State Nomination Update August 2026 | Tasmania, ACT, QLD
📌 Published by Nationwide Migration & Education
Author: Suman Dua, Registered Migration Agent (MARN: 1800859)
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You have been sitting on the same expression of interest for months. Same points score, same occupation, same silence.
And every few weeks somebody in a Facebook group tells you a state has "gone quiet", or that offshore applicants have been shut out entirely.
This month, some of that is actually true. Here is what genuinely changed across Tasmania, the ACT and Queensland, and what it means for a subclass 190 or subclass 491 candidate right now.
Tasmania opens on 17 August 2026 with 2,050 places
Tasmania is the significant one this month.
Tasmania has received its 2026-27 skilled migration nomination allocation of 2,050 places. That splits into:
1,250 places for the Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) visa, up from 1,200 in 2025-26
800 places for the Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491) visa, up from 650 in 2025-26
Both allocations went up. The 491 allocation in particular grew by 150 places, which is a meaningful increase in a program of that size.
The Tasmanian Skilled Migration state nomination program opens to new Registrations of Interest on 17 August 2026. The Tasmanian Government will then commence weekly invitation rounds from Thursday 20 August 2026, and has confirmed that invitations will be issued progressively through the year so that places remain available across the whole program year.
That last point is worth absorbing. Invitations are deliberately spread. There is no advantage in a rushed, badly evidenced ROI on day one.
The change that is being misreported
Here is the part that matters most, and the part being described inaccurately in a lot of places.
Tasmania will not issue invitations in the subclass 491 overseas skilled occupation pathway for the 2026-27 program year.
That is not the same as closing the 491. The 491 allocation went up, to 800 places. What has been suspended is invitations under the pathway for applicants offshore in that stream.
Tasmania has been explicit about why: it is a response to Ministerial Direction 119, the Commonwealth instrument that commenced on 25 July 2026 and prioritises the processing of visa applications where the applicant is already in Australia. There is limited value in a state issuing nominations into a stream that sits at the bottom of the Commonwealth processing order.
One offshore door stays open. Overseas health and teaching professionals who gain employment with a Tasmanian health provider or a Tasmanian school remain eligible for nomination for a subclass 190 under the Overseas Applicant, Health or Education Sector Job Offer Pathway.
The 491 to 190 trap for applications already lodged
There is a second Tasmanian point that is catching people out, and it needs care.
If you have lodged a subclass 491 nomination application that has not yet been decided, you will not be considered for a subclass 190 nomination on that application. To be considered for the 190, you would need to withdraw the current application and register for the 190 when the 2026-27 program opens.
And this is the risk: a new invitation to apply for 190 nomination will depend on the level of interest and on the number of pro-rata places available at that time. Withdrawing is not a free option. It is a genuine strategic decision and it should be made with advice, not from a forum post.
Separately, and more reassuringly, applications for nomination that have been lodged but not yet decided will continue to be processed against the requirements in place at the time of lodgement. Where an application is approved, the applicant will be nominated in SkillSelect. So a lodged application is not being retrospectively judged against the new 2026-27 attributes.
Tasmania's new fees, changed portal and webinar
Three practical items:
The nomination fee has increased to $387, which is $425.70 including GST. There is still no charge to submit a Registration of Interest.
The portal domain has changed. The Migration Tasmania Application Gateway is now at apply.migration.tas.gov.au. If you bookmarked the old address, update it.
Tasmania has also revised its priority attributes, selection policy and program guidance for 2026-27, to better match the state's nomination priorities and reduce program risk. If you built a strategy around the previous attributes, it needs re-checking before you submit.
The Tasmanian Government is also running an online webinar covering the main changes to the 2026-27 program on Thursday 13 August 2026, 11am to 12pm AEST. No registration is required, the joining link is on the Tasmanian Government website.
ACT: new portal live, new costs, matrix validity clarified
The ACT Government has made several changes to its skilled migration program.
The new ACT Migration Application portal went live on Thursday 30 July 2026, handling both Canberra Matrix submissions and nomination applications. It adds multi factor authentication, live status updates, the ability to edit and withdraw Canberra Matrix submissions, and better mobile access.
