Two Different Salary Floors Are Circulating for Australia’s 2026 Skilled Visas — and Lodging Against the Wrong One Simply Fails
If you are being sponsored into Australia this year, there is one number your whole application rests on — the minimum salary your employer has to guarantee you. Search for it today and you will find two different answers, both stated with complete confidence, both published by qualified immigration practices.
That is not a rounding difference. It is the difference between a nomination that succeeds and one that does not.
Where things stand: Australia’s Core Skills Income Threshold and Specialist Skills Income Threshold are indexed every 1 July under Regulation 5.42A using Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings data, and the figure that applies is fixed by the nomination lodgement date, not the decision date. For the 2026–27 year, published figures differ between sources — which is why you cannot treat any single blog’s number as final.
Here is the conflict laid out, what to do about it, and what the Skills in Demand visa actually looks like in 2026.
The Discrepancy, Stated Plainly
Two sets of figures are live in search results right now.
The higher pair. One firm reports the threshold increasing from AUD 76,515 to AUD 79,499 for nominations under Subclass 482 Core Skills and the Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186), with the Specialist Skills figure rising from AUD 141,210 to AUD 146,717. Another publishes the same pair — 79,499 and 146,717 — attributing the rise to 3.8% annual AWOTE indexation. A third carries the same 79,499 figure as the Core Skills band floor from 1 July 2026.
The lower pair. A different practice reports the increase as from AUD 76,515 to AUD 79,423, applying to Skills in Demand Core Skills stream and Subclass 186 nominations, with the Specialist Skills threshold going from AUD 141,210 to AUD 146,576. Another states the CSIT as AUD 79,423 effective 1 July 2026, up from 76,515, and the SSIT as AUD 146,576. A third gives AUD 79,423 as the current threshold updated as of 1 July 2026.
Every source agrees on the starting figures — 76,515 and 141,210. They disagree on where indexation landed. The gap is AUD 76 on the Core Skills threshold and AUD 141 on the Specialist Skills one.
Small numbers. Not a small problem.
Why AUD 76 Can Sink an Application
Because the threshold is not a guideline. It is a floor, and the guaranteed annual earnings in your nomination either clear it or they do not.
Three details make this sharper than it looks.
The date that counts is lodgement. The applicable figure is fixed by when the nomination is lodged, not when it is decided. Nominations lodged on or after 1 July 2026 must meet the new threshold; those lodged before that date are not affected. You cannot fix a shortfall later by pointing to a pay rise.
Superannuation does not count toward it. The Core Skills Income Threshold is expressed excluding superannuation. A package quoted as “79,500 including super” is nowhere near the floor.
There is a second test underneath the first. The salary offered must also be consistent with market rates for the role. Clearing the threshold does not exempt you from the market salary rate requirement. If comparable Australian workers in that role earn more, the threshold figure alone will not carry the nomination.
How to Resolve the Number Yourself
You do not have to pick a side in a dispute between blogs. There are three ways to settle it, in descending order of authority.
Check the Department of Home Affairs directly. The income threshold is published on the Skills in Demand visa pages at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. That page is the operative figure. Every article, including this one, is a secondary source that can go stale.
Check the legislative instrument. The thresholds are set under Regulation 5.42A, which means the indexed amount is specified in a legislative instrument published by the Department. That instrument, not a summary of it, is the legal figure.
Ask the nominating employer’s registered migration agent to confirm in writing before lodgement. If they cannot state the figure and cite where it comes from, that is useful information about the nomination you are relying on.
And in the meantime, plan against the higher number. This is the practical resolution. If the true floor is AUD 79,499 and your offer is drafted at 79,423, the nomination fails. If the true floor is 79,423 and your offer is drafted at 79,499, nothing bad happens — you have simply cleared it with room to spare. The asymmetry only runs one way, so negotiate to the higher figure and treat the difference as insurance.
What the Skills in Demand Visa Actually Is Now
If your research is more than a year old, the structure underneath all this has changed.
The Core Skills and Specialist Skills thresholds were introduced on 7 December 2024, when the Skills in Demand visa (Subclass 482) replaced the Temporary Skill Shortage visa. The reform did more than rename it: the old short-term and medium-term TSS streams were retired, and the new structure splits applicants by salary level and intended length of stay.
