Workforce Planning for the 2027 Financial Year: How to Align Sponsorship Strategy With Budget Cycles

For businesses that rely on skilled migration, workforce planning and sponsorship planning should happen together. 

A sponsored employee’s visa expiry, a new vacancy or a change in salary can create migration obligations that affect recruitment timelines and business budgets. Waiting until a position becomes vacant can also leave employers with limited time to identify an eligible occupation, complete recruitment requirements and prepare a nomination. 

With the 2027 financial year underway, employers should use their workforce planning cycle to identify sponsorship requirements early. 

October is a practical time to begin the review. It gives businesses several months to identify upcoming vacancies, assess sponsorship risks, review salary requirements and include expected migration costs in their workforce budget. 

The objective is straightforward: know which roles will require sponsorship, understand the likely cost and start preparing before the position becomes urgent. 

Start workforce planning before the vacancy 

Sponsorship should not be treated as a last-minute recruitment solution. 

A business may need to complete labour market testing, confirm the nominated occupation, establish the appropriate salary, prepare a nomination and coordinate the visa application. These steps take time and should be incorporated into the recruitment plan. 

Employers should therefore look at their workforce requirements for the next 6 to 12 months and identify: 

• positions likely to become vacant; 

• new positions created by business expansion; 

• roles that are difficult to fill locally; 

• existing sponsored employees whose visas will expire; 

• employees who may be eligible for permanent residence; 

• roles that may require a new nomination; and 

• positions where salary increases may affect sponsorship requirements. 

This should be done alongside the company’s financial planning. 

For example, if a business expects to open a new location in the second half of FY2027 and anticipates needing several skilled employees, the potential sponsorship cost should be identified before the recruitment budget is finalised. 

The earlier the business identifies the requirement, the more options it has. 

1. Review every sponsored employee

The first practical step is to review the existing sponsored workforce. 

Employers should maintain a sponsor register containing, at minimum: 

This review can identify problems before they become urgent. 

For example, if an employee’s visa expires within the next 12 months, the employer should not wait until the final months before considering the next pathway. The business should determine whether the employee will remain in the role, whether the position will continue to exist and whether a temporary or permanent pathway is appropriate. 

The review should also consider whether the employee’s duties have changed. 

A job title may remain unchanged while the actual duties have gradually expanded or shifted. If the employee is no longer performing work consistent with the nominated occupation, the employer should assess whether further action is required. 

Sponsors must notify the Department of Home Affairs of relevant changes to the business or sponsored worker. Failure to comply can result in sanctions, including financial penalties, cancellation of sponsorship approval or restrictions on future sponsorship.  

2. Identify vacancy and sponsorship risks early

Not every vacancy requires sponsorship, but employers should identify potential sponsorship roles before recruitment begins. 

For each planned vacancy, ask: 

Can the role be filled locally? 

If local recruitment is unsuccessful, the next question is whether the position can be sponsored. 

This requires more than matching a job title to an occupation list. 

The employer should first establish the actual duties, responsibilities, qualifications and experience required for the position. Those duties should then be assessed against the relevant ANZSCO occupation. 

For the subclass 482 Skills in Demand visa and subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme visa, Home Affairs uses the ANZSCO 2022 classification. The occupation selected must align with the actual tasks and responsibilities of the position.  

This means employers should review the occupation before finalising the position description. 

A role with a title such as “Operations Manager” may not necessarily be appropriately classified as a particular management occupation. The duties performed by the employee determine the appropriate occupation. 

The occupation risk checklist 

Before approving a sponsorship position, employers should confirm: 

• the occupation is available for the intended visa pathway; 

• the ANZSCO code reflects the actual position; 

• any occupation caveats have been considered; 

• the employee’s qualifications and experience are appropriate; 

• a skills assessment is required, where applicable; 

• the salary meets the applicable requirements; and 

• the position can support the intended longer-term migration pathway. 

Home Affairs confirms that the skilled occupation list identifies eligible occupations, relevant ANZSCO codes, caveats and assessing authorities.  

Checking this at the workforce planning stage reduces the risk of designing a role around an occupation that ultimately cannot support the intended sponsorship pathway. 

3. Build the 2026–27 salary thresholds into the budget

Salary planning is a key part of sponsorship planning. 

From 1 July 2026, the Core Skills Income Threshold increased to AUD 79,423. This applies to relevant nomination applications for the subclass 482 Core Skills stream and subclass 186. The Specialist Skills Income Threshold for the subclass 482 Specialist Skills stream increased to AUD 146,576. The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold also increased to AUD 79,423. 

These figures apply to relevant new nomination applications from 1 July 2026. They do not simply change the salary of every existing sponsored employee. 

Employers should therefore distinguish between: 

Existing sponsored employees
Review their current approved salary and ongoing employment obligations. 

New nominations
Apply the threshold in force when the nomination is lodged. 

The salary threshold is also not the only salary consideration. 

Employers may need to demonstrate that the nominated salary meets the applicable Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR). In practice, this means a salary that is above the migration threshold may still be insufficient if the market salary for the position is higher. 

