Written by Immigrad · Registered Migration Agent · MARN 1805710 · Last updated September 2026
Most employers put their energy into getting a nomination approved and assume the compliance work ends there. It does not. Your sponsorship obligations in Australia begin the day your standard business sponsorship is approved, and several of them keep running for years after the sponsored worker has left. This is also the part of the programme the Department actively monitors.
Here is what the obligations require in practice, and where employers most often come unstuck. Figures are current as at September 2026. If you are new to the programme, start with our complete employer guide to sponsoring an employee in Australia.
What sponsorship obligations in Australia actually require
The obligations are set out in Division 2.19 of the Migration Regulations 1994. They exist so that sponsored workers are not exploited and so the programme is not used to undercut local wages and conditions. They apply to you as the approved sponsor, not to the visa holder, and they apply whether you sponsor one worker or fifty.
They attach to your approval as a standard business sponsor rather than to any single visa, so the same core set covers workers on the Skills in Demand (SID) subclass 482 visa and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) subclass 494 visa. A subclass 186 nomination sits outside standard business sponsorship, but if you already sponsor that worker on a 482, your obligations continue until the permanent visa is granted.
The nine obligations, and where employers slip
1. Tell the Department when things change, within 28 days
This is the obligation breached most often, almost always by oversight. You must notify in writing about changes to your legal name, trading name, registration details, business structure, business address, communication contact, and your owners, directors, principals or partners. You must also notify if the business becomes insolvent or bankrupt, enters receivership, liquidation or administration, or ceases to exist as a legal entity. Companies must report a newly appointed director, and partnerships a new partner.
Separately, you must notify if the person you sponsor ceases employment, has a change in duties, or never commenced work. The window is 28 calendar days, not 28 business days. Lodge the Notification of sponsorship changes form in ImmiAccount, or email the sponsor notifications address published by the Department, and keep proof of what you sent and when.
2. Keep the worker in the nominated occupation
A sponsored employee may only work in the occupation you nominated them for. Quiet role drift is a real risk in smaller businesses, where a capable employee gradually absorbs duties from elsewhere. If the duties genuinely change you need a new nomination, and a 482 or 494 holder also needs a new visa. You can promote the worker and you can pay them more, provided the duties do not change.
Standard business sponsors must also employ the worker under a written contract of employment, and generally cannot on-hire a sponsored worker to another business.
3. Maintain equivalent terms and conditions
Annual earnings must be at least the amount stated in the nomination the Department approved, and employment conditions must be no less favourable than those of an equivalent Australian worker. This applies where annual earnings are under AUD250,000.
Worth clearing up: the ongoing obligation is measured against the approved nomination and the equivalent Australian worker, not against the income threshold as it rises each year. Thresholds are tested at lodgement. For nominations lodged between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027, the Core Skills Income Threshold is AUD79,423, the Specialist Skills Income Threshold is AUD146,576, and the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold used for subclass 494 is AUD79,423. The annual market salary rate must still be met in every case. Model a specific role with our sponsorship cost calculator.
4. Assume the sponsorship and recruitment costs yourself
You must pay, and not recover, the cost of becoming a sponsor, nomination charges, and migration agent costs connected with the sponsorship and nomination. The same applies to the whole recruitment process: recruitment and agent fees, advertising, screening, interviewing, reference and police checks, your own HR salaries, and travel to meet candidates. The Skilling Australians Fund levy sits here too.
The prohibition extends to attempting to transfer these costs, so deductions, clawback clauses and bonds designed to recoup visa expenses all breach it. See our separate article on whether an employer can make a sponsored worker pay the visa costs.
5. Keep records that can actually be produced
Records must be in a reproducible format, and some must be capable of verification by an independent person. Beyond what other laws already require, keep records of the tasks the employee performed in the nominated occupation and where, earnings paid, non-monetary benefits and their agreed value, the terms and conditions of any equivalent worker, the written contract of employment, and every event you reported to the Department including the date and method of notification.
6. Pay return travel costs when asked
On written request from the employee or the Department, you must pay reasonable and necessary travel costs for the worker and their sponsored family members to leave Australia: travel from their usual residence to their departure point, and economy class air travel or a reasonable equivalent to their country of passport. Payment is due within 30 days, and the obligation applies once only.
7. Pay location and removal costs if a worker becomes unlawful
If your sponsored employee or a sponsored family member becomes an unlawful non-citizen, you may have to repay the Commonwealth’s costs of locating and removing them, capped at AUD10,000 and reduced by any travel costs already paid. This can be required for up to five years after the person leaves Australia.
8. Cooperate with inspectors
Inspectors appointed under the Migration Act 1958 can investigate whether your obligations have been met and whether you have engaged an illegal worker. You must give access to your premises and the people on them, produce documents within the requested timeframe, and comply with other reasonable requests. Fair Work inspectors also hold powers under the Migration Act.
9. Do not engage in discriminatory recruitment practices
You must not recruit in a way that disadvantages Australian citizens or anyone else on the basis of visa or citizenship status, and you must keep records showing you did not. In practice your labour market testing file should show genuine, open advertising and a defensible reason for each rejection.
What happens when a sponsored worker resigns
This is where employers are most often surprised. Notifying within 28 days is only the first step. The worker then has up to 180 days from their final day to find another approved sponsor, be granted a different visa, or leave Australia. Until one of those happens, your obligations to that person and their dependants continue, including return travel costs on request.