There are three streams in operation — Specialist Skills, Core Skills, and Labour Agreement — with an Essential Skills stream announced but still in development. The Core Skills Occupation List replaced the MLTSSL, STSOL and Regional Occupation List for the Core Skills stream, and CSIT and SSIT replaced the old TSMIT terminology for the two main streams.
In practice the Skills in Demand visa is the main route for skilled overseas hiring into Australia in 2026, sitting alongside the Subclass 494 regional visa and the Subclass 186 permanent visa as the three legs of the employer-sponsored system.
The Core Skills Stream and the CSOL
This is where most applicants sit.
The Core Skills Occupation List contains 456 occupations and applies to the Skills in Demand visa Core Skills pathway and the Subclass 186 Direct Entry permanent visa. It launched on 7 December 2024. The list spans trades, healthcare, engineering, construction and information technology.
Two requirements have to be satisfied together: the occupation must appear on the CSOL, and the guaranteed earnings must meet the Core Skills Income Threshold, with a genuine full-time job offer from an approved Australian employer. The CSIT also applies to the Employer Nomination Scheme and certain Labour Agreement pathways.
Skills assessments are required for some occupations depending on the role.
The Misconception That Costs People Their Own Eligibility
This is the single most common error in the comment sections, and it works in the applicant’s favour once corrected.
The CSOL replaced the old occupation lists only for those specific visa types. The MLTSSL and STSOL still exist for other visas 189, 190 and 491 so an occupation missing from the CSOL is not automatically ineligible for Australia.
People check the CSOL, do not find their ANZSCO code, and abandon the idea of Australia entirely. If your occupation is not on the CSOL, the correct next step is to check the points-tested skilled visas, not to stop.
The Specialist Skills Stream: No List at All
Less discussed, and worth knowing if you are in a senior or highly paid role.
The Specialist Skills stream is designed for highly paid, highly skilled workers, and there is no requirement for the occupation to appear on any list. The occupation can sit in any ANZSCO group except major group 3 (technicians and trades workers), major group 7 and major group 8 (labourers) so the stream is built for executives, senior professionals and technical specialists in the highest-paid bands.
The trade-off is favourable on speed. The Department’s median processing time for decision-ready Specialist Skills applications is seven business days.
Read that against the Core Skills route and a genuine strategic question appears: if your offer is close to the Specialist Skills threshold, negotiating past it may be worth more than the salary difference itself, because it removes the occupation-list dependency entirely and moves you into the fastest queue in the system.
What Is Coming Next
A revised CSOL incorporating stakeholder consultation feedback is expected during 2026, with health, education, construction and regional trades emphasised.
If your occupation is currently off the list, that revision is the thing to watch. If it is currently on the list, note that list revisions can remove occupations as well as add them — which is an argument for lodging while your position is certain rather than waiting for a better market.
Visa application charges, salary thresholds and eligibility requirements are all subject to change, particularly from 1 July each year.
What to Do This Month
Confirm the threshold on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au before any contract is signed, and screenshot it with the date.
Get the offer drafted at the higher circulating figure, expressed as guaranteed annual earnings excluding superannuation.
Check your ANZSCO code against the CSOL — and if it is absent, check MLTSSL and STSOL for the 189, 190 and 491 routes before concluding anything.
Check whether the Specialist Skills threshold is reachable. If it is within negotiating distance, the processing advantage is substantial.
Ask about the market salary rate, not just the threshold. This is the test that quietly fails otherwise-compliant nominations.
Start any required skills assessment early. It runs on its own timeline and is frequently the longest step.
Key Takeaways
- Two sets of 1 July 2026 thresholds are circulating: AUD 79,499 / 146,717 and AUD 79,423 / 146,576. Sources agree on the previous figures of 76,515 and 141,210.
- Plan against the higher figure. Over-clearing costs nothing; under-clearing fails the nomination.
- The applicable threshold is fixed by nomination lodgement date, not decision date, and excludes superannuation.
- The market salary rate test applies separately — clearing the threshold is not sufficient on its own.
- The CSOL holds 456 occupations and governs the Core Skills stream and Subclass 186 Direct Entry.
- MLTSSL and STSOL still exist for the 189, 190 and 491 visas. Missing from CSOL is not the end.
- The Specialist Skills stream needs no occupation list, excludes ANZSCO major groups 3, 7 and 8, and has a median processing time of seven business days for decision-ready cases.
- A revised CSOL is expected during 2026.