Can I sponsor a concreter in Australia?

Why not

The Core Skills list starts, with few exceptions, at skill level 3, and concreting sits at level 4 with the other construction and mining labourer occupations. The December 2024 list added trades the industry asked for and left concreting, steel fixing, scaffolding and formwork labouring where they were. Advertising for a year does not change it; labour market testing matters only once an occupation can be nominated.

Company-specific labour agreements

The Department’s register of labour agreements includes concreting companies that negotiated their own agreement for concreters. The case has to show a genuine, sustained shortage the business has tried to fill locally, consultation with the relevant union, training commitments for Australians, and the capacity to meet sponsor obligations; the negotiation runs many months and the agreement binds the business for its term. It suits a contractor placing dozens of concreters a year across long projects, not a firm with a seasonal gap. The route compared with the alternatives: PALM, labour agreement or DAMA.

The DAMA route

Designated Area Migration Agreements are the exception to the lists, and for construction they are a real one. The Kimberley agreement’s occupation list (October 2025 version) includes Builder’s Labourer, Forklift Driver, Excavator Operator and Earthmoving Plant Operator with salary and English concessions; the Northern Territory agreement, renewed in March 2025 to 2030, carries a civil construction site supervisor role and a long trades list; other regional agreements in Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales carry some of the same. The business must be in the region, endorsed by the regional body, and the worker must meet the agreement’s concessions. Individual businesses have also negotiated company-specific labour agreements for roles the lists omit, including scaffolding and concreting firms, though that route is slow and needs a demonstrated case. Which agreement covers your area: sponsor workers in your state; how DAMAs compare with the other routes: PALM, labour agreement or DAMA.

Who can work your crew now

The site does not have to wait for a visa. Three groups can work for you today without sponsorship, and construction already runs on them:

• Working holiday makers (417 and 462): any role for six months per employer, with the limit lifted for construction in northern Australia, and regional construction work counts toward their second-year visa, which is why British and Irish tradespeople and labourers are on regional sites in numbers. Employing working holiday makers.
• International students in trade and building courses: 48 hours a fortnight in term, unlimited in breaks. Employing international students.
• Partner, graduate (485) and bridging visa holders: full work rights, a VEVO check and a White Card. Who can work for you now.

SponsorTalent lists construction and trades candidates by visa and city, so you can see who can start on Monday before you make contact; search is free and a contact unlocks for A$30.

Listed trades a concreting crew sometimes includes

Formwork carpenters are Carpenters (331212), on the list; a crew leader who sets out and builds structural formwork and holds the carpentry qualification can be nominated as one, at a carpenter’s pay. A concreter who also lays block or brick and holds the qualification may be a Bricklayer (331111). The occupation nominated must be the job actually done. Many “labourers” have been framing, formworking, tiling or rendering for years without the ticket. An experienced worker already in Australia can have that experience assessed against the Certificate III through recognition of prior learning at a registered training organisation, then obtain a Trades Recognition Australia assessment and become a listed tradesperson you can nominate. It takes months, not weeks, and it only works where the experience is real and documented; WIDEN assesses whether it is realistic before anyone pays for it: recognition of prior learning for trades, and for licensed trades, the licence after the assessment.

Do not nominate the role under a trade it is not. A labourer nominated as a Carpenter, a concreter as a Bricklayer or a leading hand as a Construction Project Manager is tested against the duties, the qualification, the award classification and the pay, and a mismatch is refused, can bar the business from sponsoring for years, and exposes the worker to cancellation. If the person genuinely does the listed trade, nominate that trade and pay its rate; if they do not, use the routes above.

Frequently asked questions

Is concreter on the skilled occupation list? No. Concreter (821211) is on no Australian skilled list, so the 482, 186 and 494 are not available.

Can a concreting company get a labour agreement for concreters? Yes, as a company-specific labour agreement with the Department; concreting firms have negotiated them. It requires a documented sustained shortage, union consultation and training commitments, and takes many months.

Can I sponsor a formwork carpenter? Yes, if the person is a qualified carpenter doing carpentry, as Carpenter (331212) at a carpenter’s salary meeting the A$79,423 floor or market rate.

Who works concreting crews without sponsorship? Working holiday makers, students in breaks, and partner, graduate and bridging visa holders, after a VEVO check and a White Card; regional concreting work counts toward a working holiday maker’s second year.