There is a change to labour agreements for 2026 that has had almost no coverage, and it quietly alters how you should draft an agreement in the first place.
The Department’s labour agreements step by step page now states: from 2026, it will only support one variation in each year of a labour agreement, and it will not accept any variation requests in the first six months after a new agreement is signed.
If you have been treating a labour agreement as something you can adjust whenever the business shifts, that assumption no longer holds.
Why this changes how you draft the original agreement
Under the old working pattern, an employer could sign an agreement that covered current needs and come back later to add an occupation, lift a nomination ceiling, or adjust a concession.
Now you have one variation per agreement year, and a six month blackout at the start. So a ceiling that is slightly too low, or an occupation list that omits a role you will predictably need in month four, cannot simply be patched.
The practical consequence is that the business case at the outset has to reflect where the business is going, not only where it is. The Department says it directly: you should plan ahead for your business needs.
What a variation request has to contain
Variations are not lodged through ImmiAccount like the original request. You email the Department with the relevant form and the following:
- your current Permission Request ID (PRID), which appears in the correspondence you received when the existing agreement was approved
- a brief indication of the terms, concessions or nomination ceilings you want to vary, noting the Department may send additional forms depending on its assessment
- an updated workforce plan, including any retrenchment or redundancies of Australian workers
- evidence of all recruitment activities in the immediate six months before your request
- evidence of salary for each occupation in your agreement, for both an Australian employee and a skilled overseas worker
That last item is the one employers underestimate. You are being asked to demonstrate, occupation by occupation, that you are not paying overseas workers less than Australians doing equivalent work. If your payroll cannot produce that comparison quickly, the variation will stall.
There are three variation forms, depending on your instrument: Company Specific, Industry Labour Agreement, and On-Hire Industry Labour Agreement.
DAMAs work differently
If your agreement sits under a Designated Area Migration Agreement, you do not lodge the variation yourself.
The Department states that requests for variations to DAMAs are provided directly to the department by the relevant Designated Area Representative, and that no request form is required.
So the conversation is with your DAR, not with Canberra. This is another reason the relationship with the regional body matters beyond the initial endorsement, and we cover the regional structure in our guide to the 13 DAMAs currently in place.
Renewal is not a rollover
This surprises people every year. An expiring labour agreement does not roll over, and there is no renewal form.
The Department’s position is that if your existing labour agreement is due to expire and you wish to renew it, you will need to lodge a new labour agreement request in ImmiAccount.
A new request means the full assessment again: business standing, financial viability, the skills need, the workforce tests, and stakeholder consultation. Everything covered in our guide to requesting a company specific labour agreement applies afresh.
Labour agreements generally run for five years, which sounds like plenty of notice. In practice the businesses that get caught are the ones that discover in month 58 that renewal means starting over.
Timing, and what happens if you leave it late
The Department asks that variation requests be lodged in a timely manner, and gives two specific reasons.
The first is that it ensures your business can continue to nominate workers under the terms of the agreement. The second is that it ensures any associated nominations or visa applications that are not yet finalised are not delayed or impacted.
That second reason is the one with a human cost. A late variation does not only inconvenience the business. It can sit underneath a nomination and a visa application belonging to someone who has already given notice at another job.
A practical timeline
Working backwards from the rules above, a sensible rhythm for a five year agreement looks like this:
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Months 1 to 6 | Variation blackout. Nothing can be changed |
| Each agreement year | One variation available. Decide what it is spent on |
| Ongoing | Keep salary comparison evidence current, by occupation |
| About 12 months before expiry | Begin preparing a fresh request, including consultation |
| Before expiry | Lodge the new request in ImmiAccount |
The consultation step is the reason to start a year out rather than a quarter out. Stakeholders have to be given time to respond, and evidence of that process forms part of the request.
Frequently asked questions
How many times can we vary a labour agreement?
From 2026, the Department will only support one variation in each year of a labour agreement, and will not accept variation requests in the first six months after a new agreement is signed.
How do we vary a labour agreement?
By email, using the Company Specific, Industry Labour Agreement or On-Hire Industry Labour Agreement variation form, quoting your Permission Request ID and providing an updated workforce plan, six months of recruitment evidence, and salary evidence for each occupation.
Can we increase our nomination ceiling mid-agreement?
Nomination ceilings are one of the things a variation can address, subject to the one variation per year rule and the six month blackout at the start.
Do we lodge a DAMA variation ourselves?
No. Variations to DAMAs are provided directly to the Department by the relevant Designated Area Representative, and no request form is required from the employer.
What happens when our labour agreement expires?
It does not roll over. If you wish to continue, you lodge a new labour agreement request in ImmiAccount and the request is assessed afresh.
Will a late variation affect our people?
It can. The Department notes that lodging in a timely manner ensures associated nominations and visa applications that are not yet finalised are not delayed or impacted.
A realistic next step
If your agreement was signed in the last six months, the useful work right now is listing what you would have varied, so that when the window opens you spend the one variation on the right thing. If your agreement expires within the next year, the useful work is treating it as a fresh application rather than a renewal. Our team advises Australian businesses on labour agreements, and you can speak to our migration lawyers about timing a variation or a new request.
About the author: Tina Nematian is the Principal Lawyer at One Planet Migration Law. She is an Australian Legal Practitioner and a Registered Migration Agent (MARN), and has guided clients through partner, skilled, employer-sponsored, student, and humanitarian visa applications across Australia.
This article is general information only and does not constitute legal or migration advice. Visa rules change frequently and outcomes depend on individual circumstances. Speak with a registered migration lawyer or agent before making any application. Figures were current as of August 2026; always check immi.homeaffairs.gov.au before lodging.
