Minister of Religion Labour Agreement

The Minister of Religion Industry Labour Agreement lets you sponsor skilled overseas workers in the occupations of Minister of Religion or Religious Assistants for temporary stay periods of up to 4 years and/or for permanent residency .

An immediate permanent pathway is only available under the Minister of Religion Labour Agreement for those applicants who hold the most senior Minister of Religion position in the religious organisation in Australia, or a State/Territory region of Australia.

The terms and conditions of the agreement are set and non-negotiable.

As an employer, you must show that you meet the following requirements.

Visa

You can sponsor skilled overseas workers on these visas:

• Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482)
• Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186)

The decision on which visa is appropriate will be made based on the religious organisation’s business case.

TSMIT in Labour Agreements will be raised to $70,000 pa as of 1 July 2023 .

Any concession to the TSMIT that exists in a Labour Agreement will continue at the current proportion ie, if there is a 10% concession on the $53,900 current TSMIT, there will be a 10% concession on the $70,000 level (eg $7000) from 1 July 2023.

The new Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement will not be affected.

Your organisation

As the requesting organisation, you must be defined as a ‘religious organisation’ in the Migration Regulations. This requires that:

• your activities reflect your organisation is founded on the promotion of a religious object
• members of your religion show through their beliefs and practices they:
  • believe in a supernatural being, thing or principle
  • accept the canons of conduct that give effect to that belief, but that do not offend against the ordinary laws

  You must also show evidence of your organisation’s charitable status.

  You must also identify the people you wish to sponsor at the time you make a request for the Minister of Religion Industry Labour Agreement. We cannot process your industry labour agreement if there are any outstanding immigration issues for your organisation or people you wish to sponsor, such as un-finalised visa applications or merits review proceedings.

  Occupation

  Religious organisations can only nominate for the following Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) positions:

  • skill level 1 occupation of Minister of Religion as defined by ANZSCO 272211. This person must have a senior leadership role in your organisation, or
  • skill level 4 occupation of Religious Assistant as defined by ANZSCO 451816

  We will consider the size of your organisation and workforce if you wish to nominate more than one skilled overseas worker.

  English language

  Skilled overseas workers must meet the English language requirements of the short-term stream of the Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482). We may allow different English language requirements if:

  • they are working in a cloistered or monastic environment, or
  • they can demonstrate completion of at least five years of full-time study in a secondary education institution or higher education institution, where the instruction was delivered in English.

  If the skilled overseas worker will be sponsored under the Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186), they may be assessed as holding sufficient English language proficiency through the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). On this test, they must have an overall test score of at least 5.0, with a score of at least 4.5 in each of the four test components, or equivalent.

  Skills, qualifications and experience

  Ministers of Religion must have:

  • been ‘ordained’ or have ‘professed to a religious life’ as a minister of religion (or equivalent accreditation process within the faith tradition) and
  • hold a minimum qualifications equivalent to a relevant Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) bachelor degree
  • completed at least 5 years of relevant structured training or instruction, noting that experience does not meet this criterion.

  Religious Assistants must have:

  • the relevant qualifications equivalent to a relevant AQF Certificate II or III (ANZSCO Skill Level 4) or
  • at least 2 years of relevant experience as a substitute for the formal qualification listed above.

  Age

  There is no age limit for the Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482).

  Applicants for the Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186) must be no more than 60 years of age at the time of application.

  Salary

  Ministers of Religion

  You must meet the salary requirements of the Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482). Non-monetary benefits may be included in calculating the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) . We may accept a vow of poverty depending on the situation.

  The above requirements apply, however, no concessions can be awarded on the basis that a vow of poverty has been declared.

  Book a meeting today for a commitment free briefing with our Registered Migration Agents in Melbourne to find more about your visa options.

  • 186 Visa Agreement stream
  • 186 Visa Direct Entry stream
  • 186 Visa Transition stream