A quick note before diving in: this guide won’t hand you a fixed list of “active employers currently hiring right now,” because that kind of list goes stale within weeks and most versions floating around online are outdated or exaggerated the moment they’re published. What it will do is show you exactly where genuine, currently active sponsorship opportunities live, which industries and employer types are realistically hiring above the AUD 70,000 mark, and how to search in a way that surfaces real openings instead of recycled job ads. That’s a far more durable skill than any static list.
Why AUD 70,000 Is a Meaningful Benchmark
AUD 70,000 sits comfortably above Australia’s minimum salary threshold for employer-sponsored visas, known as the Core Skills Income Threshold, which governs the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa. Roles paying at or above this level are generally solid, established positions rather than entry-level scraps, and employers offering this kind of salary for sponsored roles are typically genuine businesses with the resources to meet their sponsorship obligations, not fly-by-night operations. Aiming for this benchmark isn’t arbitrary, it’s a practical filter that helps you separate serious opportunities from ones that are unlikely to hold up.
Which Industries Are Actually Sponsoring Right Now
Healthcare and Aged Care
Australia’s healthcare workforce shortage is one of the most persistent and well-documented in the country, spanning registered nurses, aged care workers, allied health professionals, and specialist medical practitioners. Public and private hospitals, aged care providers, and regional health networks are consistently among the most active sponsors nationally, and many roles in this sector clear the AUD 70,000 threshold comfortably, particularly for registered nurses and allied health specialists.
Engineering and Construction
Civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers remain in strong demand, driven by ongoing infrastructure investment, housing construction, and renewable energy projects across the country. Engineering consultancies, construction firms, and infrastructure contractors sponsor overseas talent regularly, especially for mid-to-senior roles where local supply hasn’t kept pace with project pipelines.
Information Technology
Software engineers, cybersecurity specialists, data analysts, and cloud infrastructure professionals continue to be some of the most reliably sponsored roles in the country. This demand spans everything from major banks and telecommunications companies building internal technology teams to dedicated software companies and consultancies.
Mining and Resources
Western Australia and Queensland in particular host major mining and resources operations that sponsor skilled overseas workers across engineering, geology, machinery operation, and specialist technical roles. Salaries in this sector frequently exceed AUD 70,000 by a significant margin, especially for roles involving remote or fly-in-fly-out work.
Trades and Technical Roles
Electricians, plumbers, diesel mechanics, and other licensed trades are experiencing sustained shortages, particularly in regional areas, and sponsorship in this category has become increasingly common as employers struggle to fill positions locally.
Education
Teachers, particularly in STEM subjects and regional or hard-to-staff schools, along with early childhood educators, are sponsored by both public education departments and private school networks, especially outside major metropolitan centers.
How to Actually Find Genuinely Active Employers
Search Job Boards With the Right Filters
Seek, Indeed, and LinkedIn all allow you to filter or search specifically for sponsorship-related terms. Rather than relying on a job board’s general listings, search directly for phrases like “visa sponsorship available,” “482 visa,” or “skilled migration” alongside your specific occupation. This surfaces employers who’ve explicitly flagged their willingness to sponsor, which is a far stronger signal than a generic job posting that happens to be open to overseas applicants.
Check the Approved Sponsor Landscape
Only businesses registered as approved Standard Business Sponsors with the Department of Home Affairs can legally sponsor a Subclass 482 visa. While there isn’t a full public directory of every approved sponsor, larger, well-established employers in sectors like healthcare, engineering, mining, and technology are far more likely to already hold this status, since the registration process involves real compliance obligations. Smaller businesses can become sponsors too, but it’s worth directly asking a prospective employer during early conversations whether they’re already an approved sponsor or would need to apply for that status, since the latter adds real time to the process.
Use Jobs and Skills Australia and Government Resources
Jobs and Skills Australia publishes regular labour market research identifying genuine, evidence-based national and regional skill shortages. Cross-referencing your occupation against this kind of official shortage data gives you a realistic sense of where genuine demand exists, rather than relying purely on how a job ad is worded.