Monitoring, sanctions and what a breach costs
The Department monitors compliance while you are a sponsor and for up to five years afterwards, through requests for records, site visits with or without notice, and information sharing with agencies including the Fair Work Ombudsman and the ATO. Sponsors found not to have complied, and the action taken, are published on the Australian Border Force website.
Where obligations are breached the Department may bar you from sponsoring further workers, refuse a future sponsorship application, cancel existing approvals, issue a compliance notice, or seek an enforceable undertaking. Financially, the Department currently publishes infringement notices of up to AUD15,840 for individuals and AUD79,200 for bodies corporate per breach, and civil penalty orders of up to AUD76,200 for individuals and AUD396,000 for corporations for each failure. These amounts are tied to the Commonwealth penalty unit, which rose to AUD364 on 1 July 2026, so the figure that applies depends on when the breach occurred. Serious, deliberate or repeated breaches can also attract a prohibition declaration preventing you from employing further migrant workers for a period.
A compliance routine that takes about an hour a quarter
- Give one named person responsibility for the sponsorship file, and a backup.
- Add a 28-day trigger to your offboarding and role-change checklists.
- Run a quarterly payroll check against the earnings in each approved nomination.
- Keep one folder per sponsored worker: contract, position description, nomination decision, payslips, duties evidence and copies of every notification sent.
- Review duties before a promotion or restructure, not after.
- Diarise sponsorship and nomination expiry dates in the same place.
Our Employer Sponsorship Readiness Checklist covers the documents and controls worth having in place before your next nomination.
Frequently asked questions
Do my sponsorship obligations end when the worker resigns?
No. The worker has up to 180 days from their last day to be nominated by another sponsor, be granted another visa, or depart, and your obligations to them and their dependants continue during that period. Record-keeping obligations run for two years after your sponsorship ends and you no longer employ a sponsored worker, and cooperating with inspectors runs for five years.
Can I ask a sponsored worker to repay the visa costs if they leave early?
No. Sponsorship, nomination, migration agent and recruitment costs, including the Skilling Australians Fund levy, must be paid and absorbed by the sponsor. You cannot transfer or attempt to transfer them to the worker or their family, and a clawback or bond designed to recover them breaches the obligation.
Do I have to raise a sponsored worker’s salary each time the income threshold is indexed?
Thresholds are assessed when a nomination is lodged. The ongoing obligation is to pay at least the earnings recorded in the approved nomination and keep conditions no less favourable than an equivalent Australian worker. If the role is covered by an award or enterprise agreement, or you lodge a new nomination, other rates will apply, so an annual review is sensible.
What happens if I miss the 28-day notification deadline?
A late notification is a breach and can attract administrative action, a compliance notice, an infringement notice or a civil penalty, with outcomes varying by seriousness and history. Notifying late is still better than not notifying, and it is generally worth documenting the cause and the controls you have since put in place.
How long do I need to keep sponsorship records?
Until two years after both your sponsorship has ended and you no longer employ a sponsored visa holder. Because monitoring can continue for up to five years after sponsorship ends, many employers keep the full file for five years.
If you would like your sponsorship compliance reviewed, or you are planning a nomination and want the structure right from the start, book a consultation with Immigrad.
This article is general information current as at September 2026 and does not take your circumstances into account. Migration rules change frequently, and complex cases need personal advice from a registered migration agent.
Frequently asked questions
How long do sponsorship obligations last?
Most obligations start when the sponsorship, work agreement or the nominee’s employment begins, and end two years after both your sponsorship or work agreement has ended and you no longer employ a sponsored visa holder. That two-year tail is the part employers most often overlook, because it continues after the worker has left the business.
Which costs must a sponsor pay and never recover from the worker?
You must pay and assume the cost of becoming a sponsor, the cost of nominating a position and the Skilling Australians Fund levy. These cannot be transferred to the visa holder or their family members. Recovering them, directly or by deduction, breaches the obligation and is one of the more commonly enforced failures.
What must a sponsor report to the Department, and how quickly?
Standard business sponsors must notify the Department within 28 calendar days of certain events, including where the visa holder’s employment ends or is expected to end, changes to the work the sponsored worker carries out, payment of return travel costs, and the business becoming insolvent. The 28-day clock runs from the event, not from when you notice it.
What does ‘equivalent terms and conditions’ require?
The sponsored employee’s annual earnings must be at least what was stated on the nomination application when the Department approved it, and their terms and conditions must be no less favourable than those for an equivalent Australian worker. Quietly reducing hours, changing duties or restructuring pay after approval can breach this obligation even where the worker agrees.
What records does a sponsor have to keep?
Records must be kept in a reproducible format, and some must be capable of verification by an independent person. They must show compliance with each obligation, including written requests for travel costs, how and when those costs were paid and to whom, and records showing that recruitment did not discriminate on citizenship or visa status. Records must be provided to a departmental officer on request.
Does a sponsor have to pay for the worker to return home?
Yes, in defined circumstances. Sponsors must pay reasonable and necessary travel costs to allow the sponsored employee and their sponsored family members to leave Australia. The obligation is triggered by a written request, and the request, the amount, the timing and the recipient must all be recorded.