What’s new?

A new free trade agreement between Australia and the UK was signed on 17 December 2021. It provides a number of opportunities for holiday workers and skilled workers in high demand sectors to access Australian visas with fewer requirements, and will make it easier for businesses to transfer talent across borders.

However, it will be a long process before the provisions of the agreement come into effect. 

The Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement (A-UKFTA) will need to go through a number of domestic legislative procedures, including being tabled in both of Houses of the Federal Parliament. It will then undergo consideration by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT). Further legislative changes that need to be made must then be passed by both Houses.

After all procedures have been completed, it will still take 30 days (or any other mutually agreed upon date) for the provisions to take full effect.

The A-UKFTA comprises several components, some of which will be take between two to five years from the 'entry into force' (EIF) of the agreement to be fully implemented. Those relevant to potential visa applicants from the UK and Australia include:

As the table above shows, the A-UKFTA will benefit a broad range of potential visitors and visa applicants, including holiday workers, tech specialists, business executives and skilled professionals.

The A-UKFTA is especially good news for UK citizens whose visa applications are still subject to occupation skilled lists (the Short-Term Skilled Occupation List, STSOL, and Medium and Long-Term Skilled Occupation list, MLTSSL), or do not have an occupation currently listed on the Priority Migration Occupation Skilled List (PMSOL).

For more information about the free trade agreement, visit the DFAT website.