The trap: existing submissions transfer across automatically, but you must create a new account using the same email address as your original submission. Use a different email and you will not find your submission.
On cost, the total nomination cost is now $350 exclusive of GST, being $25 for a Canberra Matrix submission and $325 for the nomination application itself.
On matrix mechanics, the updated guidelines confirm:
Canberra Matrix submissions remain valid for six months, and can be extended to 12 months by updating the submission before it expires.
Edits are free, but an edit is treated as a new submission for ranking purposes, and tied scores are ranked by the date last updated. So an unnecessary edit can cost you position.
There is a new framework to expedite nomination processing in specific circumstances such as visa or document expiry and critical birthdays, applying only after an invitation has been issued. Matrix ranking itself still happens only in invitation rounds and is not affected by personal circumstances.
"Trade certificate" will now be defined in the glossary on the ACT Government website for the purposes of claiming points.
The "Years of study at an ACT tertiary institution" category has been clarified to state explicitly that tertiary level study is required to claim points in that category.
The ACT has advised that these guideline changes do not affect the substance of the program.
Two things are still pending: the 2026-27 nomination allocation, which is still being confirmed with the Australian Government, and the occupation list review, which is in its final stages with an update expected in coming weeks and is expected to stay broadly aligned with ACT labour market needs.
Queensland: still closed, but the fees already went up
Queensland's 2026-27 state nomination migration program is not open. Queensland is still awaiting final nomination allocations from the Federal Government, and until those land, the program stays shut. No opening date has been announced.
What has already changed is the price. From 1 July 2026, the nomination application fee for a subclass 190 and subclass 491 under the Queensland state nomination program increased to:
$573 for offshore applicants
$630.30 for onshore applicants (including GST)
Anyone invited to apply for a Queensland nomination for these skilled visas from 1 July 2026 pays the new fee. If you built a budget on last year's figure, adjust it.
The bigger picture: where you are sitting now changes where you sit in the queue
There is a thread running through all of this, and it is the most important thing in this article.
Ministerial Direction 119 commenced on 25 July 2026 and reordered how the Department processes skilled visa and nomination applications. Priority now turns on two things: the occupation, and whether the applicant was in Australia or outside Australia at the time the application was made. Onshore ranks ahead of offshore at every tier.
It applies to applications already lodged and not yet finally determined, not just new ones.
That single change is already reshaping state behaviour. Tasmania's decision to stop inviting in the 491 overseas skilled occupation pathway is a direct consequence, and it is unlikely to be the last state decision of its kind this program year.
For a candidate, the practical read is this. Your location on the day you lodge is now a strategic fact, not an administrative detail. It belongs in your planning alongside your points score and your occupation.
To be clear about what the Direction does not do: it does not create a new visa, it does not change eligibility criteria, and it does not stop offshore applications from being lodged, considered or granted. It sets the order in which they are worked on.
One safety warning while you are waiting
Unrelated to the state programs, but circulating right now and worth knowing.
The Department of Home Affairs has warned about a scam message concerning alleged Home Affairs officers visiting private residences. Home Affairs officers do not attend a person's home to collect photographs, fingerprints or any other biometric information.
If you receive a suspicious visit, call, email or message claiming to be from the Department, do not engage with the person and report it to Scamwatch.
What to do this week
If Tasmania is on your list, prepare your Registration of Interest now, before 17 August, not after. It is free to submit and the first invitation round follows three days after opening.
If you want us to look at it properly, send us three things:
Your skills assessment
Your English test result
A one line summary of where you actually are right now, onshore or offshore, and on what visa
That third one has never mattered more than it does this program year.
Book a Consultation
We are Nationwide Migration and Education, a team of registered migration agents. Send us those three things and we will tell you honestly which state is worth your time, and which one is not.
Book your consultation: https://nationwidemigration.com.au/services
Level 4, 320 Adelaide Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
nationwidemigration.com.au | +61 7 3726 5183 | MARN 1800859
Disclaimer
General information only, current as at August 2026. This is not migration advice for your specific circumstances. Program settings, allocations and fees change without notice.
