The Skills in Demand visa has replaced the TSS 482

On 7 December 2024 the Temporary Skill Shortage visa was rebuilt as the Skills in Demand visa, keeping the subclass number 482 but changing how it works.

The main changes

• Work experience dropped from two years to one year of relevant full-time experience in the last five.
• Three streams replaced the old short-term and medium-term split: Specialist Skills for high earners (salary at or above AUD 141,210), Core Skills for occupations on the new Core Skills Occupation List, and a planned Essential Skills stream for lower-paid critical roles.
• Every stream is now a PR pathway. The old Short-Term stream was a dead end for permanent residence; that is gone.
• Mobility after a job loss improved. Sponsored workers now get up to 180 consecutive days, and 365 days in total, to find a new sponsor.

Why it matters for graduates

The one-year experience requirement makes the 482 reachable much sooner after a 485. For someone whose occupation is uncompetitive on the points test, an employer-sponsored 482 followed by the permanent 186 after two years is now a cleaner route than it was.