What Is the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) and How Do You Prove It?

The annual market salary rate, or AMSR, is what an Australian worker earns, or would earn, for the same full-time job at the same workplace and location. Most employer-sponsored nominations have to meet it.

The practical question comes next. How do you work the number out, and how do you prove it to Home Affairs?

AMSR is not one calculation. It depends on two questions: does your business already employ an equivalent Australian worker, and does an award or agreement cover the role? Answer those and the method follows.

Below you’ll find all three methods, the evidence Home Affairs accepts, the rule that catches salary packages, and the 25 March 2026 change.

It applies to the subclass 186 visa, the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482), the subclass 494 visa and the subclass 187 visa.

If no employer is sponsoring you, these salary rules don’t apply. The General Skilled Migration visas run on points instead.

Want your offer or nomination checked against the market first? A MARA-registered migration agent (MARN 2518738) at The Migration can review the figure and the evidence behind it. Book an AMSR review.

Why Do So Many Nominations Fail on Salary?

Salary fails nominations because employers check one salary test and miss the second. A caseworker checks that the position is genuine and the job fits the Core Skills Occupation List. Then they check the salary against both tests.

The first two questions usually resolve quickly. The salary question creates most of the requests for more information, and most of the refusals The Migration is asked to review.

Employers know there is a minimum threshold, so they clear it and assume the salary side is done. It isn’t, because the threshold is only one of two tests.

A nomination refused on salary takes the visa with it. Home Affairs decides the nomination first. If it refuses, your visa stops there, however strong your skills, English and work history are.

What Are the Two Salary Tests, and Which One Wins?

Two separate figures apply to each nomination, and the salary must meet the higher one. The first is the income threshold. The second is the annual market salary rate.

Test one: the income threshold.

These figures rose on 1 July 2026, from A$76,515 (CSIT and TSMIT) and A$141,210 (SSIT). Confirm them on the Home Affairs salary requirements page (last updated 21 September 2026).

Test two: the annual market salary rate. This is what an Australian doing the same job in the same place would earn.

Here is the part employers miss. A salary of A$85,000 clears the CSIT comfortably. But if comparable roles in that city earn A$95,000, the nomination fails. AMSR is the higher figure, so AMSR governs.

Clearing the threshold proves nothing about the market rate. The two tests measure different things.

There is one exception. Home Affairs only asks you to show the AMSR where the salary is under A$250,000 a year. At A$250,000 or more, the AMSR evidence isn’t needed, although the threshold still applies.

The thresholds move on 1 July each year, and so do the visa charges. A salary that cleared last year’s number may not clear this year’s.

Branch 1: What If an Equivalent Australian Worker Already Works in Your Business?

The next three sections cover one branch each. Read the one that matches your business, and skip the other two.

For employers.

If you employ an Australian citizen or permanent resident in an equivalent position at the same workplace, their earnings set your AMSR. You use their payslips and contract. You don’t need salary surveys, job advertisements or benchmarking data.

If an award also covers that worker, its rate is the floor. The AMSR can be the award rate or the worker’s actual earnings, but never less than the award. Many employers run a full benchmarking exercise when the answer is sitting in their own payroll.

What counts as equivalent

Equivalent means the same workplace, the same location and equivalent work. It doesn’t mean a similar job title in another office, and it doesn’t mean a more senior version of the role. Ask three questions:

• Do they perform the same duties?
• Do they work at the same workplace and location?
• Do they sit at the same level of responsibility and experience?

Three yeses give you an equivalent worker. Home Affairs says a worker who is more or less experienced, doing similar work at a different pay grade, is not equivalent.

Evidence to gather

Attach all four of these to the nomination:

1. The name of the applicable Fair Work award or enterprise agreement, if one applies.
2. The classification level or occupation classification that applies to the role.
3. Recent payslips for the equivalent employee.
4. That employee’s signed employment contract.

Redact personal details that Home Affairs doesn’t need. Keep the salary, the classification and the position title visible.

Where this branch goes wrong

• The most common failure is stretching the definition.
• For example, an employer nominates a Software Engineer and points to a Senior Software Engineer as the equivalent, because that person earns more.
• A caseworker reads the two position descriptions and sees two different roles.

Use a genuine equivalent, or move to Branch 2.

Branch 2: What If There Is No Equivalent Worker, but an Award Covers the Role?

