Australia legislates public register of approved work sponsors from October 2026
The Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 8 April 2026 and commenced on 8 October 2026; the register's contents depend on regulations.
The Australian Parliament passed the Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 8 April 2026. The Act authorises the Department of Home Affairs to publish information about approved work sponsors on its website and commenced on 8 October 2026, the default date six months after assent.
What's changed
The Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Act 2026 (No. 39, 2026) received Royal Assent on 8 April 2026. It inserts section 140GD into the Migration Act 1958, allowing the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs to publish information about approved work sponsors on the Department's website, building on commitments first set out in the Australian Government's Migration Strategy released in December 2023.
The register will list Standard Business Sponsors approved under the Subclass 482 visa programme — the Skills in Demand visa, formerly the Temporary Skill Shortage visa. Sponsors with accredited status will also appear on the register. The information published is limited to what regulations prescribe; the Act lists the kind of sponsor, its name, its ABN and associated postcode, the number of nominations it has made, and the kinds of occupations those nominations cover, and bars the publication of personal identifiers.
The stated purpose of the register is to promote transparency in the sponsored-worker market and to help temporary skilled migrants identify alternative sponsors when their existing sponsorship arrangement ends or breaks down. Sponsorship transferability has been one of the structural concerns the Migration Strategy aimed to address.
Who's affected
The register affects Australian employers approved as Standard Business Sponsors under the Subclass 482 visa programme — historically a group of around 23,000 sponsoring entities, though the figure changes over time. Sponsored workers under Subclass 482 — many of whom come from India, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, China, and Ireland — gain a new tool to identify and approach alternative sponsors lawfully when seeking to change employers.
The Act does not change the underlying eligibility rules for sponsorship approval, the visa-grant requirements for Subclass 482 holders, or the labour-market testing framework. It introduces a transparency mechanism — the public register — without altering the substantive sponsorship regime.
When it takes effect
The Act commenced on 8 October 2026; no earlier date was fixed by Proclamation. Publication under section 140GD depends on regulations prescribing the information to be published.
Where it stands
Correction (October 22, 2026): an earlier version of this article attributed the register to the Migration Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Act 2026. The register provision is in the Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Act 2026.
On 8 October 2026, section 140GD took effect; the Federal Register of Legislation's compilation of the Migration Act 1958 from that date incorporates the amendment. Compilations of the Migration Regulations 1994 to 2 October 2026 do not include regulations prescribing the information to be published.
As of October 22, 2026, the Department of Home Affairs has not announced the publication of a register of approved work sponsors.