2026 guide: breach of domestic worker conditions 8110 and 8111 after your employer permanently departs
What happens if a domestic worker stays in Australia after their employer permanently departs, and how conditions 8110 and 8111 apply.
If your employer has permanently left Australia and you stay on, the stay itself is the breach — not just the loss of the job. As set out in the official text of the Migration Regulations 1994 Schedule 8 published by the Federal Register of Legislation, condition 8110 provides that the holder "must not remain in Australia after the permanent departure of that employer" except with the written permission of the Foreign Minister, while condition 8111 provides simply that the holder "must not remain in Australia after the permanent departure of that employer", with no permission exception written into the condition. The Schedule 8 note points to the Migration Act 1958 sections 41 and 116 to 119 for the cancellation of a visa when a condition is breached. This article is general information about how those conditions are written and is not personalised advice; the conditions attached to your own visa, the current official text, and any professional advice you choose to obtain are what govern your situation.
What do conditions 8110 and 8111 actually require?
Both conditions are short, and both limit domestic workers to one household and one employer.
Condition 8110 says the holder:
- (a) must not engage in work in Australia except in the household of the employer in relation to whom the visa was granted;
- (b) must not work in a position or occupation inconsistent with the position or occupation in relation to which the visa was granted;
- (c) must not engage in work for another person or on the holder's own account while undertaking the employment in relation to which the visa was granted;
- (d) must not cease to be employed by that employer, unless paragraph (e) applies;
- (e) except with the written permission of the Foreign Minister, must not remain in Australia after the permanent departure of that employer.
Condition 8111 says the holder must not:
- (a) perform work in Australia except in the household of the employer who is the holder's sponsor in relation to the visa; or
- (b) remain in Australia after the permanent departure of that employer.
So the two conditions overlap on the core idea — work confined to the sponsoring employer's household, and no remaining once that employer has permanently gone — but 8110 spells out considerably more detail about the nature of the work and about ceasing employment.
Is the breach the departure, or your staying on?
The trigger in both conditions is the same event: the permanent departure of the employer. Neither condition says anything about how long the holder may wait before leaving, or about a grace period, so an open-ended stay after that departure is what the text prohibits.
This matters because the two situations are often confused. Losing the job but staying in Australia is one problem; staying in Australia after the employer has permanently departed is the specific problem these paragraphs address. Under 8110 you are also separately restricted from ceasing employment with that employer, and 8110(c) rules out working for someone else or on your own account in the meantime — so "I'll just find another household" is not an answer available under the terms of the condition.
Does the Foreign Minister's written permission help under 8111 as well?
Under 8110, the permission pathway is part of the condition: the prohibition on remaining is expressed as operating "except with the written permission of the Foreign Minister". Under 8111 there is no equivalent wording; the prohibition in 8111(b) is unqualified on the face of the condition.
That means the same fact pattern — an employer gone for good, the worker still here — can sit differently depending on which condition is attached to the visa. Schedule 8 does not set out how such permission is requested, who applies, or how long it takes, so those questions cannot be answered from the text of the conditions themselves.
Which visas carry 8110 or 8111?
Schedule 8 does not answer this, and deliberately so. The note to both conditions states that whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to the condition depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994.
In practice that means you have to work from the conditions actually attached to your own grant rather than from the visa's popular name. A hypothetical applicant who assumes "I hold a domestic worker visa, so it must be 8111" may be wrong; the Schedule 2 provision for that visa class is what determines it, and 8111 uses the language of a sponsor while 8110 uses the language of the employer in relation to whom the visa was granted.
What can a breach lead to?
Schedule 8 states the obligations but not the consequences. For consequences, its note directs readers to the Migration Act 1958 sections 41 and 116 to 119, which deal with visa conditions and with cancellation for breach of a condition. Breaching 8110 or 8111 therefore exposes the visa to the cancellation framework in that Act; the conditions themselves do not describe any lesser or automatic outcome.
Because a breach is assessed against the whole of the law and the facts, the practical weight of a breach will turn on things the Schedule 8 text does not record — including whether the visa has already expired, whether other conditions were also breached, and what the holder did after the departure.
8110 and 8111 compared
| Requirement | Condition 8110 | Condition 8111 |
|---|---|---|
| Where work may be done | Only in the household of the employer in relation to whom the visa was granted | Only in the household of the employer who is the holder's sponsor |
| Type of work | Must not be inconsistent with the position or occupation for which the visa was granted | Not addressed in the condition |
| Other work while employed | Must not work for another person or on own account | Not addressed in the condition |
| Ceasing employment | Must not cease to be employed by that employer, unless (e) applies | Not addressed in the condition |
| Remaining after permanent departure | Prohibited, except with the written permission of the Foreign Minister | Prohibited; no permission exception in the text |
The gaps in the 8111 column are gaps in that condition only. A visa can carry several conditions at once, so the absence of a restriction in 8111 does not by itself mean the holder is free to do the thing in question.
A worked example of how the rule bites
Suppose a visa holder is subject to condition 8111 and works in the household of their sponsor. The sponsor sells up and permanently departs Australia. The holder keeps living in the same house and later moves in with friends, doing no work at all.
Even without any work being performed, the holder has, on the face of 8111(b), remained in Australia after the permanent departure of that employer. The breach does not depend on whether work continued; the stay is enough. Under 8110, the same facts would engage 8110(e), unless the written permission of the Foreign Minister had been given.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it a breach to stay in Australia after my employer permanently departs?
Yes, on the face of both conditions. Condition 8110(e) prohibits remaining after the permanent departure of the employer except with the written permission of the Foreign Minister, and condition 8111(b) prohibits remaining after that departure without any stated exception. The breach arises from the stay, not from whether you keep working.
Does the Foreign Minister's written permission apply to both 8110 and 8111?
It is written into 8110(e) only. The text of 8111 contains no permission exception, so the same set of facts can produce a different result depending on which condition is attached to the visa. Schedule 8 does not describe how such permission is sought.
Can I work for another household while I still hold this visa?
Not under 8110. Paragraph (a) confines work to the household of the employer in relation to whom the visa was granted, and paragraph (c) separately prohibits working for another person or on your own account while undertaking that employment. Condition 8111 likewise confines work to the sponsor's household.
Which visa subclasses have 8110 or 8111 attached?
Schedule 8 does not say. Its note states that whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to the condition depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994, so you need to read the conditions recorded against your own grant.
What happens to my visa if I breach one of these conditions?
Schedule 8 refers readers to the Migration Act 1958 sections 41 and 116 to 119, which cover visa conditions and cancellation for breach of a condition. The conditions themselves do not set out a penalty, so the outcome is determined under that Act rather than by the text of 8110 or 8111.
Does it matter whether I resigned or my employer left?
It can. Both conditions are triggered by the permanent departure of the employer, and 8110(d) separately restricts ceasing employment with that employer. A resignation and an employer's permanent departure are different events, and only the latter engages the "must not remain" paragraphs.