For workforce budgeting, employers should therefore review: 

• current salary; 

• proposed salary for new positions; 

• expected annual salary increases; 

• market salary data; 

• superannuation and remuneration structure; 

• the applicable migration income threshold; and 

• the expected date of nomination lodgement. 

This is particularly important for positions currently sitting close to the relevant threshold. 

4. Budget for the full cost of sponsorship

The cost of sponsorship extends beyond the visa application charge. 

A workforce budget should consider: 

• sponsorship application costs; 

• nomination application costs; 

• visa application charges; 

• Skilling Australians Fund levy; 

• professional fees; 

• recruitment and advertising costs; 

• labour market testing costs, where applicable; 

• skills assessment costs; 

• health and character costs; and 

• costs associated with family members. 

Visa application charges can also change over time. Employers should therefore confirm the applicable charges when preparing the budget rather than relying on figures from an earlier financial year. 

The budget should also account for salary costs. 

For a sponsored position, the business is not simply budgeting for a visa. It is committing to employing the worker on the approved terms and meeting the applicable salary and sponsorship obligations. 

A useful approach is to prepare two figures: 

Cost of sponsorship:
Government charges + professional fees + recruitment costs + salary commitment. 

Cost of vacancy:
Recruitment costs + advertising + onboarding + lost productivity + potential overtime or temporary staffing + operational impact. 

This provides management with a clearer basis for deciding whether sponsorship is commercially appropriate. 

5. Review the position against the future workforce strategy

Sponsorship planning should not stop at the immediate visa. 

Employers should ask where the position fits within the business over the next two to three years. 

For example: 

• Is this a permanent role? 

• Is the business expecting the position to expand? 

• Could the employee eventually be considered for permanent residence? 

• Will the position remain eligible if the duties change? 

• Is the current salary likely to remain competitive? 

• Will the business need to sponsor additional workers in the same occupation? 

This is particularly important where the employer expects to retain a skilled employee long term. 

A short-term sponsorship decision can create problems later if the position is not structured consistently with a potential permanent pathway. 

The employer should therefore consider the temporary visa strategy and any potential permanent residence strategy together, where appropriate. 

6. Maintain a sponsor register and forward nomination calendar

Once the workforce review is complete, the information should be converted into two working documents. 

Sponsor register 

The sponsor register should track all current sponsored employees and key compliance dates. 

It should be updated when there is a change to: 

• visa status; 

• employment; 

• salary; 

• occupation or duties; 

• work location; 

• business structure; or 

• sponsorship arrangements. 

Home Affairs provides a process for sponsors to update relevant sponsorship information and recommends renewing standard business sponsorship approximately two months before the current sponsorship ends.  

Forward nomination calendar 

The nomination calendar should identify upcoming action well before the relevant deadline. 

A simple FY2027 calendar could include: 

The dates will vary depending on the employee, visa pathway and business circumstances. The purpose of the calendar is to ensure that action starts before the deadline. 

7. Make sponsorship part of the annual budget cycle

The biggest mistake employers can make is treating migration as a separate administrative issue. 

Sponsorship affects: 

• recruitment; 

• payroll; 

• workforce retention; 

• financial planning; 

• compliance; 

• business continuity; and 

• long-term workforce strategy. 

It should therefore be discussed alongside the annual workforce and financial budgets. 

A practical FY2027 review should answer five questions: 

1. Who do we currently sponsor?

Identify every sponsored employee and their key visa dates. 

2. Who are we likely to need?

Identify future vacancies and hard-to-fill positions. 

3. Can those positions be sponsored?

Check the occupation, pathway, qualifications, salary and other eligibility requirements. 

4. What will sponsorship cost?

Include government charges, professional costs, recruitment and salary commitments. 

5. When does action need to begin?

Record the relevant dates in a forward nomination calendar. 

If these five questions are answered early, sponsorship becomes a planned workforce expense rather than an unexpected recruitment problem. 

FY2027 workforce planning should begin with the business’s future staffing requirements, not with the next visa deadline. 

Employers should review their sponsored workforce, identify likely vacancies, assess occupations against the current skilled occupation framework and build the applicable salary thresholds and sponsorship costs into the budget. 

The 1 July 2026 salary changes reinforce why this review should be conducted regularly. The Core Skills Income Threshold is now AUD 79,423, while the Specialist Skills Income Threshold is AUD 146,576, with the relevant threshold applying to new nominations from 1 July 2026. 

Most importantly, employers should maintain a sponsor register and forward nomination calendar throughout the financial year. 

Good sponsorship planning means knowing in advance: 

which roles will be needed, which roles may require sponsorship, what those roles will cost and when action must begin. 

That approach gives employers more time to manage recruitment, control costs and address potential migration risks before they affect business operations. 

Disclaimer: This publication contains general information only and is not legal advice. Immigration law and workplace law obligations may change, and outcomes vary depending on individual circumstances. Readers should obtain independent legal advice tailored to their specific situation before acting on any information contained in this article.