Copy First, Verify Later: Why the 2026 CSIT Is $79,423 NOT $79,499, SSIT to $146,576

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What do you get when someone posts an important threshold on social media based on an erroneous calculation first? A lot of copying and now, a lot of embarrassment.

Many immigration professionals claimed that the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) would be $79,499 as of 1 July 2026. The threshold is calculated by an index factor using the full‑time adult average weekly ordinary time earnings (‘AWOTE’) for the most recent December quarter before 1 July of each year divided by the AWOTE for the previous December quarter. This information is available on the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ website.

What created this misinformation is taking the incorrect yearly change. The increase to calculate is not the trending AWOTE, which was 3.9 per cent. That would index the threshold from $76,515 to $79,499, as many reported. This error was suspected by the author, as last year’s increase was 4.6 per cent, which was not the trending AWOTE, of 4.7 per cent.

The increase is the original AWOTE, which was 3.8 percent. Indexing the old threshold takes $76,515 to $79,422.57. Rounding up, this is the threshold reported on the Department of Home Affairs’ website of $79,423.

This $79,423 threshold applies to:

  • Core Skills Income Threshold (‘CSIT’), and

  • Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (‘TSMIT’)

The CSIT applies to nomination applications for the Core Skills stream for the subclass 482 – Skills in Demand visa and the subclass 186 – Employer Nomination Scheme visa.

The TSMIT applies to nomination applications for the subclass 494 – Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa and the subclass 187 – Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme visa.

The Specialist Skills Income Threshold (‘SSIT’) has increased by the same factor from $141,210 to $146,576. This applies to nomination applications for the Specialist Skills stream for the subclass 482 – Skills in Demand visa.

Furthermore, new regulations tie the TSMIT to the CSIT so they are updated together, along with the usual visa application charge and citizenship application fee increases.

Of course, the new thresholds only apply to nomination applications lodged from 1 July 2026, and employers must also understand that this threshold is not a floor; there is still the annual market salary rate to consider.