Subclass 408 Workplace Justice Visa: Who Qualifies and When It Applies

Home Affairs presents the Workplace Justice Visa Pilot as a temporary visa route for a person in Australia pursuing a workplace exploitation claim. The Fair Work Ombudsman operates the pilot, while Home Affairs publishes the subclass 408 eligibility and grant rules. The official descriptions tie the route to a short extension of stay for claim pursuit, not to a general continuation of residence. The descriptions do not present the visa as a permanent residence pathway.

What the Workplace Justice Visa Pilot is

Home Affairs lists the visa as Australian Government Endorsed Events (Workplace Justice Pilot), within the subclass 408 Temporary Activity category. The Fair Work Ombudsman states that the pilot enables a visa holder to extend their stay for a short period to pursue a workplace exploitation claim, provided the eligibility criteria are met.

The official wording makes pursuit of the claim the purpose of the temporary stay. It does not support treating the visa as a general extension available merely because a current visa is approaching expiry. Home Affairs describes the subclass 408 visa as temporary, says a person’s circumstances will determine how long they can stay, and says the length will be communicated when the visa is granted. The cited criteria provide no fixed day or month period.

Who operates the pilot

The Fair Work Ombudsman is the Australian Government agency identified as operating the Workplace Justice Visa Pilot. Home Affairs is the authority publishing the subclass 408 eligibility test and the rule that the permitted stay will be communicated at grant.

The pilot operator is not described as the exclusive certifier. Home Affairs requires certification from either a participating government agency or an accredited third party. The official material therefore distinguishes the operation of the pilot from the separate requirement for prescribed certification.

The strict 28-day eligibility rule

Home Affairs applies alternative current-status and former-status limbs to the 28-day test. Under the current-status limb, the applicant must hold a temporary substantive visa with work rights that has no more than 28 days remaining. Under the former-status limb, the applicant must have held a temporary substantive visa with work rights that ceased within 28 days of lodging the Workplace Justice Visa Pilot application.

The current and former conditions are alternatives, not cumulative requirements. The temporary and substantive character of the visa must also be supported by work rights in either limb. A current temporary visa without work rights does not meet the stated test merely because it has no more than 28 days remaining. Similarly, the former-status limb is not a general extension period for any visa that has ceased; the ceased visa must have been temporary and substantive, must have carried work rights, and must have ceased within the specified window.

The 28-day period is an eligibility window, not the permitted stay under the subclass 408 visa. The Fair Work Ombudsman refers to a short period without supplying a fixed duration. Home Affairs separately says the stay is determined by the applicant’s circumstances and will be stated at grant. The 28-day rule therefore should not be used to calculate how long a person may remain after the visa is granted.

Meeting the current-status or former-status test addresses only the visa-status and timing part of the eligibility list. The applicant must also satisfy the separate location, certification, self-support, health, character, values and financial requirements.

Being in Australia at lodgement

Home Affairs requires the applicant, and any family members applying with them, to be in Australia when the application is lodged. Under that wording, the location requirement applies to the act of lodging the application. It is separate from the requirement for a current or recently ceased visa with work rights.

The same location rule applies to family members who apply together with the applicant. Certification explaining why the applicant should remain in Australia does not replace the requirement for the application to be lodged while the applicant is in Australia. Home Affairs lists both matters as parts of the same eligibility assessment.

Mandatory certification

Certification is mandatory under the Home Affairs eligibility list. The applicant must provide certification from a participating government agency or an accredited third party. The word “accredited” forms part of the stated requirement for a third-party certifier; the rule is not expressed as acceptance of a certification from any unqualified person.

The certification must explain why it is beneficial or necessary for the applicant to stay in Australia to pursue the workplace exploitation claim. The required explanation is therefore part of the certification’s prescribed content. It must connect the proposed stay with the claim and state why remaining in Australia is beneficial or necessary for its pursuit. The official wording uses “beneficial or necessary”; it does not state that both propositions must be established.

The Fair Work Ombudsman describes access to the visa as conditional on meeting the eligibility criteria. Home Affairs lists self-sufficiency, health, character, Australian values and other requirements alongside certification. The published wording accordingly treats certification as part of the eligibility assessment rather than as a substitute for those other requirements. Its stated function is also connected to pursuing the claim, not to establishing through the certification that the claim has already succeeded.

Self-sufficiency

Home Affairs requires the applicant to be able to support themselves and any dependant family members who are with them in Australia. The support requirement is broader than support for the applicant alone because Home Affairs expressly includes dependant family members present in Australia.

The cited criterion does not provide an income figure, savings level or other monetary benchmark. It states the ability to meet the support requirement without prescribing a figure in the published wording. The absence of a visa application charge also does not remove this separate eligibility condition.

Health requirement and health cover

Home Affairs requires the applicant and any family members applying with them to meet its health requirement. The applicant must also have adequate health cover for the whole of the stay for the visa to be granted. The cover should include medically necessary treatment, including transport.

