Skills in Demand Visa (Subclass 482): The 2026 Guide for Filipino Workers

If you have been job-hunting for Australia, you have probably seen two names thrown around as if they were different visas: the 482 and Skills in Demand. They are the same thing. The old Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa was renamed the Skills in Demand (SID) visa, kept its subclass number 482, and was rebuilt into three streams from 7 December 2024. For Filipino nurses, tradespeople and IT workers, this is now the most common employer-sponsored route into Australia — and, importantly, a recognised stepping stone toward permanent residency.

This guide explains what actually changed, the three streams in plain English, the salary thresholds your employer has to meet, the lower experience requirement, and which stream realistically fits your trade or profession. We write for Filipino readers because the practical details — which assessment body you face, what English bar applies to your occupation — differ depending on your passport.

From TSS to Skills in Demand: what changed on 7 December 2024

On 7 December 2024, the Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa was renamed the Skills in Demand visa. The subclass number did not change — it is still a 482 — which is exactly why so many Filipino applicants get confused when a recruiter, employer or Facebook group uses the two names interchangeably. They are one visa.

The biggest structural change was the visa length. Under the old TSS, there was a short-term stream (2 years) and a medium-term stream (4 years), and which one you got depended heavily on your occupation. The Skills in Demand visa scraps that split: it is now granted for up to 4 years uniformly across all streams. For a Filipino worker, that means a longer, more stable runway to settle in, build a track record with your employer, and work toward permanent residency without the anxiety of a two-year clock.

The reform also reorganised the visa into three distinct streams (covered next) and reduced the work-experience requirement. Together, these changes were marketed by the Australian Government as a faster, simpler temporary-skilled system. In practice, the visa is still employer-sponsored: you need an approved Australian business willing to nominate you for an eligible occupation before you can apply.

The three streams (Core, Specialist, Labour Agreement)

The Skills in Demand visa has three streams, and the one you use depends on your occupation, your salary and the type of employer sponsoring you.

• Core Skills stream — the mainstream route for most Filipino applicants. Your occupation must be on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL), which has roughly 456 occupations spanning health, IT, engineering, trades, education and hospitality. This is the stream most nurses, tradespeople and IT professionals will use.
• Specialist Skills stream — for high-income senior roles. There is no occupation list at all; instead, the job must pay at or above the Specialist Skills Income Threshold. It is designed for highly paid specialists and processes faster.
• Labour Agreement stream — for workers sponsored under a formal labour agreement, covering areas such as aged care, disability and certain regional roles. This stream is being rebranded as "Essential Skills" in 2026, so treat that new label as a forward-looking name for the same idea.

For most Filipino workers, the practical question is simply: is my occupation on the CSOL? If yes, the Core Skills stream is your path. If your role is a senior, very-high-salary position, the Specialist Skills stream may apply. If your employer hires through a labour agreement — common in aged care — that stream comes into play instead.

Salary thresholds: CSIT and SSIT

Two salary thresholds decide which stream your job offer qualifies for, and whether it qualifies at all. These are minimum guaranteed base salaries, set by the Australian Government and indexed each year.

Threshold	2025–26	From 1 July 2026	Applies to
Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT)	AUD 76,515	AUD 79,499	Core Skills stream
Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT)	AUD 141,210	AUD 146,717	Specialist Skills stream

The threshold is the minimum guaranteed base salary, excluding superannuation. Your employer must also pay you the higher of the CSIT or the going market rate for the role — they cannot simply pin your pay to the floor if other workers doing the same job earn more. One detail that catches people out: it is the date your nomination is lodged (not the date it is decided) that sets which threshold applies, so the timing of your application matters when figures are about to re-index on 1 July.

Because Australian visa charges and income thresholds re-index every 1 July, the 2026–27 figures above (AUD 79,499 and AUD 146,717) take effect from that date. If you are weighing up whether your job offer clears the bar, always confirm the live number before relying on it.

Only 1 year of experience now needed

One of the most welcome changes for Filipino applicants is the lower experience requirement. Under the old TSS rules you needed at least 2 years of relevant work experience. The Skills in Demand visa reduced this to at least 1 year of relevant full-time experience (or the part-time equivalent) within the last 5 years, and this applies across all three streams.

For younger Filipino workers — a newly qualified nurse, a tradesperson a couple of years into the job, an IT graduate with one solid year of professional experience — this can be the difference between qualifying now and waiting another year. The "within the last 5 years" window also means recent, relevant experience counts, rather than something from a decade ago.

Keep in mind that the visa's own English requirement is modest: the Core Skills stream needs IELTS 5.0 overall with no band below 4.5, and the Specialist Skills stream needs IELTS 5.0 in each component. But this is a trap for registered occupations — if you are a nurse, your registration body (AHPRA/NMBA) demands a far higher English standard, around IELTS 7.0 in each band or OET B, well above the visa's floor. Plan for the higher bar that applies to your profession, not just the visa minimum.

Which stream fits a Filipino nurse, tradie or IT pro

Here is how the three groups of Filipino workers we see most often typically map onto the streams.

• Nurses and aged-care workers. Registered Nurses — including Registered Nurse (Aged Care) — are on the CSOL, so the Core Skills stream is the usual route. Before the visa, ANMAC does your migration skills assessment, and AHPRA/NMBA handles your registration with that higher English bar. Direct aged-care care roles are often accessed through the Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement (ACILA), which sits under the Labour Agreement stream.
• Tradespeople. Electricians, carpenters and similar listed trades generally apply through the Core Skills stream. As a Filipino passport holder, you must complete a mandatory Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) skills assessment before a 482 can be granted, because the Philippines is a specified country for this purpose. Budget time for this assessment — it sits before the visa, not after.
• IT professionals. Many ICT roles sit on the CSOL, making the Core Skills stream the standard path. If you hold a senior, very-high-salary tech role that clears the SSIT (AUD 141,210 for 2025–26), the Specialist Skills stream — with no occupation list and faster processing — may be the better fit.

Whatever your occupation, the through-line is the same: find an approved Australian employer willing to sponsor you, confirm your occupation and stream, line up your skills assessment early, and pay attention to the English standard your profession demands. And because all three streams now feed into a permanent-residency pathway, getting on the 482 is rarely the end of the journey — it is often the start.