The Pork Industry Labour Agreement: sponsoring a senior stockperson for a piggery

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

The role

The agreement covers one occupation, Senior Stockperson (Piggery). ANZSCO has no matching occupation, so it is nominated under the administrative code 070499 with the duties described in the agreement. It can be nominated for the 482 and 186 in any location, and the 494 in Category 2 and 3 locations: Category 1 is the major cities, Category 2 cities and major regional centres, and Category 3 regional centres and other regional areas. Each agreement sets a yearly ceiling on nominations when it is made.

Qualifications and experience

For the 482, in any location, the worker needs one of these:

• a Certificate III in Agriculture (Pig Production) or equivalent, plus three years of recent and relevant experience in a medium to large commercial piggery;
• five years of recent and relevant experience; or
• the Certificate III in Agriculture (Pig Production) plus 18 months of relevant work experience in Australia.

For the 494 and for the 186, the requirement is at least three years of full-time work experience in the occupation instead.

English and age

A worker who cannot meet the standard English requirement can meet the agreement's: an overall IELTS 5.0 with at least 4.5 in each of the four components, or the equivalent, for all three visas in every location. In Category 2 and 3 locations the worker must be under 55 when a 494 or 186 application is lodged; in Category 1 the standard age rules apply.

Salary

In Category 1 and 2 locations there is no salary concession, so the standard income threshold and market rate apply. In Category 3, guaranteed earnings must be at least 90% of the income threshold.

Labour market testing

For the 482 and 494: in Category 1, the same evidence as a standard nomination; in Category 2, at least two separate attempts with national reach in the 12 months before lodgement; in Category 3, at least two attempts in that period, one with national reach and the other local or regional if the sponsor prefers. The labour market testing guide covers how advertising is usually run.

Permanent residence

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

Employer obligations

The sponsor must not charge its overseas workers for services such as nomination or finding them the job, must pay them directly including tax and superannuation, and may make deductions only where the law allows, such as with the worker's written authority for a deduction principally for the worker's benefit. It also commits to aim to keep overseas workers to no more than a third of its workforce in any year.

Check your piggery against the agreement

A consultation places the farm in its location category, checks the worker's qualifications and experience against the three options, and sets out the request 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 – Pork 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.