Hiring international talent into Australia
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Hiring an international worker into Australia means navigating visa sponsorship, tax registration, superannuation obligations and employment law — all before the person's first day. The process is manageable if you work through it in the right order.
Understand your sponsorship options first
Most skilled international hires will come in on either a Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa (subclass 482) or, for permanent roles, an Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa (subclass 186). A small number of roles qualify under other streams, including Global Talent visas, but the TSS is the most common route for employers.
To sponsor a worker on a 482, your business must be an approved Standard Business Sponsor. If you are not already approved, apply through the Department of Home Affairs before you make any offer. Approval can take several weeks, so start early. Once approved, you nominate the specific role (which must appear on the relevant skilled occupation list) and then the worker lodges their own visa application.
Processing times vary significantly. Build at least three to four months into your hiring timeline for a straightforward 482 case, and longer if the occupation list assessment is complex or if the worker needs a skills assessment from a relevant authority.
Get the employment contract right
An international hire employed directly by your Australian entity is covered by the Fair Work Act in the same way as any local employee. That means the National Employment Standards apply: minimum four weeks' annual leave, redundancy pay scaled to years of service, notice periods, and all other NES entitlements. Award coverage depends on the industry and role classification — check the Fair Work Commission's pay and conditions tool if you are unsure which award applies.
State your salary in Australian dollars. If you are converting from an overseas offer, be explicit about whether the figure is inclusive or exclusive of superannuation, because many international candidates are unfamiliar with the super system.
Set up payroll and tax withholding
Once your employee has an Australian Tax File Number (TFN), you can set them up in payroll correctly. If they do not yet have a TFN — which is common for new arrivals — they can still start work, but you must withhold tax at the top marginal rate until the TFN is provided. Prompt your new hire to apply for a TFN through the ATO as soon as they have an Australian address.
Tax is withheld under Pay As You Go (PAYG) on a progressive scale. You report each pay event to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll (STP) and finalise the income year by 14 July.
Check whether the employee has a HECS/HELP debt. Overseas residents with study debts have been subject to repayment obligations for some years now, and repayments are made through payroll on a banded scale based on income — your employee is responsible for telling you about their debt via the tax file number declaration or withholding variation.
The Medicare levy of 2% applies to most employees. New arrivals who are not yet permanent residents may be exempt for part of the year — they should confirm their status with the ATO directly, but it is worth flagging so they are not surprised.
Meet your superannuation obligations
Superannuation applies to international hires working in Australia on the same basis as local employees. The Superannuation Guarantee sits at 12% of ordinary time earnings from 2026. You pay this to a complying superannuation fund — either the employee's chosen fund or your default fund if they do not nominate one.
New employees must be given a superannuation standard choice form. If they have no existing Australian super account, they may want to set one up, or check whether your default fund has a process for new accounts. Workers on temporary visas can also access their accumulated super when they permanently leave Australia through the Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP) — this is the employee's concern, not yours to administer, but knowing it exists helps you answer the inevitable question.
Manage ongoing compliance
Sponsoring employers have specific obligations beyond normal employment law. You must keep records showing the worker is employed in the nominated occupation and at the nominated salary. You cannot on-hire a 482 holder to a third party unless you hold a labour-hire approval. If the employment ends — whether by resignation or termination — you must notify the Department of Home Affairs and, in most cases, meet certain obligations around the worker's return travel costs.
For businesses hiring across multiple countries at once, the compliance picture becomes significantly more complex; how Mellow runs payroll across six countries on one platform gives a sense of where technology can reduce that administrative load.
Keep your sponsorship approval current. Standard Business Sponsor status must be renewed, and the Department of Home Affairs can audit your records at any time. Treat your immigration and payroll compliance as live obligations, not one-off tasks at the point of hire.
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