Is Perth regional for migration? The 9 cities that trip up job seekers

Is Perth regional for migration? It can be, but the answer depends on which visa and which list you are reading. Home Affairs puts Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Newcastle/Lake Macquarie, Wollongong/Illawarra, Geelong and Hobart in a group it calls Category 2, "Cities and Major Regional Centres". A recruiter reading your application will want to know which side of that line the job sits on before anyone talks about sponsorship.

Is Perth regional for migration? What "regional" means on the official page

The Department of Home Affairs says most locations outside the major cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are designated regional areas for migration purposes, and that they are identified by a postcode list. So the test is a postcode, not how a city feels or how big it is.

That is why a big city can sit on the regional side of the map while a town near Sydney may not. If you want the wider picture first, our earlier piece on designated regional areas in Australia covers how employers read the list.

The nine Category 2 cities and regional centres

Home Affairs lists these nine as Category 2:

• Perth
• Adelaide
• the Gold Coast
• the Sunshine Coast
• Canberra
• Newcastle/Lake Macquarie
• Wollongong/Illawarra
• Geelong
• Hobart

Notice the pairs. "Newcastle/Lake Macquarie" and "Wollongong/Illawarra" are written as areas, so a job in a suburb or nearby town needs its postcode checked, not assumed.

Category 2 versus Category 3: where the extras attach

Category 3 is "Regional Centres and Other Regional Areas". On the Home Affairs page, the dedicated 11,200 regional places, priority processing of regional visas and the Regional Occupations List are tied to Category 3. We do not read the page as promising those extras for a Category 2 city, so do not assume them when you plan.

Which visas use the regional postcode list

Home Affairs says the designated regional area postcode list applies to visas including the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491), the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) and the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482).

For the subclass 494, the official page goes further: holders live, work and study only in designated regional areas, which include all of Australia except Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. For employers there is a cost angle too: the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) nomination fee is waived if the position is in regional Australia.

Employers weigh all of this when they decide where to advertise. Our post on what regional employers want to see before they sponsor you goes through that thinking in more detail. This article is general information only, so read the visa pages themselves on the Home Affairs regional page before you decide anything.

What the shortage data says about regional jobs

Jobs and Skills Australia rates occupations as No Shortage, Regional Shortage, Metropolitan Shortage or Shortage on its Occupation Shortage List. In the 2025 list, 21 occupations were in regional shortage without an equivalent shortage in capital cities, up from 12 in 2024.

That is a useful signal if you work in a trade or a service role and a regional employer is the likelier fit. It is not a promise. Jobs and Skills Australia itself says more vacancies in a shortage occupation does not necessarily make a job easier to land, because some specialisations are not in shortage and shortages can be concentrated in certain places. We unpack that gap in in demand is not the same as easy to land.

The state patterns point the same way: Jobs and Skills Australia projects relatively strong growth in mining employment in Western Australia, business-oriented sectors in New South Wales and Victoria, public administration in the ACT and accommodation and tourism-related employment in Queensland. If your trade is behind the demand, see how trades candidates stand out; for the wider outlook, industries hiring in Australia to 2035 sets out where growth is projected.

How to check a job's location before you apply

1. Find the workplace postcode in the advert, or ask the employer for the exact site address.
2. Open the Home Affairs regional areas page and look the postcode up against the designated regional list.
3. Check whether the city is one of the nine Category 2 names, and whether the job is in a Category 3 area.
4. Match the visa you are considering to the list it uses, because the working holiday list is a different one.
5. Write the city and state on your CV, so a recruiter sees where you can start without a phone call.

On our side, the Talynx jobs page lists current vacancies for skilled workers in Australia and New Zealand and can be searched by position, country and region or city. The home page also has an interactive talent map: click a state, then "Explore Region", to see the jobs listed in each region. A one-page CV that names your trade, your years of experience and where you can work is easier to shortlist, and a tool like Build AI CV can help you tidy that layout.

Common mistakes

• Treating a city name as the test. The official test is the postcode list, so a suburb or satellite town may differ from the headline city.
• Assuming Category 2 gets the same extras as Category 3. The 11,200 regional places and priority processing are described against Category 3.
• Mixing up the two lists. The postcodes for Working Holiday Maker second and third year visas are not the designated regional areas list.
• Reading "regional" as "easy". A regional shortage helps you only if your exact occupation and skills match the role.
• Skipping the location line on a CV. Recruiters sort applications by where a worker can start, so leaving it out may cost you a shortlist spot.

Frequently asked questions

Is Perth regional for migration purposes?

Perth is one of the nine Category 2 "Cities and Major Regional Centres" on the Home Affairs page. For a visa that uses the regional postcode list, check the exact postcode of the workplace on the official list before relying on it.

Is Adelaide regional for sponsored work?

Adelaide is also named in Category 2. The official page says designated regional areas cover most places outside Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, so confirm the workplace postcode and the rules for your visa rather than assuming.

Do regional postcodes matter for the Skills in Demand visa?

Home Affairs says the designated regional area postcode list applies to visas including the subclass 482, alongside the 491 and 494. Always read the current visa page, because the rules for each stream differ.

Is the working holiday regional list the same?

No. Home Affairs says the regional postcodes for Working Holiday Maker second and third year visas are a different list from the designated regional areas used for the migration visas above.

Does a regional job make a visa easier to get?

Not automatically. Jobs and Skills Australia says a shortage does not necessarily make a job easier to secure, and a match on a platform is only a starting point. Employers decide who is hired, and visa outcomes are decided by the department.

Key takeaways

• Category 2 names nine cities and regional centres, including Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart.
• Regional status is decided by postcode, so check the workplace address, not the city name.
• The 11,200 regional places and priority processing are described against Category 3.
• The regional postcode list applies to the 491, 494 and 482 visas; working holiday uses a different list.
• A shortage helps only when your exact occupation matches the role.