DoHA and ATO sharing data

As an employer that sponsors overseas workers, there are important obligations that rest on the business. Also, as an employee who has been sponsored by a business to work in Australia, there are conditions attached to your visa which must be adhered to.

The Department of Home Affairs (DoHA) will begin to exchange data with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for the purpose of identifying whether a business and/or an employee is complying with the associated requirements. For a business sponsor this will be a review to ensure that they are paying visa holders the amount that was specified in a nomination application. For visa holders, this will review whether they are working in their nominated occupation with their sponsoring employer. Where there is non-compliance, action may be taken by the DoHA and this can include  consideration to cancel a visa or consideration to cancel the business sponsorship.

As part of the data matching process, the DoHA will provide biographical details, including name, address and date of birth to the ATO. The DoHA will also provide the details of the associated business sponsor. This may affect individuals and their associated sponsor who currently hold a Temporary Work (Skilled) (subclass 457) or Temporary Skills Shortage (subclass 482) or have held one of these visas in the past three financial years.

The details provided will be matched against the data held by the ATO. Where there is a match, the ATO will return income and employment data to the DoHA. It is estimated that the total number of records to be shared will be approximately 680,000 which will represent around 280,000 individuals.

As an employer of overseas workers, it is extremely important that you are aware of and abide by the sponsorship obligations. If you need assistance in this regard, we are able to undertake a review of your current internal systems and provide suggestions to enable you to be able to meet the requirements quickly and easily.

If you are an individual on a temporary employer sponsored visa and you wish to change occupation or employer, you must not do so without the written approval of the DoHA.

Sponsoring overseas workers can be a complex and tricky process. It is important to understand all of the visa requirements. Contact our team of registered migration agents to discuss how we can ensure your business sponsors the right employee.

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