Temporary skilled migration income threshold increase 2025: LIN 25/038 (repealed)

The Migration (IMMI 18/033: Specification of Income Threshold and Annual Earnings and Methodology of Annual Market Salary Rate) Amendment (Annual TSMIT Increase) Instrument 2025 (LIN 25/038) was signed on 19 June 2025 by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship under paragraph 2.72C(15)(d) of the Migration Regulations 1994 (section 3). It was registered on 23 June 2025 and commenced on 1 July 2025 (section 2). It amended IMMI 18/033 and is now repealed: the explanatory statement records that section 48A of the Legislation Act 2003 automatically repeals an instrument whose sole purpose is to amend or repeal another instrument.

The explanatory statement gives its purpose as to amend IMMI 18/033 to increase the temporary skilled migration income threshold (TSMIT) from $73,150 to $76,515, in line with the November 2024 Average Weekly Ordinary Times Earnings figure of 4.6 per cent.

What it changed

Amendments made by Schedule 1 to LIN 25/038

Item	Provision of IMMI 18/033	Change
1	Section 6 (Income Threshold)	Omit “AUD 73,150”, substitute “AUD 76,515”
2	New section 13	Application provision: the amendments apply to an application for approval of a nomination made on or after 1 July 2025

The explanatory statement records that the TSMIT applies only to subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional)) and subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) nominations, and that the Core Skills Income Threshold, introduced on 7 December 2024, applies to the subclass 186 visa and the Core Skills stream of the subclass 482 visa. It also records that LIN 23/045 raised the TSMIT to $70,000 in 2023, the first increase in 10 years.

Which nominations it applied to

Section 13 of IMMI 18/033, inserted by item 2, applies the $76,515 figure to an application for approval of a nomination made on or after 1 July 2025. The explanatory statement adds that nominations lodged before 1 July 2025 continue to be assessed against the TSMIT in force when they were lodged.

Where the threshold is now

From 1 July 2026, item 4 of Schedule 2 to the Migration (Nil VAC Arrangements and Other Matters) Instrument 2026 (LIN 26/074) repealed section 6 of IMMI 18/033. Item 1 of Schedule 2 to the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2026 inserted a definition into regulation 1.03 of the Migration Regulations 1994: temporary skilled migration income threshold means $79,423. The note to that definition states that the amount is indexed under regulation 5.42A, and item 2 of the same Schedule removed the Minister’s power to specify the threshold by instrument under paragraph 2.72C(15)(d).

TSMIT by date the nomination was made

Nomination made	TSMIT	Source
1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026	$76,515	IMMI 18/033, section 6 as amended by LIN 25/038; section 13
On or after 1 July 2026	$79,423	Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 1.03; Schedule 13, item 16401

The explanatory statement to LIN 26/074 confirms that a nomination made between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026 continues to be assessed against $76,515. Item 16402 of Schedule 13 to the Migration Regulations 1994 makes 1 July 2027 the first indexation day for the $79,423 amount, and the explanatory statement to the 2026 Regulations states that the TSMIT is to keep parity with the Core Skills Income Threshold each 1 July, without an annual instrument from the Minister.