Go Directly to Employer Career Pages
Major employers in sectors known for sponsorship, including public hospital networks, universities, large engineering and construction firms, and resources companies, generally list current openings directly on their own career pages, often before or in addition to posting on third-party job boards. Checking these directly, especially for large public sector healthcare and education employers, frequently surfaces genuine current vacancies that are easy to miss on general job boards.
Work With a Registered Recruitment Agency
Specialist recruitment agencies focused on skilled migration, particularly in healthcare, engineering, and trades, often have direct relationships with employers actively seeking to sponsor. A reputable agency won’t charge you a fee for this service, since they’re paid by the employer, so be cautious of any recruiter asking you to pay upfront for access to sponsored roles.
Network Directly With Industry Bodies
Professional associations and industry bodies, such as Engineers Australia, the Australian Trucking Association, or state-based nursing and midwifery boards, sometimes maintain job boards or connect members with employers facing genuine workforce shortages. These channels tend to be underused by overseas applicants but can surface opportunities that never appear on mainstream job boards at all.
What Makes a Genuine Sponsorship Opportunity
A real, credible sponsored job offer will always include a specific job title and description tied to a recognized occupation code, a salary that meets or exceeds the relevant government income threshold, and an employer who is either already an approved sponsor or clearly explains the process and timeline for becoming one. It will also come with a formal, written offer of employment before any visa paperwork begins, and the visa application itself will be lodged through a registered migration agent or legal practitioner, not managed informally through the employer alone or through an unregistered third party.
Building an Application That Stands Out
Tailor Your Resume to Australian Standards
Australian employers generally expect a resume format that’s fairly plain and achievement-focused, without a photo, and typically two to three pages for experienced professionals. Leading with measurable outcomes rather than just listing responsibilities makes a noticeable difference to how your application is received.
Get Your Qualifications Assessed Early
Many sponsored occupations require a positive skills assessment from a relevant assessing authority before an employer can proceed with nomination. Starting this process early, sometimes well before you’ve even found a specific job offer, removes a major bottleneck later and signals to employers that you’re a serious, prepared candidate.
Demonstrate English Proficiency Clearly
Most sponsored visa pathways require evidence of English language proficiency through an approved test. Having your results ready and clearly presented alongside your application removes friction for employers who might otherwise be uncertain about visa eligibility.
Highlight Directly Relevant Experience
Employers sponsoring overseas workers are almost always trying to fill a specific, genuine gap, so tailoring your application to explicitly address the exact skills and experience named in a job posting tends to perform far better than a generic application sent to multiple employers.
Be Transparent About Your Visa Situation Early
Rather than waiting until late in the interview process, being upfront early about your need for sponsorship helps filter out employers who aren’t genuinely equipped to sponsor, saving both parties time, and it signals confidence rather than something to hide.
Red Flags to Watch For
Be cautious of any listing that guarantees sponsorship regardless of your qualifications or experience, since genuine sponsorship still depends on meeting real visa requirements. Treat requests for upfront payment in exchange for a sponsored job offer as a serious warning sign, since legitimate employer sponsorship costs are borne by the employer, not the candidate. Be wary of vague job descriptions that don’t specify a real occupation, salary, or employer name, since legitimate postings are almost always specific. And always verify an employer’s legitimacy independently, checking for a real business presence, an active website, and if possible, some track record of prior sponsorship or a presence on the Australian Business Register.
A Realistic Timeline
Landing a genuinely sponsored role above AUD 70,000 is rarely a fast process. Between researching genuine opportunities, tailoring applications, going through interviews, securing a formal offer, arranging a skills assessment where required, and completing the visa nomination and application process, six months to a year is a realistic overall timeframe for most applicants, even when things go smoothly. Building in that kind of runway, rather than expecting a quick turnaround, sets more realistic expectations and reduces the temptation to fall for offers that promise an unrealistically fast outcome.
Final Thoughts
The genuinely active employers sponsoring skilled overseas workers above AUD 70,000 right now are concentrated in healthcare, engineering, technology, mining, skilled trades, and education, and they’re found by searching deliberately, checking official shortage data, going directly to employer career pages, and working with legitimate recruitment channels, not by trusting a static list published months or years ago. Treat the search itself as an ongoing, active process rather than a one-time lookup, verify every opportunity independently, and you’ll consistently find the genuine, current openings that a fixed list could never keep up with anyway.