The Dairy Industry Labour Agreement: the two farm roles, the concessions by location and the path to the 186

MARN 1576536 · Checked against the Home Affairs agreement template on 8 November 2026

The two roles

The agreement covers Senior Dairy Cattle Farm Worker and Dairy Cattle Farm Operator. ANZSCO has no occupation that matches either, so both are nominated under the administrative code 070499, with the duties set out in the agreement itself. The senior role carries operational and supervisory responsibility on the farm; the operator role is the hands-on farm position. Each agreement also sets a ceiling on the number of nominations per role per year, agreed when it is made.

Location categories

Most of the concessions depend on where the farm is, using the Department's regional categories: Category 1 is the major cities, Category 2 is cities and major regional centres, and Category 3 is regional centres and other regional areas. The 494 is available only in Categories 2 and 3. The regional area guides show which postcodes fall in each category, state by state.

Experience and qualifications

• Senior Dairy Cattle Farm Worker (482): an AQF Certificate III or equivalent with two years of recent and relevant experience, or three years of recent and relevant experience.
• Dairy Cattle Farm Operator (482): an AQF Certificate II or III or equivalent, or one year of recent and relevant experience.
• Dairy Cattle Farm Operator (494): two years of recent and relevant experience, gained in Australia or overseas.
• 186, either role: three years of full-time work experience in Australia in the nominated role.

English

The template gives no concession for combining scores from separate tests.

Salary and age

In Category 1 and 2 locations there is no salary concession: the standard income threshold and the market rate apply. In Category 3 locations the worker's guaranteed earnings must be at least 90% of the income threshold. In every location the job must be full-time, and a worker on an annualised salary must be topped up if an equivalent Australian worker at the same location would have been paid more over the year. For the 494 and the 186 in Category 2 and 3 locations, the worker must be under 55 when the visa application is lodged; in Category 1 the standard age rules apply.

Labour market testing

In Category 1 the nomination needs the same labour market testing as a standard nomination. In Category 2 it needs at least two separate attempts to test the Australian market with national reach. In Category 3 it needs at least two attempts, one with national reach and one that may be local or regional. In Categories 2 and 3 the attempts must fall within the 12 months before the nomination is lodged. The labour market testing guide explains how advertising is usually run.

Permanent residence

A 186 nomination under the agreement needs the worker to have been employed directly by the sponsor, full-time, as the primary holder of a 457 or 482 in the nominated role for at least three years before the nomination. The template sets the visa periods at up to four years for the 482 and five years for the 494, with the 186 permanent. The agreement itself runs for five years and is reviewed after three.

Employer obligations

The sponsor commits to aim to keep overseas workers to no more than a third of its workforce in any year, and must not charge its overseas workers fees for services it provides. Deductions from pay are allowed only where the law permits them, such as with the worker's written authority for a deduction principally for the worker's benefit, or under an enterprise agreement, a modern award or a court order. Either party can end the agreement on 28 days' notice.

Check your farm against the agreement

A consultation places the farm in its location category, matches each worker to the right role and sets out the request, the ceilings and the first nominations.

Book a consultation — A$330 inc. GST, credited

General information only, current at 8 November 2026; not advice on your own case. Department of Home Affairs, Labour Agreement – Dairy Industry template and industry labour agreements page. The terms of a signed agreement, including ceilings, are set when the agreement is made. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each request and application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.