Training Requirements for 457 Business Sponsor Applicants
Auditable training plan – less than one year trading
New businesses that are in their first year must have an auditable training plan to demonstrate how they meet the training benchmarks.
Training Benchmarks must be met for Businesses trading for a year or more:
A business can meet the training requirement through one of two benchmarks. This can be either:
Training Contribution to Industry fund of 2% of Business Payroll: (Training benchmark A)
Recent expenditure to the equivalent of at least two per cent of the payroll of the business, in payments allocated to an industry training fund that operates in the same industry as the business
What is the definition of an Industry Training Fund?
Industry training funds are statutory authorities responsible for providing funding for training of eligible workers in certain industries, such as construction and mining.
You should contribute to a fund that operates in the same industry as your business.
I can not find an Industry Training Fund?
If your industry does not have an eligible training fund, you can contribute to:
- a recognised industry body that provides training opportunities for its members, provided they reserve the funds contributed for training
- a recognised scholarship fund at a university or TAFE college that supports education or training for Australians in the same or a similar industry as your business.
Recent Training Expenditure to 1% of Business Payroll: (Training benchmark B)
The expenditure must be the provision of training to employees of the business who are Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents.
Types of Training that are acceptable:
- paying for a formal course of study for your Australian employees
- funding a scholarship in a formal course of study approved under the Australian Qualifications Framework for your Australian employees
- employing apprentices, trainees or recent graduates on an ongoing basis in numbers proportionate to the size of the business
- employing a person who trains your Australian employees
- paying external providers to deliver training for Australian employees
- providing on-the-job training that is structured with a timeframe and clearly identified increase in the skills at each stage, and demonstrating all of the following:
- the learning outcomes of the employee at each stage
- how the progress of the Australian employee will be monitored and assessed
- how the program will provide additional and enhanced skills
- the use of qualified trainers to develop the program and set assessments
- the number of people participating and their skill and occupation.
- Expenditure on graduates who are part of a formal training program
- Expenditure on apprentices and trainees - you can count 100 per cent of the salary if they are employed under a formal training agreement. The formal training must be lodged with the relevant state or territory.
- Training provided by a franchise head office for franchisees can be acceptable if you can:
- submit quantifiable evidence of structured training provided to your employees (for example, session plans, learning objectives)
- make a commitment to continue to provide training to your employees
- quantify the actual expenditure on training.
Ongoing Commitment to Training:
The employer must be able to demonstrate training expenditure for every year that they are a business sponsor.
This is very important because the Immigration Department does monitor Businesses Sponsors.
457 Business Sponsors Industry Training Contributions:
What is the definition of an Industry Training Fund?
Industry training funds are statutory authorities responsible for providing funding for training of eligible workers in certain industries, such as construction and mining.
You should contribute to a fund that operates in the same industry as your business.
I can not find an Industry Training Fund?
If your industry does not have an eligible training fund, you can contribute to:
- a recognised industry body that provides training opportunities for its members, provided they reserve the funds contributed for training
- a recognised scholarship fund at a university or TAFE college that supports education or training for Australians in the same or a similar industry as your business.
If you cannot identify an eligible training fund for your industry, you can consider the following institutions:
Hunter Institute of Technology
International College of Hotel Management
Queensland Construction Training Fund (BERT Training Queensland)
Restaurant & Catering Industry Association of Australia
