Sponsorship and compliance
DAMA: sponsor the workforce the standard lists say you can’t.
A Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) lets an employer in a designated area sponsor occupations, with concessions, that the standard 482 doesn’t offer. The employer first needs endorsement from the region’s Designated Area Representative, then its own labour agreement with the Australian Government.
Concessions
What it unlocks
Depending on the agreement and the occupation, concessions can include a reduced income threshold and, for some occupations, age, English or experience concessions. They change who can be sponsored, not the job’s conditions: workers must still get terms no less favourable than Australians in the same role.
Concessions change eligibility, never conditions.
WA agreements
The WA agreements
As at [date]: five DAMAs operate in Western Australia. These are the state-wide WA DAMA, which covers all of WA including metropolitan Perth, and regional DAMAs for the Goldfields, Kimberley, Pilbara and South West. The regional agreements are closing to new applications between late October 2026 and March 2027, after which new DAMA labour agreements in WA are expected to run through the WA DAMA. Existing labour agreements and visas continue.
The South West DAMA closes to new applications and variation requests on 30 October 2026.
The Kimberley DAMA (listed by Home Affairs as East Kimberley) is administered by the East Kimberley Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It covers the shires of Wyndham East Kimberley, Broome, Derby–West Kimberley and Halls Creek, and accepts new endorsements until March 2027.
Which agreement can apply depends on where your business operates and where the role is based. Tell us both at the briefing.
Who it suits
Ideal for employers who
Face a structural workforce gap in occupations the standard lists do not reach.
The process
Endorsement, agreement, nomination — argued, not filled in.
Three stages: endorsement by the region’s Designated Area Representative (business viability evidence, genuine need, labour market testing); a labour agreement with the Australian Government; then nominations and visas under it. The Commonwealth is under no obligation to enter a labour agreement — the case has to be argued, and the endorsement case is substantially financial: viability, workforce planning, local-recruitment evidence.
Commitments
What a DAMA commits you to
A DAMA is a five-year commitment with annual ceilings and reporting obligations. It suits a structural workforce gap, not a one-off vacancy. If your need is one role, once, we will tell you, and look at whether the standard 482 or a company-specific labour agreement fits instead.
The reporting and ceiling obligations run alongside ordinary sponsorship obligations for the life of the agreement. Employers under a DAMA can run both under a single retainer rather than tracking two sets of deadlines separately.
How we help
How Resource Visa helps
We argue each application as an investment case, drawing on our principal’s corporate finance background.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
A Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) lets an employer in a designated area sponsor occupations, with concessions, that the standard 482 doesn’t offer. The employer first needs endorsement from the region’s Designated Area Representative, then its own labour agreement with the Australian Government.
As at [date]: five DAMAs operate in Western Australia. These are the state-wide WA DAMA, which covers all of WA including metropolitan Perth, and regional DAMAs for the Goldfields, Kimberley, Pilbara and South West. The regional agreements are closing to new applications between late October 2026 and March 2027, after which new DAMA labour agreements in WA are expected to run through the WA DAMA. Existing labour agreements and visas continue.
The South West DAMA closes to new applications and variation requests on 30 October 2026.
Depending on the agreement and the occupation, concessions can include a reduced income threshold and, for some occupations, age, English or experience concessions. They change who can be sponsored, not the job’s conditions: workers must still get terms no less favourable than Australians in the same role.
No. Every worker is employed on terms no less favourable than an Australian in the same job. Concessions change eligibility, never conditions.
It is a two-stage process, regional endorsement and then a labour agreement with the Australian Government, and it is not fast. A DAMA answers a structural gap you expect to have for years, not a vacancy you need filled this quarter.
Generally not. The commitment is disproportionate to a single hire. We will tell you that at the briefing rather than starting a process that does not suit you.
Reviewed by a Registered Migration Agent (MARN 1686595) · Last reviewed [date]
Keep reading
Related pages
Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482)
Sponsoring an ongoing role under the Subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa. The three streams, what your business must do, and the obligations that follow.
Sponsor Compliance Retainer
Your sponsorship obligations, managed by a Registered Migration Agent.
Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186)
Moving a sponsored worker to permanent residence through the Employer Nomination Scheme. The streams, when to start, and the retention economics.
Operating in the Pilbara, Goldfields, Kimberley or regional WA?
Twenty minutes. No obligation. Direct with a Registered Migration Agent. Tell us the role, the site and the date.
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AWST