{
  "title": "What people on temporary visas work as, Australia",
  "url": "https://mindiam.com/figures/temporary-visa-occupations",
  "dataUrl": "https://mindiam.com/figures/temporary-visa-occupations/data.json",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "Mindiam",
    "url": "https://mindiam.com"
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "lastRevised": "2026-10-09",
  "assessment": {
    "note": "An occupation is recorded only on the skilled visa. The share below is how much of the temporary visa population ever had one assessed. It is a statement about assessment, NOT about skill level.",
    "assessedSharePct": 6,
    "unassessedSharePct": 94,
    "assessedCount": 110740,
    "temporaryVisaHoldersExcludingNzVisitorsCrew": 1825403,
    "asAt": "31 August 2026",
    "skilledAsAt": "31 March 2025"
  },
  "skilledVisa": {
    "note": "Subclass 482. Occupation is nominated by the sponsoring employer.",
    "asAt": "31 March 2025",
    "source": "Department of Home Affairs, Temporary resident (skilled) report, 31 March 2025",
    "sourceUrl": "https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/temp-res-skilled-report-summary-31-mar-2025.pdf",
    "primaryHoldersInAustralia": 110740,
    "topOccupations": [
      {
        "occupation": "Chef",
        "code": "351311",
        "grants": 3920,
        "shareOfProgram": 8.1,
        "changeYoY": 160.5
      },
      {
        "occupation": "Resident Medical Officer",
        "code": "253112",
        "grants": 2380,
        "shareOfProgram": 4.9,
        "changeYoY": 17.1
      },
      {
        "occupation": "Specified in a labour agreement",
        "code": null,
        "grants": 1440,
        "shareOfProgram": 3,
        "changeYoY": 5.8
      }
    ],
    "topSponsorIndustries": [
      {
        "industry": "Health Care and Social Assistance",
        "grants": 8660,
        "share": 17.9,
        "changeYoY": 48.7
      },
      {
        "industry": "Accommodation and Food Services",
        "grants": 6710,
        "share": 13.9,
        "changeYoY": 112.8
      },
      {
        "industry": "Other Services",
        "grants": 6420,
        "share": 13.3,
        "changeYoY": 50.6
      }
    ],
    "occupationalGroups": [
      {
        "group": "Professionals",
        "grants": 20840,
        "share": 43.1
      },
      {
        "group": "Technicians and Trades Workers",
        "grants": 16990,
        "share": 35.1
      },
      {
        "group": "Managers",
        "grants": 5170,
        "share": 10.7
      }
    ]
  },
  "notRecorded": {
    "note": "These visas carry no nominated occupation at any stage. No agency publishes what their holders work as.",
    "visas": [
      "Student",
      "Temporary Graduate",
      "Working Holiday Maker"
    ],
    "peopleWithNoRecordedOccupation": 1714663
  },
  "occupationDataGap": {
    "censusDate": "11 August 2026",
    "occupationReleaseDue": "October 2027",
    "previousCensusDate": "10 August 2021",
    "whyPreviousIsUnusable": "The 2021 Census was taken with the borders closed. Net overseas migration was negative that year, students were offshore and working holiday makers had left, so the occupation profile it recorded describes a different population from the one here now.",
    "source": "ABS, 2026 Census release timetable",
    "sourceUrl": "https://www.abs.gov.au/census"
  },
  "limits": [
    "Health Care and Social Assistance is the largest single sponsoring industry on the skilled visa, at 17.9 per cent of grants. Clinicians do arrive through this program and these figures do not suggest otherwise.",
    "Nominated occupation is the role an employer sponsors a person for. It is not a record of what that person does in later years.",
    "No occupation is recorded at any stage for Student, Temporary Graduate or Working Holiday Maker visas, so there is no official source for what that 94 per cent works as. The 2026 Census will report it in its October 2027 release.",
    "A grant count is a flow. It is not the number of people currently working in that occupation.",
    "The 2021 Census occupation profile is not used on this page. It was taken with the borders closed, and the population it described is not the population here now."
  ]
}