Can I sponsor a kitchen hand in Australia?

Why not

The lists the Department uses for employer sponsorship stop, with few exceptions, at skill level 3. Kitchen hands, food trades assistants and fast food cooks sit at levels 4 and 5, and were not added when the Core Skills list was rebuilt in December 2024. Labour market testing is irrelevant until an occupation is nominable, so the shortage in your kitchen, however real, does not open the visa.

Who can work your kitchen now

The role does not have to stay empty. Three groups can work for you today without any sponsorship, and hospitality is where they already work:

• Working holiday makers (417 and 462): any role, six months per employer, with the limit lifted for tourism and hospitality work in northern Australia; register with the ATO for the 15 per cent rate and pay super. Employing working holiday makers.
• International students: 48 hours a fortnight in term, unlimited in breaks, no cap for research students. Employing international students.
• Partner, graduate (485) and bridging visa holders: full work rights, no paperwork beyond the VEVO check. Who can work for you now.

SponsorTalent lists hospitality 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.

The DAMA route

Designated Area Migration Agreements are the exception to the lists. Several regional DAMAs include front-of-house and kitchen roles that no national list carries; the Northern Territory agreement, renewed in March 2025 to 2030 with more than 300 occupations, is reported to list waiter, bar attendant, barista and kitchenhand among them, and other regional agreements carry some of the same. The business must be in the DAMA region, endorsed by the regional body, and the worker must meet the agreement’s concessions on English, salary and age. Which agreement covers your area, and what it lists: sponsor workers in your state; how DAMAs compare with the other routes: PALM, labour agreement or DAMA.

When the kitchen hand is really a cook

Many “kitchen hands” prep, cook sections and run the pass on busy nights. If the person holds a cookery qualification (an Australian Certificate III or IV in Commercial Cookery, or an overseas trade qualification) and the job is a cook’s job in a full-service venue, the honest course is to restructure the role as Cook (351411), pay a cook’s salary that meets the A$79,423 floor and the market rate, and nominate that. The limited-service caveat still applies to the venue, and a Trades Recognition Australia assessment is mandatory for cooks on several passports. The distinction, and how the Department tests it: cook or chef. A student finishing commercial cookery onshore, who completes TRA’s Job Ready Program, is the most common version of this story.

Do not nominate the role under a listed occupation it is not. Calling a barista a Cook, a kitchen hand a Chef or a shift supervisor a Café or Restaurant Manager is the most common hospitality refusal: the Department tests whether the position is genuine against the duties, the venue, 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 job, nominate that job and pay its rate; if they do not, use the routes above.

Frequently asked questions

Is kitchen hand on the skilled occupation list? No. Kitchen hand (851311) is on no Australian skilled list, so the 482, 186 and 494 are not available.

I have seen kitchen hand jobs advertised with 482 sponsorship. Are they real? They are either cook roles described loosely, or not what they claim. No 482 nomination can be approved for the kitchen hand occupation.

Can I sponsor my kitchen hand as a cook? Only if they genuinely hold a cookery qualification, do a cook’s job in a full-service venue and are paid a cook’s salary meeting the floor. The Department checks duties, venue and pay, and a mismatch is refused.

Who fills kitchen hand shifts without sponsorship? International students within 48 hours a fortnight in term, working holiday makers for six months per employer, and partner, graduate and bridging visa holders with full work rights, all after a VEVO check.