For employers.

If nobody in your business holds an equivalent position, check whether a Fair Work award or a registered enterprise agreement covers the occupation. Most Australian roles sit under one. It takes three steps.

Step one. Identify the instrument. Search the Fair Work Commission awards list for the award covering your industry and occupation. The Fair Work pay calculator helps confirm it.

Step two. Choose the classification. Awards set pay rates by classification level, and each level describes the duties it covers. Read those descriptions against the actual duties of your role.

Step three. Apply the rate for that classification. Since 25 March 2026 that rate is the floor, not always the final answer. Market information, such as job ads or a survey, can put the AMSR above it.

Evidence to gather

1. The award or agreement name.
2. The classification level you selected.
3. A short written explanation connecting the role’s duties to that classification.

That third item is the one employers skip, and it’s the one that carries the file. A number with no reasoning looks like a guess. A paragraph explaining why Level 5 matches the position description looks like a decision.

Where this branch goes wrong

• Employers sometimes choose a lower classification because it gives a lower salary and an easier budget.
• That choice is visible. A caseworker comparing your position description with the classification will see the gap.
• The question then spreads from salary to whether the position is genuine at all.

Pick the classification the duties actually support.

Branch 3: What If There Is No Equivalent Worker and No Award?

For employers.

Without an equivalent worker or an award, you set the AMSR from market information. This branch covers new positions and jobs no award reaches, and it carries the heaviest evidence load.

Home Affairs and IMMI 18/033 list four kinds of “relevant information”. The law doesn’t set a minimum number of sources. In practice, two or more sources that agree are far more persuasive than one.

One warning from Home Affairs is worth reading twice. If you provide only generic market salary data or surveys, it may refuse the nomination.

The Fair Work Ombudsman pay guides are worth checking even in this branch. They sometimes reveal an award you assumed didn’t cover the role.

Building the file properly

• Treat two sources as the start, not the target. A third source makes a much stronger file.
• Match the same occupation, the same seniority and the same city. A Brisbane role benchmarked against Sydney ads looks hand-picked.
• Screenshot every job ad you use, with the date visible. Ads disappear before a caseworker opens your file.

A worked example (hypothetical)

The figures below are illustrative only, not real market data. Say a Melbourne software company nominates a Data Engineer. Nobody in the business holds that role, and no award covers it.

• The Jobs and Skills Australia profile shows median earnings of, say, A$118,000.
• Six Melbourne job ads for Data Engineers with three to five years of experience, all posted in the last four months, show A$110,000 to A$135,000.
• A survey from a reputable provider puts the role’s mid-point at A$121,000 in Victoria.

In this example, the employer sets the salary at A$120,000. It writes two paragraphs on the three sources, the range each gave, and why the mid-point suits the role. A caseworker can follow that reasoning without doing any work of their own.

Write the reasoning down

• Name each source.
• Give the range each one produced.
• Explain how you landed on the figure in the contract.

A nomination that shows its working reads as a decision. One that states a number and attaches three PDFs leaves the caseworker to reach their own answer.

What Does Not Count Towards the Annual Market Salary Rate?

Only guaranteed money counts. The salary is measured as guaranteed annual earnings, and several common package items sit outside it:

• Superannuation guarantee contributions.
• Commissions, bonuses and overtime that aren’t guaranteed in advance.
• Reimbursements, such as relocation costs.
• Non-monetary benefits, such as accommodation, meals, a company car, a phone or equity.

These rules come from regulations 2.57A and 2.72 of the Migration Regulations 1994. Work through the arithmetic in this hypothetical package.

An employer looking at that package sees A$93,000 and assumes the salary side is done. Home Affairs sees A$75,000, which sits below the A$79,423 threshold before AMSR is even considered.

This one rule sinks nominations where an employer has built a generous package rather than a plain salary. If your offer relies on benefits, restructure it before lodgement rather than after a refusal.

Not sure which parts of a package will count? A MARA-registered migration agent (MARN 2518738) at The Migration can check the salary structure before you lodge. Have your salary structure reviewed.

What Changed on 25 March 2026?

On 25 March 2026, an award or enterprise agreement stopped being the whole answer and became a floor. The change came from LIN 26/038, the Migration Legislation Amendment (Annual Market Salary Rate) Instrument 2026 (F2026L00329). It replaced the AMSR methods in IMMI 18/033.

