Getting legal help for your 408 Workplace Justice visa in Australia in 2026: who is qualified?

Only three categories of people may lawfully give you immigration assistance on a Temporary Activity visa (subclass 408) in the Australian Government Endorsed Events (Workplace Justice Pilot) stream: a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. That rule comes straight from the Department of Home Affairs official page for Australian Government Endorsed Events (Workplace Justice Pilot) (Subclass Temporary Activity visa (subclass 408)), as at July 2026. Anything outside those three — a friend, a community advocate, a settlement service, a paid "visa helper" — cannot lawfully give immigration assistance for this application, no matter how much they know about workplace exploitation claims.

This article is general information about how the published rules are framed, not personalised legal advice; because eligibility and assistance rules can change and turn on individual facts, check the official pages and get advice from someone who is qualified before you rely on any part of it.

Who counts as qualified to give immigration assistance?

The Department's page lists exactly three permitted sources of immigration assistance for this visa, and treats them as alternatives to each other:

What matters practically is the category, not the job title someone uses. A person who helps people with visa paperwork for a fee, or a workplace advocate who is deeply familiar with exploitation claims, is still outside all three categories unless they actually sit inside one of them. Conversely, someone inside one of the three categories can assist even if their background is in employment law rather than migration law.

The Department also flags the point directly on the visa page: if you are getting help with your visa, read its information on who can help with a visa application before you pay someone. The warning is aimed at the moment money changes hands, which is when unqualified help tends to be discovered.

Can a friend, caseworker or family member help me at all?

Yes, but only in the narrow sense of handling your correspondence. You can appoint anyone to receive documents on your behalf relating to your visa application. There is no qualification test for that role.

The line the Department draws is between receiving documents and giving immigration assistance. Suppose an applicant asks a trusted former colleague to receive the outcome letter and other correspondence about the application when it arrives. That arrangement is permitted as an authorised recipient arrangement. But if the same colleague lodges the application in ImmiAccount, uploads the certification, or tells the applicant which stream to pick, how to describe the exploitation claim, or how to answer character questions, that is immigration assistance, and it has to come from a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person.

A useful way to test it: receiving is about the channel, assisting is about the content. If someone is making judgments about what your application should say, they need to be qualified.

Which form do I use — Form 956 or Form 956A?

The two forms cover different roles, and using the wrong one nominates the wrong kind of help.

Both forms are uploaded to ImmiAccount along with your other documents. Note that the form choice follows the function: the same person may appear on both forms if they are, say, a legal practitioner who is also receiving your correspondence, while a purely administrative helper appears only on Form 956A.

What if I want to stop someone acting for me after I apply?

The Department sets out separate routes depending on what you are ending:

• Receiving your correspondence — complete Form 956A, the appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient.
• Providing immigration advice — complete Form 956, which in this context is the advice form used by a migration agent or exempt person about providing immigration assistance.
• Acting for you — let the Department know in writing by uploading your advice in ImmiAccount.

The practical implication is that withdrawing is not automatic. Ending a phone call or stopping payments does not remove someone from your file; the nomination has to be formally withdrawn through the matching channel, or correspondence will keep going to them.

Where does legal help fit into the 408 Workplace Justice application itself?

Help arrangements sit inside a wider sequence that starts before any visa paperwork exists. Step one is to report your workplace exploitation to a participating government agency or an accredited third party, which can help resolve the claim and certify it. That certification must be attached when the application is lodged, and the list of who can certify a claim sits in the legislative instrument rather than in the visa page, so it is worth confirming against the current version of that instrument.

Other conditions the Department publishes for this stream include that you must apply online, be in Australia but not in immigration clearance when you apply, hold a temporary substantive visa with work rights that has no more than 28 days remaining (or that ceased within 28 days), maintain adequate health insurance during your stay, and remain temporarily in Australia to pursue the workplace exploitation claim. Members of the family unit who are in Australia need to be included in the application. The visa period is stated as 6 months, or up to 12 months depending on your circumstances.

None of those requirements are carried out by your helper on your behalf in any legal sense: the applicant remains responsible for accurate information, and Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers is the mechanism for correcting something wrong after lodgement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to use a lawyer for the 408 Workplace Justice visa?

No. Assistance must come from one of three categories — a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person — and any of the three satisfies the requirement. Choosing between them turns on the kind of help you need, since a workplace exploitation claim involves both migration questions and the underlying employment dispute.

Can my friend lodge the application for me?

A friend can be appointed to receive documents on your behalf, which covers handling correspondence about the application. Deciding what goes in the application is immigration assistance and requires the friend to fall into one of the three qualified categories.

What is the difference between Form 956 and Form 956A?

Form 956A appoints or withdraws an authorised recipient, who receives your correspondence and can be anyone you choose. Form 956 appoints a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person to give immigration assistance.

How do I remove someone who has been helping me?

It depends on the role. Use Form 956A to withdraw an authorised recipient, Form 956 for someone providing immigration advice, and written notice uploaded to ImmiAccount for someone acting for you.

Is payment a warning sign when choosing help?

The Department's own advice is to read who can help with a visa application before paying anyone. Since only registered migration agents, legal practitioners and exempt persons may give immigration assistance, paying someone outside those categories for that help is the risk the warning addresses.

Can family members who are in Australia be added later?

Yes, by lodging a subsequent entrant application in ImmiAccount, and a subsequent temporary application charge applies. Family members added after lodgement must also meet health and character requirements.

References

• Department of Home Affairs — Australian Government Endorsed Events (Workplace Justice Pilot) (Subclass Temporary Activity visa (subclass 408))
• Department of Home Affairs — Who can help with your visa application
• Federal Register of Legislation — Workplace Justice Pilot certification instrument F2024L00918