About the Northern Territory Designated Area Migration Agreement

The Northern Territory (NT) DAMA is an employer-sponsored visa program.

NT employers can use the program to sponsor overseas workers for positions they are unable to fill with local workers.

This is the third version of the NT DAMA and applies to the whole of the NT. It is tailored to address current and emerging labour market shortages.

Sponsoring workers

The NT DAMA enables NT employers to sponsor workers for the following:

• 4-year Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa
• 5-year Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (subclass 494) visa (which has an independent pathway to permanent residency after 3 years)
• permanent Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa.

Through the NT DAMA, employers can sponsor workers in occupations that are not available in standard national visa programs and access concessions to some criteria.

An individual worker cannot apply for a visa independently under the NT DAMA. They should look for a job with an NT business who will sponsor them. For jobs available in the NT, go to The Territory website.

Businesses can access the NT DAMA if they are actively operating in the NT, and:

• are financially viable and have been operating for at least 12 months
• have no history of not meeting its obligations to employees
• are looking to employ overseas workers to fill full-time positions with duties that align with one of the occupations on the NT DAMA list
• can demonstrate they cannot fill the position locally with an Australian citizens or permanent resident
• can provide terms and conditions of employment to overseas workers that are in accordance with those offered to Australian workers employed in the region.

To use the NT DAMA program, businesses must first be endorsed by MigrationNT, within the Department of Trade, Business and Asian Relations, and enter into a 5-year labour agreement with the Department of Home Affairs.

The labour agreement will outline the number of workers the business can nominate over the 5-year agreement period in specified occupations and the available concessions.

For information on how to apply, see the step by step guide for employers.