Regional Migration
The Cairns Chamber of Commerce is the Designated Area Representative (DAR) for the Far North Queensland Designated Area Migration Agreement (FNQ DAMA).
The Cairns Chamber of Commerce is also a Regional Certifying Body (RCB) for the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (subclass 494) visa program.
FNQ DAMA and RCB news updates are posted below. To be notified of updates automatically, consider signing up to our subscriber list for the service.
Considering moving to Cairns? Explore Cairns Regional Council’s handy Choose Cairns guide to get to know our region.
Regional Certifying Body (RCB) Services
The Cairns Chamber of Commerce is an authorised Regional Certifying Body (RCB) for northern Queensland.
Far North Queensland Designated Area Migration Agreement
The Cairns Chamber of Commerce is the Designated Area Representative (DAR) for the FNQ DAMA.
FNQ DAMA - TSMIT indexation – key dates (posted 21 May 2026)
The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT), now also referred to as the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) for applicable visa programs, is indexed annually by the Australian Government from 1 July each year. The updated threshold for 2026–27 has not yet been announced but is expected to increase marginally. Employers (and their agents) planning to submit new labour agreement requests, variation requests, or nomination applications with proposed salaries currently at or near the applicable TSMIT/CSIT threshold (or 90% concession threshold where available under the FNQ DAMA) should note the following key dates.
To allow sufficient time for assessment prior to 1 July 2026, any endorsement requests intended to rely on the current TSMIT/CSIT levels must be received by the Cairns Chamber of Commerce no later than COB on the 15th of June 2026.
Key dates/timings:
- The applicable TSMIT/CSIT for endorsement requests is generally determined by the date the labour agreement request is lodged with the Department of Home Affairs in ImmiAccount (for initial labour agreements) or sent to Department of Home Affairs by the Cairns Chamber of Commerce (for variations to existing agreements).
- The applicable TSMIT/CSIT for nomination applications is determined by the date the nomination is lodged in ImmiAccount. Specifically, any nomination applications lodged on or after 1 July 2026 will be assessed against the new indexed TSMIT/CSIT requirements, regardless of when the endorsement request or labour agreement variation was submitted.
- Endorsement requests received by the Cairns Chamber of Commerce after 15 June 2026 may not be assessed in time prior to the indexation changes and may therefore need to meet the new TSMIT/CSIT requirements.
Note that variation requests generally require longer processing timeframes than initial endorsement requests, as businesses must wait for the Department of Home Affairs to execute the varied labour agreement and update the nomination ceiling before nomination/s can be lodged.
Important update regarding Child Care Worker and Out of School hours care Worker (posted 27 March 2026)
Child Care and also Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) sector employers already holding an FNQ DAMA labour agreement or intending to access an agreement should note that, as a result of government adding the occupations of Child Care Worker (not group leader) and Out of School Hours Care Worker to the Combined Skilled Occupation List (CSOL) in standard skilled migration programs, the Department of Home Affairs has changed the skills, qualifications and experience requirements in the FNQ DAMA (and other DAMAs) for these occupations to align with other occupations that also appear in both the FNQ DAMA Occupation List and any of the four standard occupation lists.
This means that any new or recently executed (signed) FNQ DAMA labour agreements with these occupations will now have different skills, qualifications and experience requirements than earlier labour agreements.
The FNQ DAMA Occupation and Concession List and the associated FNQ DAMA Information Guide have been updated to reflect this change. You will note that these occupations now fall within Group 1 of the Guide, with the former Group 7A now being obsolete.
The upside is that, now these occupations are in Group 1, a skills assessment with ACECQA is not mandatory (but remains discretionary).
Important update regarding Labour Market Testing (LMT) and ENS (12 December 2025)
Although LMT is not a legislative requirement for occupations/positions seeking the ENS option, note that it is policy that both the DAR and the Department of Home Affairs may still request evidence of testing the labour market to determine whether:
- The employer has made genuine efforts to recruit Australians.
- The position is genuinely needed and aligns with DAMA objectives to address regional skill shortages.
- The request aligns with program integrity and compliance with Labour Agreement conditions.
Fifty-one additional/new occupations available under the FNQ DAMA from 22 March 2025
The FNQ DAMA Head Agreement has been varied and now includes fifty-one additional occupations, bringing the total to 226. All forms and information guides have been updated and are now available in this website. Be sure to use only the current versions.
FNQ DAMA Head Agreement extended to 3 April 2027
On 20 January 2025, Assistant Minister Matthew Thistlethwaite confirmed in writing that the FNQ DAMA Head Agreement will be extended by a further two years, to 3 April 2027, while consultations take place about the format of DAMAs moving forward.
The Minister also confirmed that the Deed of Variation submitted by the Cairns Chamber of Commerce early in 2024 will be determined in time to be included in the signing of the extended head agreement (i.e. before 3 April 2025). This Deed of Variation included Chamber requests to add numerous new occupations to the FNQ DAMA, and to allow more flexibility with the TSMIT concessions (now CSIT). While the head agreement extension is confirmed, the outcome of the additional occupations and CSIT concession changes is not yet known. The outcome will be posted as a new update when known.