Advice & safety
Who can advise you,
who can charge you,
and who can't.
This site is information, not migration advice. The people below are allowed to give advice — most of them for free. Anyone else asking for money to "arrange" your sponsorship is the risk, not the path.
The one rule
Nobody may charge you for sponsorship.
Paying — or being asked to pay — for a sponsorship is a criminal offence for both sides under s245AR of the Migration Act. Employers pay their own costs: the nomination fee, the Skilling Australians Fund levy, the agent if they use one. A "sponsorship fee", a wage you have to hand back in cash, unpaid "training" shifts to earn the nomination — all the same offence.
If you're asked to pay
Say no and move to the next employer on your list. Keep the message or write down what was said and when. You can report it anonymously to Home Affairs through Border Watch.
Reporting protects you
Home Affairs has an Assurance Protocol: a visa holder who reports workplace exploitation and helps with the investigation will generally not have their visa cancelled for breaching work conditions while being exploited.
Free advice
Redfern Legal Centre — International Student Legal Service
Free, confidential legal advice for international students in NSW — student visa conditions, work rights, employer problems. Other states run equivalent services; find yours via Study Australia below. Website
Visa Assist — via HSU or United Workers Union membership
Free migration advice from registered agents for union members — sponsorship, nominations and the path to PR. Website
unitedworkers.org.au · hsu.asn.au
Fair Work Ombudsman — visa holders and migrants
Free help with pay, hours and unfair treatment at work. Your visa cannot be cancelled just because you asked Fair Work for help. Website
Paid advice · MARA
Only registered agents and lawyers may advise you.
Under s280 of the Migration Act it is an offence for anyone else to give immigration assistance — that includes education agents, employers, recruiters, "consultants" and helpful people in Facebook groups. The Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) keeps the public register. Check it before you pay anyone.
What a registered agent can and can't share
A registered agent is bound by a duty of confidentiality: they must not pass your personal information, or anything about your affairs, to Home Affairs or anyone else without your written consent (Code of Conduct s35). What you tell them about your history, your visa conditions or your employer stays with them. Three limits:
- Required by law. The duty gives way to a court order or a statutory notice — it is a professional obligation, not a shield against the law.
- No lying to the Department. An agent must not make, and must correct, false or misleading statements to officials (Code s20–21). They won't pass on what you tell them, but they also can't lodge an application that hides it — if you insist, they stop acting.
- Not legal privilege. Only lawyers (and community legal centres like Redfern) carry legal professional privilege. An agent who is not also a lawyer has confidentiality, which is weaker.
OMARA's own note on client confidentiality (PDF).
Groups and sources online
Useful for leads, timelines and lived experience. Two rules: nothing said in a group is advice, and never post your passport, visa grant number or ImmiAccount details anywhere.
Home Affairs — labour agreements
The primary source. The list of employers, the concessions, the English rules. Everything on this site links back here.
OpenHome Affairs — Aged care industry labour agreement template (PDF)
The three English concession bands (Schedule: Concession to English language requirement, Option 1 non-CALD and Option 2 CALD) and the tests the agreement names as equivalents. Retrieved 2026-09-04.
OpenHome Affairs — English language visa requirements
Approved tests from 7 August 2025, the 6 August 2028 transition rule, and the secure-test-centre / no-online-test rule. Retrieved 2026-09-04.
OpenHome Affairs — Functional English
Overall-score equivalents to an IELTS average of 4.5 — the basis for every derived 482 CALD figure. Retrieved 2026-09-04.
OpenHome Affairs — Vocational English
Per-component equivalents to IELTS 5 in each component — the basis for the derived 482 standard listening and speaking figures — and the 3-year validity. Retrieved 2026-09-04.
OpenHome Affairs — Competent English
Per-component equivalents to IELTS 6 — above every ACILA band, kept for reference only. Retrieved 2026-09-04.
OpenDepartment of Health — Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement webinar slides (Aug 2023, PDF) — cross-check only
Government, but not the rule-maker. States the same three bands. Used to cross-check the Home Affairs English figures, not as an authority for them.
OpenVisaEnvoy — Aged care labour agreement — cross-check only
Migration agent. States the same three bands and names OET, TOEFL iBT, PTE and CAE as alternatives. Not an authority. Used to cross-check the Home Affairs English figures, not as an authority for them.
OpenAusGate Migration — Aged care — cross-check only
Migration agent. States the same three bands. Not an authority. Used to cross-check the Home Affairs English figures, not as an authority for them.
Openr/AusVisa (Reddit)
Large community of visa applicants sharing timelines and experiences. Useful for what the process feels like; not a substitute for advice.
OpenWhirlpool — Visas and immigration forum
Long-running Australian forum with years of searchable threads on 482, labour agreements and 186 transitions.
OpenMigrant Workers Centre
Support and information for migrant workers on rights at work and exploitation, including a confidential helpline.
OpenStudy Australia — student support
Australian Government hub for international students: work rights, legal help, wellbeing and each state's student support service.
OpenAged care worker groups on Facebook
Search for aged care and support worker groups in your city — the fastest way to hear which employers are hiring casuals and who has sponsored before. Treat every claim as a lead to verify, not a fact.