Hospitality occupations you can sponsor in Australia, and the ones you cannot

The list, role by role

List positions change with each instrument; verify the occupation on the Department’s current Core Skills list before you advertise. The limited-service and production caveats are applied by the Department to the venue, not the job title: a qualified chef in a food-court outlet is still a refused nomination.

Sponsoring the listed roles

For a chef, cook, pastrycook, baker or accommodation manager the sequence is the ordinary one: labour market testing (two advertisements of at least 28 days on platforms with national reach within four months of nominating, unless the worker is a UK citizen or another exemption applies), Standard Business Sponsorship (A$420), nomination (A$330 plus the Skilling Australians Fund levy of A$1,200 a year for a business under A$10 million turnover), the visa (A$4,015 for a 482). The salary must be the higher of A$79,423, the market rate and the award classification, which is where most hospitality nominations fail: a Cook Grade 3 under the Restaurant Industry Award earns well under the floor on award rates, so the nominated salary has to be a genuine market salary for a genuinely skilled role. Costs and the decision: is sponsoring worth it; the walk-through for kitchens: how to hire a chef; the fine-dining agreement that extends to café managers and trade waiters: Premium Dining labour agreement.

The roles you cannot sponsor: who can work for you 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 exception

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.

The mistake to avoid

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

Which hospitality jobs can be sponsored on a 482 visa? Chef, cook, pastrycook, baker, hotel or motel manager, hotel service manager, accommodation and hospitality managers not elsewhere classified, and hairdresser are on the Core Skills list, each with caveats about the venue. Café or restaurant manager, conference and event organiser, barista, waiter, bartender, kitchen hand and housekeeper are not.

Can a café sponsor a chef? Only if the café is not a limited-service venue. The Department excludes positions in fast food, takeaway, fast casual, coffee shops, mall cafés and limited-service pizza restaurants, so a full-service café with a kitchen can, a coffee shop cannot.

Can I sponsor a café or restaurant manager? Not on the standard 482 or 186: the occupation is on the Short-term list only. The routes are the regional 494, state nomination (190 or 491) and the Premium Dining labour agreement for qualifying venues.

Can I sponsor a waiter, barista or kitchen hand? Not on any national list. The Premium Dining labour agreement covers trade waiters in qualifying venues, and several regional DAMAs list front-of-house and kitchen roles. Otherwise the pool is working holiday makers, students and other visa holders already in Australia, who need no sponsorship.

What salary do I have to pay a sponsored chef or cook? The higher of A$79,423, the market rate and the award rate for the classification, as annual earnings for a full-time position. Award minimums for cooks sit below the floor, so the nominated salary must reflect a genuinely skilled role.