Do you need to update VEVO records weekly?

Short answer

No. Australian law does not impose a weekly VEVO update cycle. Employer liability hinges on taking reasonable steps at reasonable times to confirm work rights, supported by records and timely notifications. 

Why VEVO checks matter

Right-to-work checks reduce risk of illegal work and support fair employment. Home Affairs lists work-related contraventions and penalties per worker, covering both unlawful non-citizens and breaches of visa work conditions. Immigration and citizenship Website

What the law says

Reasonable steps at reasonable times
The Migration Act creates offences for allowing unlawful work or work in breach of visa conditions. A statutory defence applies where employers take reasonable steps at reasonable times to verify entitlement to work. Use VEVO and keep evidence. 

Sponsor record-keeping and 28-day notifications
Approved work sponsors must keep specified records in a reproducible format per Reg 2.82, and must notify Immigration about listed events within 28 days per Reg 2.84. Evidence must be capable of independent verification.

Penalties per worker
Home Affairs publishes penalty tables with amounts based on penalty units. From 7 Nov 2024, one penalty unit equals AUD 330. Listed amounts apply per worker. Last checked: 29 August 2025 (AEST). 

Migrant worker protections from 1 July 2024
New offences and a prohibited employer regime now apply, raising compliance expectations across employment chains. Names of prohibited employers appear on an ABF register.

How often to re-check work rights

No regulation sets a fixed interval. The test is reasonableness. Use a risk-based cadence:

• Before engagement: check VEVO and store evidence with consent.

• Day one: confirm details match the person who starts.

• At trigger events: visa grant or change, role or location change, reduction or increase of hours where conditions matter, rostered change across entities.

• Approaching expiry: increase frequency inside 90, 60, then 30 days.

• Routine cycle for temporary visas: set a recurring schedule, for example monthly or quarterly, aligned to risk profile and workforce size. This is compliance guidance, not a legal rule.

• After leave without pay or long absences: re-verify before return.

Evidence to retain

• VEVO check results with timestamp, identity details, and the consent used to access VEVO. 
• Contract, position, location, hours, and any change approvals.
• Notifications lodged under Reg 2.84 with date, method, place, and receipt details. 
• Pay and equivalent terms records if Reg 2.79 or 2.79A applies. 

Step-by-step compliance process

• Collect consent to check VEVO. Use the approved process for organisations. 

• Pre-employment VEVO check. Capture a PDF or data export and store in a verifiable system.

• Identity match. Confirm passport or evidence matches the VEVO subject.

• Map conditions to rostering and payroll rules.

• Set a monitoring cadence based on risk. Document the rationale.

• Add triggers: visa expiry window, bridging visa grants, nomination or role changes, location changes, long leave.

• Store evidence per Reg 2.82 in a reproducible format.

• Notify within 28 days when a listed event occurs under Reg 2.84. 

• Respond to requests from inspectors and keep correspondence trails. 

Examples and risk scenarios

• Student on temporary visa moves from casual to full-time hours. Trigger event. Re-check VEVO, update roster rules, store evidence.

• Bridging visa grant after a new application. Trigger event. VEVO output may change. Re-check and save result.

• 482/SID sponsor changes duties or location. Sponsor must ensure work aligns with nominated occupation and notify within 28 days if duties change beyond the nomination scope. 

• Expiry window inside 60 days. Increase checks and escalate reminders.

Remediation if a gap is found

• Stop work until work rights are confirmed.

• Run an immediate VEVO check and record the result.

• File required notifications where a sponsor obligation event occurred. 

• Assess payroll exposure and award compliance. Seek advice where needed.

• Improve controls: tighter triggers, shorter cadence, stronger evidence rules.

Obligation table

Compliance checklist

• Written VEVO consent captured and linked to the worker profile. 

• Initial VEVO result stored with timestamp and ID match.

• Risk-based monitoring schedule documented per role and visa.

• Triggers configured: visa status changes, expiry windows, duty or location changes.

• Sponsor record set meets Reg 2.82 requirements. 

• 28-day notification workflow set for Reg 2.84 events. 

• Payroll and rostering rules aligned to visa conditions.

• Quarterly audit of evidence and alerts, with remediation logs.

• Training for hiring managers and roster owners on right-to-work rules.

• Dashboard to track expiring visas and overdue checks.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• Weekly checks without a risk model. Effort goes into low-risk cases while high-risk cases slip. Use triggers and a tiered cadence.

• No consent or identity mismatch. Store consent and confirm identity before each check.

• One-off onboarding check only. Reasonable steps require ongoing attention at reasonable times. 

• No 28-day notifications after duty or employment changes. Build an automated task from HR events. 

• Paper or ad-hoc storage. Use reproducible, verifiable records per Reg 2.82. 

How Complize helps

• Automated VEVO monitoring: scheduled and trigger-based checks with an audit trail, aligned to risk.

• Evidence vault: reproducible storage for VEVO results, contracts, and consent records. Meets Reg 2.82 requirements on format and verification. 

• 28-day notification workflows: tasks and templates for common Reg 2.84 events. 

• Penalty awareness: dashboards highlight exposure and show penalty settings linked to the current unit value. 

• Sponsor portfolio view: track 482/SID workers, roles, locations, and expiry windows using Home Affairs terminology. 

Put VEVO checks, alerts, and sponsor evidence on autopilot. Book a Demo.