🏝️ WA Nomination Priority: WA Residents vs Others Western Australia (WA) is unique among Australian states in giving categorically higher priority to WA residents in its state nomination ranking system.
Interstate and international applicants are considered after WA residents and are ranked equally. The General Stream and Graduate Stream operate in parallel, each with its own ranking system.
For FY2024-25, WA holds the third highest State Nomination Allocation quota, accounting for approximately 15% of the total allocation, following Victoria (VIC) and New South Wales (NSW).
⚡️ Key Implications
General Stream (WASMOL Schedule 1 & 2) This stream accounts for the majority of invitations. Here’s how the prioritization works:
For any given occupation, invitations will only be issued to interstate or international applicants if there are no remaining WA residents in the pool.
Example: An Electrical Engineer living in WA with 65 points will be prioritized over an interstate or offshore applicant with 110 points aiming for WA.
➕ Onshore Advantage
This policy strongly favors onshore applicants who are able to relocate to WA: - By moving to WA, applicants join the WA resident pool. - This reduces the chances of interstate and overseas applicants to near zero for most non-priority occupations. - This trend is already evident in WA invitation data.
🦘 Reality Check: WA Invites are dominated by Onshore WA Resident Applicants The vast majority of WA State Nomination spots are consumed by onshore WA residents.
Tasmania (TAS) follows a similar approach but has a much smaller allocation. Most other states maintain a more egalitarian approach, issuing invitations to both onshore and offshore applicants in more balanced proportions.
