South West Western Australia DAMA

The South West DAMA covers the City of Bunbury, City of Busselton and the Shires of Augusta Margaret River, Boyup Brook, Bridgetown-Greenbushes, Capel, Collie, Dardanup, Donnybrook-Balingup, Harvey, Manjimup and Nannup, with the Shire of Dardanup as Designated Area Representative. An updated agreement with an expanded occupation list took effect in November 2024; the published occupation list marks each occupation’s English, TSMIT and age concessions and its skills assessing authority.

The Shire has been told by the Department of Home Affairs that the head agreement, which expires on 14 December 2026, will not be renewed, and that new labour agreement requests and variations can be made until October 2026. Existing labour agreements, visa conditions and permanent pathways continue for their full term, and the region transitions to the statewide WA DAMA administered by the Department of Training and Workforce Development.

Concessions on listed occupations include a TSMIT reduction of 10% where a business case supports it, either as reduced earnings (Type 1) or with non-monetary earnings of no more than 10% (Type 2), an English concession of average IELTS 5.0 with no minimum component for the subclass 482 and 494 visas, and age limits of 55 or 50 shown against each occupation in the list. Since August 2024 every subclass 482 holder under the DAMA may be nominated for the subclass 186 visa after two years, and subclass 494 holders reach the subclass 191 visa after three years. The Shire’s FAQ confirms that a business must have operated for at least 12 months and must supply a summary of genuine recruitment efforts with its endorsement application.