• Before: where an award or agreement applied, the AMSR simply was the earnings in that instrument.
• After, with an equivalent worker: the AMSR is the award figure, or it’s set from relevant employment documents, such as payslips and contracts. Either way, it can’t be less than the award figure.
• After, without an equivalent worker: the AMSR is the award figure, or it’s set from relevant information, such as job ads or surveys. Again, it can’t be less than the award figure.
• No award at all: the AMSR still comes from employment documents or relevant information, as before.

The new rules apply to new nominations and to nominations lodged but not decided before 25 March 2026. They reach the 482, 494, 186 and 187 visas through the Migration Regulations.

So what does it mean in practice? An award rate no longer settles the AMSR on its own. If your equivalent worker earns more than the award, or the market data sits higher, the AMSR can sit higher too.

A caseworker can still compare your figure with the award rate or your own payroll, and refuse the nomination if yours sits underneath. The change widened the evidence that can set the AMSR. It didn’t lower the floor.

For Applicants: How Can You Check Your Own Offer?

For applicants.

You can’t set your own salary, but you can run three quick checks before your employer lodges anything. Raising a problem early costs far less than a refusal.

Check one. Find your award. Search the Fair Work pay calculator for your occupation and industry. If an award covers your role, compare its rates with your offer. An offer below the award rate will not hold up.

Check two. Search live job ads. Look for your exact occupation in your exact city, posted in the last few months. Note the range. If your offer sits below the bottom of it, ask your employer how they set the figure.

Match the ANZSCO occupation rather than the job title. Titles vary between companies, and the code doesn’t. The guide to which occupation list controls your visa explains how the code and the duties fit together.

Check three. Read the Jobs and Skills Australia profile. The occupation profiles publish earnings data by occupation. Compare the median with your offer.

If all three checks put your offer below the market, raise it before lodgement. Frame it as protecting the nomination, not as a pay talk. A refused nomination costs your employer the nomination fee and the SAF levy, and neither comes back.

Want to know whether your offer clears the market rate? Ask The Migration to check your offer.

Why Does AMSR Evidence Fail? Six Common Reasons

These six problems cause most of the salary refusals and requests for more information the team sees.

1. One generic source. A single broad salary survey reads as an assertion. Home Affairs may refuse a nomination that relies only on generic data or surveys.
2. Old job ads. There’s no official age limit, but stale ads carry little weight. They’re also the easiest weakness to fix.
3. The wrong city. Benchmarking a regional role against capital city salaries, or the reverse, gives a number that doesn’t describe the real market.
4. Benefits counted as salary. Covered above, and still the most expensive mistake on this list.
5. A classification that doesn’t match the duties. Choosing a lower award level to cut cost invites scrutiny of the position description, then of the role itself.
6. A number with no reasoning. Without a written link between the sources and the figure, the caseworker builds their own view, and their view governs.

Employers starting from scratch can read how to sponsor an overseas worker. Already lodged? See 482 priority processing, or what happens if you lose your job on a 482 visa.

How The Migration Helps With AMSR Evidence

Salary evidence is a common reason The Migration is asked to look at a nomination again. Many of those files could have been fixed in an hour at the drafting stage.

The Migration has worked with employer-sponsored visas for 7+ years. Its MARA-registered migration agents (MARN 2518738) help employers and applicants test the figure before lodging. You can confirm registration on the MARA public register.

• Branch check: the team confirms which of the three AMSR branches applies to the role.
• Benchmarking: the agents gather award, payroll or market evidence that matches the role, seniority and city.
• Package review: the team checks which parts of the offer count as guaranteed earnings.
• Written reasoning: the agents draft the explanation that links the evidence to the salary figure.

For the wider picture, see the 482 visa streams or the employer-sponsored visa options. No registered migration agent can guarantee a visa outcome.

Conclusion

The annual market salary rate is the second salary test, and it’s the one employers miss. Find your branch first: an equivalent worker, an award, or neither. Then gather evidence that matches the role, the seniority and the city.

Since 25 March 2026, an award rate is the floor, not always the answer. Keep the salary to guaranteed money, and write down how you reached the figure.

Want your benchmark checked before you lodge? Book a nomination and salary review with a MARA-registered migration agent (MARN 2518738).

Frequently asked questions