The health requirement and the health-cover requirement are separate elements of the Home Affairs criteria. Meeting one does not, on the published wording, remove the other. The cover requirement is framed as a condition of grant, rather than merely as an optional expense that may be considered after lodgement.

Where family members apply with the applicant, Home Affairs applies the health requirement to the applicant and those family members. The cited wording does not supply a fixed amount for health insurance or a monetary limit for the required cover.

Character and Australian values

Home Affairs requires the applicant and any family member aged 16 or over who applies with them to meet the character requirement. The character rule therefore extends beyond the applicant to an applying family member within the stated age range.

Separately, an applicant aged 18 or over must acknowledge the Australian values statement when applying. The statement confirms that the applicant will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws. The character requirement and the values-statement requirement have different subjects and age thresholds in the Home Affairs wording: the character rule covers the applicant and an applying family member aged 16 or over, while the values wording applies to an applicant aged 18 or over. The cited criteria do not set out further details of the character test.

Other financial and eligibility conditions

Home Affairs states that any money owed to the Australian Government must have been paid back or covered by a formal arrangement to pay it back. Repayment and a formal repayment arrangement are therefore the alternatives stated in the financial condition.

Home Affairs separately says that a previous visa cancellation or refusal might mean the person is not eligible for this visa. The word “might” preserves the qualification in the official wording. The cited criterion does not state that every previous cancellation or refusal automatically makes the applicant ineligible; it says only that such history might affect eligibility.

When the pilot applies and when it does not

The pilot applies where a person is pursuing a workplace exploitation claim and can meet the published subclass 408 criteria. Holding a temporary substantive visa with work rights that satisfies the 28-day timing test is not sufficient by itself. The applicant must also be in Australia at lodgement, provide the prescribed certification, be able to support the required people, meet the health and character requirements, acknowledge the Australian values statement where applicable, and satisfy the financial conditions.

Home Affairs expressly states that the temporary visa program cannot be used to maintain ongoing residence in Australia. The pilot is a separate subclass 408 Temporary Activity visa, not a permanent residence category under the cited description. The material supplies no permanent residence entitlement or conversion route. An unresolved workplace exploitation claim does not convert the visa into unrestricted permission to remain.

The temporary nature of the visa is therefore central to when the pilot applies. The extension is connected to the short-term pursuit of a workplace exploitation claim and remains subject to the published grant rules. It is not a general substitute for an ongoing residence pathway.

Lodgement, stay length and an unresolved claim

After lodgement, Home Affairs says the applicant’s circumstances will determine the permitted stay and that the length will be told when the visa is granted. The published criteria state no fixed maximum or minimum period. The 28-day eligibility window must not be treated as the duration of the subclass 408 stay or as a period that begins automatically at lodgement.

The applicant cannot extend the permitted stay simply by remaining in Australia longer. Home Affairs states that, if the workplace exploitation claim has not been finalised or resolved, the person may be able to apply for another subclass 408 visa. The phrase “may be able” does not create an automatic entitlement to another visa or assure a further grant.

A further subclass 408 application is distinct from extending the existing permission. The possibility of another application also does not alter Home Affairs’ rule that the temporary visa program cannot be used to maintain ongoing residence. Any further stay must remain within the temporary visa framework and its published requirements.

Application charge and other costs

Home Affairs states that there is no visa application charge for the Workplace Justice Visa Pilot. The same source says a person might have to pay other costs, including health insurance. The absence of a visa application charge therefore does not mean that the process has no other financial consequences.

Adequate health cover for the whole stay is required for the visa to be granted, and the applicant must be able to support the required people in Australia. The separate debt condition can also require repayment or a formal arrangement. The cited source provides no monetary figure for health insurance or other possible costs, so no official amount for them can be stated from this material.

Frequently asked questions

What kind of visa is the Workplace Justice Visa Pilot?
Home Affairs classifies it as a subclass 408 Temporary Activity visa, and the Fair Work Ombudsman operates the pilot. Its stated function is to permit a short extension of stay while a workplace exploitation claim is pursued. The visa remains temporary.

Does the 28-day eligibility period determine the length of stay?
No. In the cited criteria, the 28 days concerns a temporary substantive work-rights visa that is nearing its end or has ceased, not the duration of the subclass 408 stay. Home Affairs says the actual stay is case-specific and is communicated at grant.

Who may provide the required certification?
Certification must come from a participating government agency or an accredited third party. It must explain why staying in Australia is beneficial or necessary to pursue the workplace exploitation claim. Certification is one eligibility requirement and does not replace the other criteria.

What happens if the workplace exploitation claim remains unresolved?
Home Affairs says a person cannot extend the stay simply by remaining in Australia longer. If the claim is not finalised or resolved, the person may be able to apply for another subclass 408 visa. That wording does not create an automatic entitlement to another grant.

Is there a visa application charge or health insurance cost?
Home Affairs states that there is no visa application charge for this visa. Other costs might still arise, including health insurance. Adequate health cover for the whole stay is also required for the visa to be granted.