Written by Immigrad · Registered Migration Agent · MARN 1805710 · Last updated September 2026
If you are planning a regional sponsorship, a state nomination or a second Temporary Graduate visa, one question decides almost everything: is the address inside a designated regional area? Australia’s regional migration concessions are drawn on a postcode map, not on how remote a town feels. Perth and Adelaide are regional. So are Canberra, Hobart, Geelong and the Gold Coast. Central Brisbane is not. This guide sets out the full designated regional area postcode list, explains the three categories behind it, and shows which visas each category unlocks for employers and applicants. All postcodes and rules are current as at September 2026.
What is a designated regional area in Australia?
“Designated regional area” is a defined legal term, not a description of scenery. Regulation 1.03 of the Migration Regulations 1994 defines it as a part of Australia specified in a legislative instrument made under regulation 1.15M. The Minister can remake that instrument, so the map is not permanent — a postcode that is regional today can be recategorised later.
Two consequences matter commercially. First, eligibility turns on where the position or the person is located, not on where your head office sits. A Sydney-registered company can sponsor into a regional worksite; a regional company cannot place a regional visa holder in a Sydney office. Second, “regional” for migration purposes has nothing to do with Australian Bureau of Statistics remoteness classifications, or with what a bank, a grant programme or a state agency calls regional. Only the migration instrument counts.
The three regional categories explained
The Department of Home Affairs splits Australia into three categories. Categories 2 and 3 are both designated regional areas and both attract regional concessions.
Category 1 — Major Cities
Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. These are the cities the regional programme is designed to divert skilled migration away from, and they are not designated regional areas. No regional visa, no regional points concession, no regional graduate extension.
Category 2 — Cities and Major Regional Centres
Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Newcastle/Lake Macquarie, Wollongong/Illawarra, Geelong and Hobart. This is the category most employers get wrong, because four of these are capital cities. They are designated regional areas in full.
Category 3 — Regional Centres and Other Regional Areas
Everywhere else: Cairns, Townsville, Ballarat, Bendigo, Toowoomba, Launceston, Lismore, Whyalla, the whole of the Northern Territory, Norfolk Island and every rural and remote town in between.
The Category 2 versus Category 3 split rarely changes whether you qualify. It changes how much you get — most visibly on the Temporary Graduate extension, where Category 3 attracts a longer stay, and in some state and territory nomination settings.
Designated regional area postcodes: the full list
The table below reproduces the Department of Home Affairs postcode list. Where a state’s Category 3 entry says “all other postcodes”, that is exactly what it means — anything not captured by the Category 2 line is Category 3.
| State or Territory | Category | Postcodes |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Cities and major regional centres (Category 2) | 2259, 2264 to 2308, 2500 to 2526, 2528 to 2535 and 2574 |
| New South Wales | Regional centres and other regional areas (Category 3) | 2250 to 2258, 2260 to 2263, 2311 to 2490, 2527, 2536 to 2551, 2575 to 2739, 2753 to 2754, 2756 to 2758 and 2773 to 2898 |
| Victoria | Cities and major regional centres (Category 2) | 3211 to 3232, 3235, 3240, 3328, 3330 to 3333, 3340 and 3342 |
| Victoria | Regional centres and other regional areas (Category 3) | 3097 to 3099, 3139, 3233 to 3234, 3236 to 3239, 3241 to 3325, 3329, 3334, 3341, 3345 to 3424, 3430 to 3799, 3809 to 3909, 3912 to 3971 and 3978 to 3996 |
| Queensland | Cities and major regional centres (Category 2) | 4019 to 4022*, 4025*, 4037*, 4074*, 4076 to 4078*, 4207 to 4275, 4300 to 4301*, 4303 to 4305*, 4500 to 4506*, 4508 to 4512*, 4514 to 4516*, 4517 to 4519, 4521*, 4550 to 4551, 4553 to 4562, 4564 to 4569 and 4571 to 4575 |
| Queensland | Regional centres and other regional areas (Category 3) | 4124, 4125, 4133, 4183 to 4184, 4280 to 4287, 4306 to 4498, 4507, 4552, 4563, 4570 and 4580 to 4895 |
| Western Australia | Cities and major regional centres (Category 2) | 6000 to 6038, 6050 to 6083, 6090 to 6182, 6208 to 6211, 6214 and 6556 to 6558 |
| Western Australia | Regional centres and other regional areas (Category 3) | All postcodes in Western Australia not listed in the Category 2 row above |
| South Australia | Cities and major regional centres (Category 2) | 5000 to 5171, 5173 to 5174, 5231 to 5235, 5240 to 5252, 5351 and 5950 to 5960 |
| South Australia | Regional centres and other regional areas (Category 3) | All postcodes in South Australia not listed in the Category 2 row above |
| Tasmania | Cities and major regional centres (Category 2) | 7000, 7004 to 7026, 7030 to 7109, 7140 to 7151 and 7170 to 7177 |
| Tasmania | Regional centres and other regional areas (Category 3) | All postcodes in Tasmania not listed in the Category 2 row above |
| Australian Capital Territory | Cities and major regional centres (Category 2) | All ACT postcodes |
| Northern Territory | Regional centres and other regional areas (Category 3) | All NT postcodes |
| Norfolk Island | Regional centres and other regional areas (Category 3) | All Norfolk Island postcodes |
| Other Territories | Regional centres and other regional areas (Category 3) | All postcodes in a Territory other than the ACT, the Northern Territory or Norfolk Island |
* The asterisked Queensland postcodes do not apply to visas granted before 5 March 2022. If you are advising on a regional visa granted before that date, check the instrument that applied at grant rather than the current table.
