TSS Visa: The Temporary Skill Shortage Visa (Subclass 482) and What Replaced It

The Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482) took its last applications on 6 December 2024 and was replaced by the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) on 7 December 2024, under the same subclass number. A TSS holder keeps the visa and its conditions until its expiry date and still has a pathway to permanent residence through the 186 TRT stream. Changing employer needs a new nomination under today’s Skills in Demand rules, and staying longer needs a new Skills in Demand visa, because a 482 cannot be extended.

What each situation means for a TSS holder now, with the rule that decides it:

What was the TSS visa?

The TSS visa was the temporary employer-sponsored work visa (subclass 482) from 18 March 2018 to 6 December 2024. It had three streams:

1. Short-term: occupations on the Short-term Skilled Occupation List, for up to 2 years, or up to 4 years where an international trade obligation applied (Hong Kong passport holders up to 5 years).
2. Medium-term: occupations on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List or the Regional Occupation List, for up to 4 years.
3. Labour agreement: positions covered by an agreement between the employer and the Commonwealth.

The salary floor was the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold, $73,150 from 1 July 2024, plus the market rate, and the worker needed 2 years of work experience (Home Affairs news item 1272).

What changed on 7 December 2024?

On 7 December 2024 the TSS became the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482), with the same subclass number and six main changes (Home Affairs news item 1272 and news item 1273):

1. Name: Temporary Skill Shortage became Skills in Demand.
2. Streams: short-term and medium-term gave way to Specialist Skills and Core Skills; the Labour Agreement stream continued.
3. Occupation lists: the Core Skills Occupation List of 456 occupations replaced the short-term and medium-term lists, and Specialist Skills accepts any occupation in ANZSCO Major Groups 1, 2, 4, 5 or 6.
4. Salary floor: the TSMIT gave way to the Core Skills Income Threshold ($73,150 at the start, $79,423 for nominations lodged from 1 July 2026) and the Specialist Skills Income Threshold ($135,000 at the start, $146,576 now). A 482 nomination no longer uses the TSMIT, which now applies to the 494 and 187.
5. Work experience: 2 years under the TSS became 1 year (12 months full-time or equivalent) within the 5 years before applying (Schedule 2 clauses 482.221(1) and 482.231(1)).
6. Permanent residence: every approved sponsor’s employment now counts toward the TRT, not only the nominating employer’s.

Since 19 September 2026, Specialist Skills applications have also had their own processing tier under Ministerial Direction 121.

Two other rules are often misstated. English for a 482 is IELTS 5.0 in each of the four components for tests from 13 September 2025, and labour market testing advertising must still fall within the 4 months before the nomination is lodged (LIN 18/036; Home Affairs labour market testing page). Every dated change since 2024 is in the 482 visa change log.

What happened to the short-term and medium-term streams?

Both closed to new applicants on 6 December 2024. Existing holders keep their visas until the expiry date. TSS nominations and visa applications lodged before 7 December 2024 are decided under the requirements in force when they were lodged, and an approved TSS nomination with no visa application lodged by then is deemed a Skills in Demand nomination, so the worker applies for a Skills in Demand visa (Home Affairs TSS short-term stream page).

Ministerial Direction 121 still lists the “Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa” among the visas it covers, so any TSS application still pending is prioritised under it (Home Affairs skilled visa processing priorities page).

What if you hold a TSS 482 now?

A TSS holder is treated under the current rules for anything new, on both sides:

1. Changing employer: the new employer must be an approved sponsor and have a new approved nomination before the worker starts. A new visa is needed only if the visa is expiring, the worker moves from a labour agreement employer to a standard sponsor, or the occupation changes (Home Affairs change-in-situation page).
2. Renewing: a 482 cannot be extended, so staying longer means a new nomination at the threshold in force on its lodgement date and a new Skills in Demand visa.
3. Losing a job: the worker has up to 180 days at a time, and 365 days in total across the visa, to find a new sponsor, be granted another visa or leave.
4. Bringing family: family members who did not apply with the worker can apply as subsequent entrants while the TSS visa is valid.
5. The employer’s obligations continue: the sponsor must tell Home Affairs within 28 days if the worker’s employment ends, and keeps its other sponsor obligations until the worker is sponsored by someone else, is granted another visa or leaves.

A TSS holder who changes employer or renews is assessed under today’s Skills in Demand rules, so a migration lawyer who checks the occupation against the Core Skills Occupation List, the threshold on the new nomination’s lodgement date and the TRT count before the employer pays a new $330 nomination fee and levy makes the new nomination more likely to be approved.

Why do some documents still say Temporary Skill Shortage?

Home Affairs keeps its TSS stream pages online for current holders, and several state education departments still describe the 482 as “Temporary Skill Shortage” in their school fee documents; only Victoria and the ACT name Skills in Demand. The subclass number did not change on 7 December 2024; only the visa’s name and rules did.

Before the TSS: the 457

The TSS replaced the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) on 18 March 2018. People who held a 457 on 18 April 2017 keep an under-50 age rule for the 186 TRT, explained on the 457 visa Australia page.

Can TSS holders use the TRT?

Yes. The TRT accepts a “subclass 482 visa (any stream)”, so TSS short-term, medium-term and labour agreement holders qualify on the same terms as Skills in Demand holders: full-time sponsored employment for 2 years in the last 3, under 45 unless exempt, competent English, and a nomination by the most recent sponsor at $79,423 or more. Time on the TSS counts toward the 2 years. The full criteria and counting examples are on the TRT stream page.