Today is Day 2 of the MIA state-nomination invitation briefing, which runs for four consecutive days. Yesterday covered Queensland and Victoria — see here:State-Nomination Briefing | Queensland ramps up invitations from January; Victoria’s top three offshore 491 priorities; NSW issues invitations again!

Today it is Canberra’s and Tasmania’s turn. This article focuses on the allocations and the schedule of upcoming invitation rounds. Each state’s policy has already been announced officially; if you’d like to understand the policy details, please contact us directly.

Canberra

Allocation and invitation rounds

– As of 21 November, Canberra has used 425 places — 205 for the 491 and 220 for the 190.

– In other words, Canberranow has 1,175 places remaining: 595 for the 491 (74% of its allocation remaining) and 580 for the 190 (72.5% of its allocation remaining).

–One more round of Matrix invitations will be issued before the end of the year. Given that today is already the 26th, it is most likely to fall in the window before Christmas in December.

– Plan going forward:invitations will be issued once a month through to May 2026. A new application system is expected to go live in June next year,which will affect the timing of the final invitation round of this financial year — expected to be held no later than early May. All of the above, of course, depends on how the allocation is actually used.

– Once you receive a Matrix invitation, the nomination assessment wait time is within 15 days.

– Because the full allocation was received very late this year, the state government is currently unable to estimate what the minimum Matrix score required for an invitation will be in the coming rounds.

Upcoming reforms and updates

– The Critical List was updated in October. Canberra reviews the Critical List every year, but a review does not necessarily result in an updated list.

– The new system, going live in June next year, will allow applicants to withdraw and edit their Canberra Matrix submissions.

–Down the track, Canberra may take applicants’ salaries into consideration, giving priority to higher-paid candidates — for now, invitations are still issued solely on the basis of Matrix score and occupation.

– Future adjustments may involve the Employer Sponsored Streamlined Pathway and its salary threshold, the small-business stream, and the NIV.

Detailed reminders

– From receiving nomination through to visa grant,applicants must live in the ACT, but are not strictly required to be in work during that time, and may change jobs,even into work unrelated to the nomination. As for travelling overseas, short trips to visit family are permitted,on the condition that the ACT remains your primary place of residence. If you move out of the ACT during this period, the state government may withdraw the nomination.

–Applicants may submit multiple Matrixes across different occupations, but this does not result in multiple invitations — once an applicant receives a Matrix invitation, the others are flagged as duplicates.

Tasmania

Tasmania now issues invitations weekly and updates its data in real time. Invitations were just released today, and the figures posted on the official website straight afterwards are already fresher than the numbers shown on the state officials’ slide deck from the 20th. As a result, Tasmania’s session was largely spent in the Q&A answering very specific submission-related questions.

Data as of 26 November

As at this round of ROIs issued: 72 x 190 and 33 x 491.

The minimum score for the 190 this round was 36 (orange), and for the 491, 43 (orange).

After this round,the pool still holds 288 ROIs for the 190 and 228 ROIs for the 491.

The formal nomination allocation currently remaining is 997 for the 190 (83% remaining) and 576 for the 491 (88.6% remaining).

After an ROI invitation, nomination processing has advanced to 11 November 2025.

New pathways coming soon

Tasmania is expected to add two new pathways — one DAMA and one NIV.

On the NIV:

Implementation is planned for early 2026; once the framework is finalised, more information will be released.

On the DAMA:

–– Implementation is expected in early 2026.The state government expects to need several months to progressively refine the rules and processes, and is aiming to publish them at least by early next year.

– The original intent is to make more overseas workers available. As with other DAMAs, compared with standard employer sponsorship, Tasmania will offer certain concessions — for example, a lower minimum salary requirement, a higher applicant age ceiling, and a broader occupation list.

– The state government is currently finalising the occupation list by identifying roles where Tasmanian employers are facing recruitment difficulties today, or are expected to face such difficulties over the next five years.

FAQ

Can a spouse or children live in another state?

If an applicant has family in another state, it may affect their residency commitment;at the time of submitting the application, the spouse and children are also required to have lived in Tasmania for at least three months. If they are overseas, it does not affect the application.

Tomorrow, Thursday, at the same time, it will be South Australia and the Northern Territory, and we will be attending again.South AustraliaKey focus: this year’s invitation preferences and how to respond to the sharp cut to the 190 allocation.Northern TerritoryThe focus here is the submission situation for the offshore 491 priority-occupation pathway and how invitations will be issued in the period ahead.

If you’d like a comprehensive assessment of all state nomination programs this year, please contact our client service team.

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