Which visas depend on the designated regional area definition
Subclass 494 — Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional)
The subclass 494 visa is the main employer-sponsored regional pathway. The nominated position must be located in a designated regional area, and the holder may live, work and study only in designated regional areas. It is a five-year provisional visa, with a permanent residence pathway available after three years. The Department currently publishes a cost from AUD 6,140 for the Employer Sponsored stream, with concessions in limited circumstances. Our 494 regional employer’s guide covers the nomination requirements in detail.
Subclass 491 — Skilled Work Regional (Provisional)
The subclass 491 is points-tested and requires nomination by a state or territory government agency, or sponsorship by an eligible relative living in a designated regional area. The holder must live, work and study in a designated regional area for the five-year visa period. Applications are prioritised under Ministerial Direction No. 119, which currently favours construction, healthcare and teaching occupations.
Subclass 191 — Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional)
The subclass 191 visa is the permanent outcome for 491 and 494 holders. It requires holding the eligible provisional visa for at least three years, complying with its conditions across that period, and meeting a minimum taxable income threshold in each of those years. There is no sponsor and no nominator — but there is also no forgiveness for a period spent living outside a designated regional area.
Subclass 485 — Second Post-Higher Education Work stream
Graduates of a CRICOS-registered degree from an institution based in an eligible designated regional area can apply for a second Temporary Graduate visa of between one and two years. The length depends on the regional category of the institution and of where the graduate has lived. Applicants must have lived in an eligible designated regional area for at least two years immediately before applying. For employers, this stream is a useful source of onshore candidates already settled in a regional location.
DAMA and regional labour agreements
Designated Area Migration Agreements operate within nominated regions and can give employers access to occupations, salary concessions and English concessions that are not otherwise available. If your occupation is not on a relevant skilled occupation list, a DAMA is often the remaining option. We compare the economics of the three regional routes in 482 vs 494 vs DAMA.
What the regional definition does not affect
The subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa and the subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme have no regional location requirement. A business in Sydney or Melbourne can use both. If you are weighing a regional route against a metropolitan one, the trade-off is concessions and priority processing against a multi-year residence restriction on your employee — not a question of eligibility.
Five traps employers fall into with regional postcodes
1. Confusing head office with worksite. The test is where the position is located and performed. A regional ABN registered to a metropolitan accountant’s address proves nothing.
2. Multi-site or travelling roles. If a role genuinely requires regular work in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, a 494 is the wrong instrument. Document the actual work location honestly at nomination stage rather than trying to fix it later.
3. Assuming a capital city cannot be regional. Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart are all designated regional areas. Employers in those cities routinely overlook concessions they already qualify for.
4. Assuming greater Brisbane is regional. Some outer Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Logan and Redland postcodes are Category 2 and others are Category 3, but central Brisbane is neither. The boundary runs between adjacent postcodes, so check the number rather than the suburb name.
5. Relying on a stale list. The instrument changes. A postcode list copied from an article written two years ago is a compliance risk, not a shortcut.
How to check a postcode before you commit
Confirm the exact worksite postcode against the current Department of Home Affairs table before you advertise the role, before you sign a contract, and before you lodge. Where a business operates across several sites, decide which site the position is genuinely attached to and be able to evidence it with rosters, client agreements or a lease. If the position sits close to a category boundary, have the postcode checked by a registered migration agent before you spend money on labour market testing.
Employers costing a regional sponsorship can start with our sponsor a worker cost calculator, work through the Employer Sponsorship Readiness Checklist, and read the full guide to sponsoring an employee in Australia. Labour market testing rules are set out in our LMT guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Perth a designated regional area?
Yes. Perth sits in Category 2, “Cities and Major Regional Centres”, and is a designated regional area for the 491, 494, 191 and second Temporary Graduate pathways. The same applies to Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart.
Is Brisbane a designated regional area?
Central Brisbane is Category 1 and is not regional. A number of outer postcodes across Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Logan, Redland and the corridor south to the Gold Coast are Category 2, and others further out are Category 3. Because the categories split adjacent postcodes, check the specific postcode in the table above rather than relying on the suburb’s reputation.
Does my business have to be located in a regional area to sponsor a 494?
The nominated position must be located in a designated regional area. The sponsoring entity can be registered elsewhere, provided the role is genuinely performed in the region and you can evidence that. This is a common point of scrutiny at nomination stage.
Can a 494 or 491 holder move to Sydney after the visa is granted?
No. Both visas require the holder to live, work and study only in a designated regional area. Breaching that requirement puts the visa at risk and can break the three-year record needed for the subclass 191 permanent visa.
Do the designated regional area postcodes change?
Yes. The list sits in a legislative instrument made under regulation 1.15M of the Migration Regulations 1994 and has been amended before — the Queensland asterisks reflect a change that took effect on 5 March 2022. Always verify against the Department’s current page before lodging.
What is the difference between Category 2 and Category 3?
Both are designated regional areas, so both open the regional visa pathways. The practical differences show up in the length of a second Temporary Graduate visa, in some state and territory nomination criteria, and in where individual DAMAs operate.
Talk to a registered migration agent
A single postcode can decide whether a nomination is viable, and finding out late means a refused nomination and a role left unfilled. Immigrad advises employers and applicants Australia-wide by video consultation on regional sponsorship, nomination strategy and the 494 to 191 pathway. Book a consultation to have your position and location assessed before you lodge.
This article is general information only and is current as at September 2026. It does not take your circumstances into account, and migration law and postcode instruments change. Complex cases need personal advice from a registered migration agent.