CSIT vs SSIT 2026: Does Your Australian Job Offer Clear the Bar?

You have a job offer from an Australian employer. The role looks right, the salary sounds generous in pesos — but before you celebrate, there is one number that decides whether that offer can actually carry a Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa: the income threshold. Australia sets a legal minimum salary that a sponsored worker must be paid, and if your offer falls below it, the nomination simply cannot succeed, no matter how qualified you are.

There are two thresholds you will hear about: the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) and the Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT). This guide explains what each one is, the exact 2026 figures, the increase coming on 1 July 2026, and two traps that catch many Filipino applicants — the fact that superannuation does not count, and the rule that your employer must pay the higher of the threshold or the going market rate.

What CSIT and SSIT actually are

Both CSIT and SSIT are minimum salary floors set by the Australian Government for the Skills in Demand visa. They exist to stop sponsored migration from undercutting local wages: an employer cannot bring in an overseas worker on a salary that an Australian would not accept for the same job. For you as a Filipino applicant, they are a pass/fail gate — your offer either clears the bar or it does not.

The two thresholds map directly to two of the 482's three streams. The CSIT governs the Core Skills stream, which is the mainstream route most Filipino nurses, tradespeople and IT workers use; your occupation has to be on the Core Skills Occupation List (roughly 456 occupations) and your salary at or above CSIT. The SSIT governs the Specialist Skills stream, a higher-paid route with no occupation list at all and faster processing — if your salary clears the higher SSIT figure, you do not need to be on any list.

In short: CSIT is the floor for ordinary skilled roles, and SSIT is the (much higher) floor that buys you out of the occupation-list requirement. Knowing which one your offer can reach tells you which stream — and which set of rules — applies to you.

The current figures: CSIT AUD 76,515 and SSIT AUD 141,210

For nominations lodged in the 2025–26 program year, the numbers are fixed and worth memorising. The Core Skills Income Threshold is AUD 76,515. The Specialist Skills Income Threshold is AUD 141,210. The gap between them is large and deliberate: the Specialist stream is meant for genuinely senior, highly paid roles, not for routine positions.

Put those figures in perspective before you read your contract. As a general rule, a base salary at or above CSIT can support the Core Skills stream (assuming the occupation is on the relevant list), while a base salary below CSIT cannot support a Core Skills nomination as written, and the employer would need to lift the base pay to meet the published figure. And to reach the Specialist stream, the offer would need to be AUD 141,210 or more, which is well above what most entry and mid-level roles pay.

The CSIT figure of AUD 76,515 represented an increase of around 4.6% from the AUD 73,150 figure that applied when the Skills in Demand visa launched on 7 December 2024 — a reminder that this number moves, and usually upward.

The 1 July 2026 increase: AUD 79,499 and AUD 146,717

Australian visa salary thresholds are re-indexed every 1 July, in line with average weekly ordinary-time earnings (AWOTE). From 1 July 2026, the Core Skills Income Threshold rises to AUD 79,499, and the Specialist Skills Income Threshold rises to AUD 146,717.

Threshold	2025–26	From 1 July 2026	Stream it governs
CSIT (Core Skills)	AUD 76,515	AUD 79,499	Core Skills
SSIT (Specialist Skills)	AUD 141,210	AUD 146,717	Specialist Skills

Here is the detail that matters most: it is the lodgement date of the nomination, not the date a case officer decides it, that locks in which threshold applies. A nomination lodged on or before 30 June 2026 is assessed against the AUD 76,515 figure; one lodged on or after 1 July 2026 is assessed against AUD 79,499. This is why the lodgement date — not the date the offer was made or a decision is issued — decides which threshold applies to a nomination.

Because these figures re-index annually, never treat any dollar amount in this article as permanent. Always confirm the current threshold on the official Home Affairs pricing and threshold pages before your nomination is lodged.

Why super is excluded, and the "higher of threshold or market rate" rule

Two rules trip up applicants who only glance at the headline number. The first: superannuation does not count. In Australia, employers pay compulsory retirement contributions (super) on top of salary. The income threshold is measured on your guaranteed base salary, excluding super. So a contract that quotes a "total package" including super can look like it clears CSIT when the base pay alone does not. Always check that the base figure — before super — meets the threshold.

The second rule is the one applicants forget: meeting CSIT is necessary but not always sufficient. The employer must pay the higher of the income threshold or the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) for that occupation in that location. The AMSR is what an equivalent Australian worker would earn for the same role. As a general rule, if the market rate for an occupation in a particular city is higher than the income threshold, the offer needs to meet that higher market-rate figure — not merely the threshold. The threshold is a floor; the market rate can push the real minimum higher.

For a Filipino applicant, the practical takeaway is to read the contract for two things: a base salary (excluding super) that clears the relevant threshold, and a figure that is also realistic for the role in the Australian city where you will work. If either is missing, the nomination is at risk — and a qualified migration professional can help your employer benchmark the market rate correctly.

How to check your own job offer against the threshold

The published thresholds make it possible to check the headline numbers in your own contract. Here's what's worth having ready:

• Find the base salary. Look for the guaranteed annual base pay, and confirm it is quoted excluding superannuation. If the contract only shows a "package", ask the employer to confirm the base.
• The CSIT figures. The Core Skills Income Threshold is AUD 76,515 for a 2025–26 lodgement, rising to AUD 79,499 from 1 July 2026. A base salary below the applicable figure cannot support a Core Skills nomination unless it is raised.
• Note the timing rule. The Department applies whichever CSIT figure is officially in force on the date the nomination is actually lodged — AUD 76,515 up to 30 June 2026, or AUD 79,499 from 1 July 2026 — not the figure current when the offer was made.
• Ask about market rate. Even if you clear CSIT, ask whether the salary matches the market rate for the role and city — that figure can be higher than the threshold.
• Note the Specialist stream figures. The Specialist Skills Income Threshold is AUD 141,210 (AUD 146,717 from 1 July 2026) — the no-occupation-list stream for offers well above the Core Skills level.

If your offer clears these checks, you're in a strong starting position. If it falls short, a conversation with your employer about the base pay is often all that's needed — and a registered migration agent or Australian legal practitioner can advise on next steps for your specific case.