnings reach $250,000 or more.
Superannuation cannot be counted toward any threshold. With the superannuation guarantee at 12 per cent, an employer offering a $79,423 package rather than a $79,423 salary will fall short. This single mistake causes more refusals than any other.
What changed for employers on 1 July 2026?
Two other reforms landed on the same date, and both hit Australian employers directly.
Payday superannuation commenced. Employers must now pay superannuation contributions within seven business days of each payday, rather than quarterly. Cash-flow planning that assumed quarterly remittance needs rebuilding.
Visa application charges also rose sharply. Multiple migration practitioners have reported an increase of roughly 25 per cent, which lifts the upfront cost of sponsoring an overseas worker. Employers should confirm current charges against the Department before budgeting.
If you are sponsoring or hiring locally this financial year, CloudColleague lets you post a job or a task and reach verified Australian professionals without carrying sponsorship cost at all.
How the 2026-27 migration program is shaped?
The permanent migration program for 2026-27 opens 185,000 places.
Skilled migration takes 132,240 of those places, roughly 71 per cent of the intake. Employer-sponsored allocations rose substantially, from 44,000 to 58,040 places. The Family program holds 52,460 places, with 300 under Special Eligibility.
The direction is clear. Employer sponsorship is being expanded, not restricted, even as the salary bar rises.
The Core Skills Occupation List carries 456 occupations across health, trades, engineering, information technology, education and care. Jobs and Skills Australia updates it as labour market conditions shift, which is why the shortage data behind Australia’s in-demand jobs list is worth watching if your occupation sits near the boundary.
What skilled workers should check before accepting an offer?
Read the offer carefully, because the wording decides eligibility.
Confirm that the salary figure refers to base earnings and excludes superannuation. It must also exceed $79,423 for a Core Skills nomination. Finally, check that your occupation appears on the Core Skills Occupation List.
Then ask about the market rate. A compliant threshold with a below-market salary is still a refusable nomination.
An existing 482 visa holder is not affected by the July increase. Your nomination was approved at the salary offered at the time. The new threshold applies to new nominations only.
If your occupation sits outside the list or your offer falls short, contract and task-based work remains open to anyone with valid work rights. You can browse open roles across Australia or create a free verified profile on CloudColleague and let employers find you.
Where the threshold bites hardest?
Some sectors will feel the $2,908 increase more than others.
Hospitality is the obvious pressure point. Chefs and cooks sit under the Core Skills stream, and margins in that industry rarely absorb a wage floor increase quietly.
Aged care and disability support face similar arithmetic. So do regional employers using the Subclass 494, where local market rates often sit close to the threshold.
Technology and engineering employers are largely unaffected on the threshold itself, because market rates for cyber security and software roles already sit well above it. For those employers, the binding constraint is the market salary test, not the floor.
New arrivals weighing where they land can start with our guide for anyone arriving in Australia for the first time, and check current pay bands on CloudColleague salary insights.
What to do before you lodge?
Verify the figure on the Department’s own page on the day you lodge. Do not rely on a law firm blog, and do not rely on this article alone.
Recalculate any nomination sitting between $76,515 and $79,423. Those roles were compliant in June and are not compliant now.
Separate base salary from superannuation in every offer letter. Evidence the market rate properly, with role and location specific data rather than a generic salary survey.
If a nomination is close to the line, get advice from a registered migration agent before lodging rather than after refusal.
The number that decides whether your nomination survives.
The 482 visa salary threshold 2026 figure is $79,423, and the Specialist Skills threshold is $146,576. Anyone quoting $79,499 or $146,717 is repeating a forecast that the indexation did not deliver.
That distinction is worth $76 on paper and an entire refused nomination in practice.
Australian employers who need skilled people without a sponsorship timeline can post a task or a role on CloudColleague today. Skilled workers already in Australia can list their experience free and start bidding on work immediately.
