NSW — with its massive transitional quota of over 7,000 Subclass 190 places and nearly 5,000 Subclass 491 places — kicked things off by announcing changes to its pre-residency and EOI submission requirements. The new rules require 190 applicants to have lived in the state for six months and 491 applicants for three months — demanding, but arguably reasonable.

For more than a month, despite Victoria putting up 9,000 Subclass 190 places, many people were sitting on the fence and waiting for NSW to announce.

Then, once the occupation-specific requirements were published, many were deeply disappointed.

Why is there such a huge gap between expectations and reality — especially given that several states, and even the Subclass 189, had significantly lowered their thresholds?

NSW’s requirements turned out to be bewilderingly high.

The official response was:Occupation-specificrequirements are determined by the quota allocated to each occupation group within this financial year and the scores in the EOI pool. Changes may be made without notice and the state government will not make predictions.

Of course, we have no visibility into the data or quota decisions behind the scenes — and NSW is notoriously opaque. They’ve even explicitly said they won’t announce invitation dates or how frequently they’ll run invitation rounds. Invitations go out when they go out, and if they haven’t, don’t ask.

Of course,the state nomination list and specific requirements can still be adjusted by the state government down the line. We can keep watching — particularly after a few invitation rounds, once the government sees the gap between the ideal and the reality, will they come to their senses? We can’t predict that; we can only hope.

For now, though, NSW is the number-one case of a promising start that has failed to deliver.️

Victoria has been the most genuinely committed state so far this financial year — and this is widely agreed. It has a temporary allocation of 9,000 Subclass 190 places and 2,400 Subclass 491 places.Two rounds of ROI invitations have already been issued within just two weeks.

The first round sent out 1,100 invitations, and the second round should be of a similar scale,and from the data we’ve seen, a wider range of IT, accounting, engineering, and other professionals have received invitations,with accounting applicants scoring 85 receiving invitations, and many IT applicants on 80 or 85 (with higher incomes) also invited. If this pace is maintained, scores should continue to trend downward.

So, 2,000-plus invitations in two weeks — that’s unmistakably genuine commitment, and it’s clear the state is confident it can secure even more quota down the track.

For onshore applicants, simply living in Victoriadoes not set a minimum residency duration requirement(compare this to NSW’s Subclass 190, which requires at least six months), and a good number of offshore applicants have also received invitations.

Of course, Victoria’s queuing system is not transparent, and many applicants feel it lacks fairness and clarity — that’s understandable. Quite a few people have gone through two rounds without an invitation, which is a little disheartening — this is Victoria, after all, and competition among applicants in the same occupation with similar profiles is intense.

But looking at actual invitation outcomes, a great many people have in fact received invitations — and many of them are in sought-after occupations, which is encouraging.

It is therefore fair to say that, for now, Victoria is the most deserving alternative to the Subclass 189 as a first-choice option. If you don’t currently have a clearer pathway, Victoria is well worth considering.

Of course, we’d love to see more states compete for applicants in these occupations, rather than driving people away the way NSW has.

Queensland’s Subclass 190 and Subclass 491 quota for this financial year has grown compared to last year,but the requirements for graduates have not been meaningfully lowered — with GPA requirements, highly relevant full-time work experience, and other hurdles remaining quite demanding.

Quota up, but thresholds raised — even the small-business Subclass 491 pathway has become harder. As the third-largest state,Queensland’s commitment level is below average.Does Queensland really think climate and house prices alone will attract people?

The ACT locked in its occupation list early, and its policies for this financial year are largely unchanged from last year. It was also the first to announce it had received its quota, the first to begin issuing pre-invitations, and even sent out ‘approval in principle for nomination’ emails before the transitional quota had been formally confirmed — Matrix has always operated with steady, consistent momentum.The ACT government simply refuses to sit idle.

That said, the ACT’s scale is inherently limited.Looking at the quota breakdown, there’s a clear tilt towards Subclass 491 again — likely driven by the territory’s population growth priorities — but the Subclass 190 allocation is notably lower than other states. The ACT has openly said it intends to apply for more quota, and we’ll see how much it secures come October.

At present, Matrix scores are showing some decline, and the ACT small-business pathway has become a popular option for applicants from other states looking for a way through. For those with longer visa processing timelines who can build up a higher score, even the small-business Subclass 190 pathway may be within reach.

Western Australia has been the squeaky wheel that got the grease — it has been making noise since the first half of this year,and the quota it actually secured is genuinely substantial.It published its new financial year policies and occupation list earliest — which already included some reductions and expansions — and once the transitional quota came through, seeing other states readying themselves, WA promptly lowered its requirements even further.

The graduate stream now requires no job offer or work experience; the general stream (Schedule 2) Subclass 190 for interstate applicants requires only a six-month job offer with no work experience requirement; and the English language requirement for all applicants has been lowered to four 6s — a very welcoming stance.

Even before the quota was announced in August,WA had already issued one round of pre-invitations — around 1,100,with the general stream receiving more invitations than the graduate stream. For accounting, IT, and engineering, the bare score required was around 90 or 95.

We can be cautiously optimistic. Even though invitations have been limited so far, there’s real potential for more good news ahead.

Tasmania’s announcement came late — it had been clearing its backlog from last financial year, and only recently announced it would open the following week. Tasmania’s entry requirements are unchanged, though the fine print has been continuously adjusted and refined.

The Green and Gold streams opened for applications on 12 September today,10with the Orange stream expected to open around a month later.

The Subclass 190 quota has nearly doubled compared to last year, and although the ROI system is now in place, a fairly large number of applicants should still have a reasonable chance of receiving an invitation.

The Subclass 491 is now Tasmania’s biggest headache,especially after a significant cut to the quota. Tasmania has said it will apply for more quota, and how that unfolds — along with actual invitation outcomes — remains to be seen.

South Australia’s quota has not changed significantly, but the combined total of 6,000-plus is still substantial.Policies overall are relatively stable, though sub-category requirements are becoming increasingly detailed and granular.

Work-related thresholds have also been extended further, and requirements such as GPA have been added, which will screen out some applicants.

South Australia has always attracted a large volume of offshore applicants. Though even last financial year it started strong but faded — with the offshore Subclass 491 ROI opening early, yet only a handful actually receiving invitations.

The new ‘offshore high-skills (income) stream’ and other new pathways mentioned for the new financial year — how effective they’ll prove in practice remains to be seen.

The Northern Territory remains largely understated — quietly cultivating its own patch.The MINT programme has opened slightly to onshore applicants, the offshore MINT continues to run, and the local graduate policy continues.

Quota has grown marginally, but there’s no particular sense of enthusiasm or commitment — though perhaps that’s the NT being clear-eyed about its own position.

If you’re willing to quietly live in the NT for two and a half years and go through the graduate stream, that should be a reasonably solid pathway.

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