If you’re a skilled construction, civil or renewables worker overseas and you want to work in Australia, one path worth knowing about is sponsorship through a labour hire company, not just a single employer. TradeConnex holds an On-Hire Labour Agreement with the Department of Home Affairs, which lets us sponsor skilled overseas workers on a Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa for up to four years, then place you with client businesses across the country.
Why a labour hire company, not just an employer
Most sponsorship advice assumes you need to find one Australian employer willing to sponsor you directly. That can be a slow, uncertain process from overseas: the employer has to be approved to sponsor, commit to the paperwork, and stay on the hook for your visa for years, all before you’ve even started work. If that one employer’s project winds down or their plans change, your sponsorship can be tied to a business that no longer has ongoing work for you.
Going through a labour hire company works differently. TradeConnex is already an approved sponsor, so you’re not waiting on a single site or project to decide it wants to take on the cost and compliance of sponsorship from scratch. Once you’re sponsored, TradeConnex can on-hire you to different client businesses in construction, civil and infrastructure, or renewables, in any Australian state or territory, without you needing to find and secure a new sponsor every time your placement changes.
What TradeConnex handles for you
Under this arrangement, TradeConnex is your employer, not the client site you’re working on. That means TradeConnex handles your payroll, tax and superannuation, and carries the sponsorship compliance obligations that come with the visa. The client business you’re placed with gets your skills on site, but never has to become a sponsor itself, and you don’t have to renegotiate your employment every time you move to a new project.
This is a genuine difference from applying to one employer directly: your employment relationship stays with TradeConnex even as the project or client site changes around you. If one placement ends, the goal is to move you to the next one under the same employment and sponsorship arrangement, rather than starting the whole process again.
Roles this pathway suits
TradeConnex’s On-Hire Labour Agreement covers a broad range of roles across construction, civil and renewable energy projects. In general terms, that includes engineers (civil, structural, electrical and mechanical), construction and project managers, surveyors, and estimators, along with selected trades. This isn’t an exhaustive list, and where your specific occupation lands depends on current demand and the government’s own occupation settings. If your background sits in one of these areas, it’s worth putting your details forward so TradeConnex can assess where you might fit.
Why the timing suits this move
Infrastructure Australia projects a shortfall of more than 300,000 construction and infrastructure workers by 2027. That shortage is exactly why a route like this exists: Australian businesses need workers now, across projects in every state and territory, and a labour hire company that already holds an OHLA can move on that need faster than an individual employer starting its own sponsorship application from zero. For an overseas worker with the right background, that shortage is an opportunity, not just a statistic.
Getting started
If you think you could fit one of the roles this pathway covers, the first step is simple: put your details forward so TradeConnex knows what you can offer and where you might fit. You can register for work directly with our team, and we’ll assess your background against the roles we’re sponsoring for.
Read more about how our OHLA sponsorship service works for employers and candidates alike, or see how our labour hire service places workers like you once you’re on the ground in Australia.
The information in this article is general in nature and describes TradeConnex’s On-Hire Labour Agreement service. It is not immigration, migration or legal advice. Visa requirements, occupation lists, income thresholds and processing times are set by the Australian Department of Home Affairs, change regularly, and depend on your circumstances. For advice about your situation, speak to the TradeConnex team or a registered migration agent, and confirm current requirements at homeaffairs.gov.au.
