482 Visa Salary Threshold: CSIT, SSIT & the Market Salary Test Explained

Migratio Editorial · Last updated 3 September 2026

TL;DR: From 1 July 2025, a 482 Skills in Demand nomination must meet a two-part salary test. The Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) sits at AUD 79,423 per year; the Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT) sits at AUD 146,576. Both figures are indexed annually on 1 July. The offered salary must also match the Annual Market Salary Rate — what an equivalent Australian worker in the same role and location would earn — and whichever figure is higher becomes the real floor. Superannuation and discretionary bonuses do not count toward either threshold.

When an employer sponsors a worker on a subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa, the salary written into the nomination is not simply a number to negotiate freely. It must clear two separate bars: an income threshold set by the Department of Home Affairs, and the going rate for the same role performed by an Australian. This two-part test applies to all three streams of the 482 visa — Specialist Skills, Core Skills, and Labour Agreement — and getting either component wrong is enough for the nomination to be refused.

This article explains how those two tests work, what counts as salary for threshold purposes, and where the figures come from. The thresholds quoted are those in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 (verified against the Department of Home Affairs salary requirements page). The page below sets out the official figures and is updated each financial year: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au — Salary requirements to nominate a worker.

The two-part salary test at a glance

The Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT)

The Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT)

What counts as salary — and what does not

How the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) is determined

Part-time positions and the threshold

History: from TSMIT to CSIT

What happens when the threshold is not met

Frequently asked questions

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