Western Australia will pay up to AUD 10,000 toward the cost of moving there to work in construction. The Construction Visa Subsidy survived into 2026 and was extended in the state budget, which is more than can be said for most schemes of its kind.
One thing to be clear about first: this is money toward your costs. It is not a visa and it does not make you eligible for one.
Who gets what
There are two streams and they pay differently. The one that applies to you depends on whether an employer sponsors you or the state nominates you.
| Stream | Eligible visas | Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Employer sponsored, paid to the employer | Subclass 482, 494 and 186 | AUD 2,000, then AUD 4,000, then AUD 4,000. AUD 10,000 total |
| State nominated, applying from outside Australia | Subclass 190 and 491 | AUD 5,000, then AUD 2,500, then AUD 2,500. AUD 10,000 total |
| State nominated, already in Australia | Subclass 190 and 491 | AUD 2,500, then AUD 1,250, then AUD 1,250. AUD 5,000 total |
Two things stand out. The offshore applicant gets half the money up front, which is when relocation costs actually fall due. And an offshore applicant gets twice what an onshore applicant gets, which is unusual: most schemes favour people already in the country. WA is paying for the flight, deliberately. Migration WA publishes the terms and the occupation list.
Where it fits, and what it does not do
The subsidy is the last step of a process, not the first. You still need the visa, and the visa has its own requirements that are considerably larger than AUD 10,000:
- An eligible occupation on the relevant list, assessed by the relevant skills authority.
- Either an employer or a nomination. Subclass 482 and 186 need a sponsoring employer; 190 and 491 need WA state nomination.
- The salary floor. A subclass 482 nomination lodged from 1 July 2026 needs at least AUD 79,423, or the market rate for the role and location, whichever is higher.
- Then the subsidy claim, milestone by milestone, with visa grant letters, contracts and pay slips as evidence.
That third point is the one that decides eligibility for most people, and the subsidy does nothing to help with it. The 482 is now called the Skills in Demand visa, not the Temporary Skill Shortage visa, and anything still using the old name is out of date in ways that usually go beyond the name.
The budget extension, and the part that is not for you
The 2026-27 WA State Budget put AUD 13.1 million into the construction workforce, of which AUD 11 million extends this subsidy and a second scheme, along with 1,100 additional skilled migration places for the industry from 1 July 2026.
The second scheme is Build a Life in WA, and it is worth knowing about only so that you do not waste time on it. It pays up to AUD 10,000 as well, but to Australian citizens and residents moving from other states and territories, and to New Zealand citizens eligible for a subclass 444 visa on arrival. If you are applying from outside Australia, it is not yours. The subsidy on this page is.
The 1,100 extra nomination places matter more than either payment. State nomination is the bottleneck on subclass 190 and 491, and 1,100 places reserved for construction is a real widening of it. See how 186, 189 and 190 compare.
Which trades
The eligible occupation list spans trades and professions: carpenters, electricians, plumbers, plasterers and bricklayers alongside architects, civil and structural engineers, surveyors and project managers. Migration WA publishes the current list with the programme terms, and it is the list that governs, not the job title on an advert.
If your trade is on it, the sequence that works is: get the skills assessment moving first, because it is the slowest step and nothing else can start without it. Getting a construction job in Australia with sponsorship covers the employer side.
What to do
- Check your occupation against both the visa occupation list and the CVSP occupation list. They are not the same document.
- Start the skills assessment early. It gates everything and it is slow.
- Decide which stream you are in. Employer sponsored pays the employer; state nominated pays you.
- Apply from offshore if you have the choice. It is worth AUD 5,000 more.
- Keep every document. Milestone claims need visa grant letters, signed contracts and pay slips, and reconstructing them later is how claims get missed.
Related: the Employer Nomination Scheme, applying for visa jobs in Australia and the Skilled Independent visa. Browse Australian construction jobs with visa sponsorship on our board.
Last checked September 2026. The programme was extended in the 2026-27 WA State Budget and has no published closing date. Payment structures and occupation lists change; confirm with Migration WA before relying on them.
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