DAMA explained: Australia's regional sponsorship pathway (13 agreements, Sept 2026)
What a Designated Area Migration Agreement is, the 13 currently in place across Australia, how their occupation, English, salary and age concessions work, and the subclass 482 to 186 pathway. Figures as at September 2026.
Read the full guide, with official sources →
Watch
Chapters
- 0:00 Your job isn't on the national list?
- 0:16 13 DAMAs currently in place
- 0:28 Some of the 13 regions
- 0:43 NT DAMA III: about 1,500
- 0:58 Concessions vary by agreement.
- 1:11 Standard: IELTS 5.0 each component
- 1:29 Standard salary floor: $79,423
- 1:47 Standard subclass 186 age cap: 45
- 2:00 Employer endorsed → sponsors you on a 482
- 2:21 13 agreements, 13 different rule sets.
- 2:36 Where to read more
Transcript
If your occupation isn't on Australia's national skilled list, a standard subclass 482 or subclass 186 visa can't sponsor you into it. A Designated Area Migration Agreement sometimes can.
As at 24 September 2026, there are 13 Designated Area Migration Agreements in place across Australia. There is no agreement for Tasmania.
They cover places like the Northern Territory, Adelaide City, South Australia's regions, the Goldfields and Pilbara in WA, Victoria's Goulburn Valley and Great South Coast, Orana in New South Wales, Far North Queensland and Townsville.
Each agreement is different. Take the Northern Territory's current one, NT DAMA three: it caps nominations at around 1,500 a year. That's a ceiling on total nominations, not a promise of that many places.
A DAMA can add occupations to its own list, and it can lower some standard requirements for those occupations. But which concessions apply, and by how much, is set by that specific agreement.
English is one example. The standard subclass 482 needs Vocational English: IELTS 5.0 in each component. Some DAMAs lower specific components for specific occupations, the way one aged care agreement lowers reading and writing to 4.5.
Salary works the same way. The standard subclass 482 floor is the Core Skills Income Threshold: 79,423 dollars from the first of July, 2026. Some DAMAs permit a lower salary for specific occupations, if the agreement says so.
Age can be varied too. The standard subclass 186 age cap for permanent residence is 45 at the time of application. Some DAMAs raise that cap for the transition to permanent residence.
On the ground, an employer becomes endorsed under the DAMA, then sponsors you using a labour agreement version of the subclass 482. You then work for that employer, in that designated area, for the qualifying period the agreement sets — commonly around 3 years — before applying for the subclass 186, Labour Agreement stream.
The most common mistake is treating all 13 agreements as one thing. Each sets its own occupation list, its own concessions, and its own cap — so check the specific DAMA's own designated area representative before relying on any figure.
The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description. And if you'd like to talk it through, you can compare registered migration agents there, and see their fees before you book anything.
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