(Courtesy of the MIA)

• The program reopens on Thursday 29 November 2018

• The ACT Government’s current system will go OFF LINE on Tuesday 27 November 2018 to enable the change over to the new Expression of Interest (from hereon called the Canberra Matrix to avoid confusion with Home Affairs EOI)

-Any existing ACT Government application commenced which has not been lodged and unpaid on 27 November 2018 will disappear from the system and will not be able to be accessed.

– Any lodged and paid applications lodged before Tuesday 27 November will be assessed and finalised under the existing guidelines.

• The ACT is reopening its 190 program with about 500 available places for the remainder of 2018-19 Financial Year

• The Canberra Matrix is benefit to Canberra based and not first in, best dressed as with the previous system

• The ACT Government will have practice runs for issuing invitations etc in December 2018, January and February 2019 before moving into full operational mode.

The Process

• Intending applicants will be required to express their interest by completing the Canberra Matrix

– No documents are required to be lodged with the Canberra Matrix

– There is no application fee for completing and submitting the Canberra Matrix

• Either once or twice a month (to be decided) the ACT Government will determine which Canberra Matrix applicants, based on the Matrix points test (has no relationship or impact on Home Affairs points test) will be issued an invitation to apply for ACT Government 190 nomination

– The ACT Government reserves the right to use other levers to select applicants based on economic benefit to Canberra

• The Canberra Matrix points are frozen upon submission and cannot be updated

– If points allocation change, for any reason. a new Canberra Matrix will be required to be submitted

• A Canberra Matrix will remain valid for 6 months before it is removed from the system

• The matrix scoring for Canberra residents has 12 factors

Length of residence in Canberra
English language proficiency
Spouse / partner English language proficiency
Nominated occupation (open or closed)
Length of current employment in Canberra (not tied to nominated occupation)
ACT employment type
Spouse / Partner employment in Canberra
Education (can be in Canberra, interstate or overseas)
Canberra education
Grandfathering of applicants who arrived to live in Canberra on or before 29 June 2018)
Assets in Canberra (personal or business and unencumbered)
Close family ties to Canberra
• The Matrix for overseas residents has essentially the same factors except the grandfathering factor mentioned above

• Intending applicants who live in Canberra and commute to Sydney, for example, for study and/or work, regardless of the time spent in or out of Canberra will not meet the requirements for an invitation

• To meet the Canberra residence requirements, the intending applicant can live in Canberra (this goes without saying) or live within a 30-minute commute radius of Canberra (for example, live in Queanbeyan, Jerrabomberra, Bungendore, Murrumbateman)

• Intending applicants who work in Queanbeyan, for example, are also ineligible to receive an invitation

Key points to note

• There will be no requests for further information (applications not complete will be refused)

• If the documents provided at the application stage do not support the information provided in the Canberra Matrix, the application will be refused

• There are no waiver provisions

• The ACT Government will not respond to requests for special treatment based on

– Expiry of English language results, skills assessments

– Change of age

– Visa expiry, etc

• ACT Government will not respond to requests about an individual’s ranking, selection or invitation process