In May someone posted in r/AusVisa after two years in Australia. They had come on a working holiday visa and wanted to stay. They had experience as a loader operator and on other earthmoving machines, which they said were occupations in most of Western Australia's DAMA regions. They'd called, emailed and applied, and no employer seemed interested, even ones that had only recently signed up for this kind of sponsorship.
"Has anyone here actually landed a role through DAMA, and if so how because I'm losing hope here??"
It's the question almost everyone with a DAMA plan ends up asking. The answers, and the official page, explain why it's hard.
What a DAMA is
A Designated Area Migration Agreement is a formal agreement between the Australian Government and a state or territory government or a regional authority. Home Affairs says it "provides access to more occupations than the standard skilled migration program". Each one can also include concessions to the usual visa criteria, as agreed between the two sides, and it can cover skilled and semi-skilled workers.
It works in two tiers:
- A five-year head agreement between the Government and the region's representative. That's usually a state or territory government, a chamber of commerce, a Regional Development Australia office or a local council.
- Separate labour agreements between the Government and individual employers in that region, generally for five years. These use the 482 Skills in Demand, 494 and 186 visas.
That second tier is the part people miss. A region having a DAMA doesn't mean every employer in it can use it. Each employer has to apply and be approved.
Where the DAMAs are
When we read Home Affairs' DAMA page on 13 November 2026, it listed 13. In Victoria there are two:
- Goulburn Valley
- Great South Coast, run through Warrnambool City Council
The others are Adelaide City (technology and innovation), East Kimberley, Far North Queensland (through the Cairns Chamber of Commerce), the Northern Territory, Orana in NSW, the Pilbara, South Australia Regional, South West WA, the Goldfields, Townsville, and a Western Australia agreement run by the state's Department of Training and Workforce Development.
The page also says "the department is currently supporting the transition to state and territory-led DAMAs", so who runs each one may change. Check the official page before you rely on this list. It links to each region's own website.
What the employer has to do first
This is why DAMA jobs are rarer than they sound. According to the same page:
- The employer must get endorsement from the region's representative before it can ask Home Affairs for a labour agreement.
- Employers "must demonstrate a genuine attempt to recruit Australians prior to accessing a DAMA labour agreement".
- Each agreement covers a set list of occupations for that region, not every job.
- A DAMA won't be endorsed where the industry already has its own industry labour agreement.
Only after all that can the employer nominate a worker, and then the worker applies for the visa.
One reply in the May thread, from someone whose friend had just got a DAMA sponsorship, described it from the ground: many employers "aren't aware of the complexities of sponsorship in general and especially a DAMA sponsorship", the steps can take "upwards of 6 months at least", and it "definitely requires a competent migration agent", which costs money. That's one person's understanding, but it matches why an employer who has never done it might hesitate.
Being approved once doesn't cover everything, either. In August someone in r/AusVisa asked whether their employer, already endorsed under the Far North Queensland DAMA for other occupations, would need to go through it again for their job. Ask the regional body that question directly. The answer depends on the agreement.
What people say about actually getting one
The top reply in the May thread came from someone who migrated years ago on an earlier version of this visa: "Even back then it was usually used by an employer you already worked for and who you already had a strong working relationship with." Their friends were sponsored by wheatbelt farmers, "but always guys they'd already worked for on their WHV". Their advice: "Cold applying is gonna be a long shot."
Another said their sister and a friend chose Cairns over WA "because less people wanted to go to the north", so sponsors were easier to find.
In r/AusSponsorship, a commenter said you can only be sponsored as a disability support worker under a DAMA, adding "somehow all of Perth is covered". We haven't checked which occupations are on which agreement, so don't take that as a rule. The statewide Western Australia agreement may be why Perth came up.
All of these are single stories. Together they say the same thing: the people who got DAMA jobs mostly already knew the employer.
How to look, step by step
- Pick the regions where you'd actually live and work. Open the Home Affairs page and follow the link to that region's site.
- Check your occupation is on that region's list. Each DAMA has its own list, and it isn't the same as the standard one.
- Find employers who already use the agreement. Some regional bodies explain how employers join, or list contacts. If they don't, ask them.
- Read the ads from those employers. Being in a DAMA region doesn't make an employer a DAMA employer.
- Contact the employer directly. Say who you are, your experience, and that you would need a 482 sponsor under their DAMA agreement. Our post on finding employers has a message you can adapt.
- If you're already in a region on another visa, the work you do for local employers now is what people in these threads said mattered most.
What to watch for
- Anyone who says they can "get you a DAMA job" for a fee. Paying for sponsorship is against the law, for you as well as them. See our scams post.
- Regional ads that don't name the employer.
- Salary rules. Because each DAMA can have its own concessions, the pay rules for a DAMA job can differ from the standard thresholds. We haven't checked each region's terms, so ask the regional body.
Where FindSponsor fits
FindSponsor lets you filter jobs by state, so you can search Victoria or WA and see which employers appear on the sponsor list and what each ad says about visas. Searching is free, and you can set up a free alert for your state.
This is general information, not migration advice. For advice on your own situation, talk to a registered migration agent. You can check an agent is registered on the OMARA register.