What is the Skilled Occupation List and why do you need to know about it?

To be eligible to apply for certain Australian visas, you must have an occupation that is in demand in Australia. If you apply for a work visa or one of the permanent residence visas listed below, and you do not have an occupation that is listed as in demand for that visa, your application will be rejected.

There are several different occupation lists from the main three posted on the Department of Home Affairs website to each state or territory’s occupation lists.

It can get a bit confusing especially since there might be an occupation on the Regional Occupation List on the Department of Home Affairs website, but when you apply for that visa, you might find that it’s only in demand in certain states or territories. This is why it’s a good idea to consult with a migration agent as they have access to and are familiar with all the different Australian state and territory occupation lists.

Australia’s Skilled Occupation Lists by Work Visa

This is the same occupations list that is on the Department of Home Affairs website, the only difference is I have separated it by visa type. I have done this because majority of my readers are only interested in one specific visa and the full combined list is just “too much information”.

Below I have separated out the occupations for the main Australian skilled and work visas I get asked about most often.

• Employer Nomination Permanent Residence 186 Visa – Direct Entry and Temporary Residence Transition streams
• Skilled Independent Permanent Residence 189 Visa – Points-tested stream
• Skilled State or Territory Nominated Permanent Residence 190 Visa – Also points tested.
• Temporary Graduate Work 485 Visa
• Temporary Skilled Regional (Provisional) 489 Visa – Both Family nominated, and State or Territory nominated.
• Temporary Skill Shortage 482 Visa – Both Medium-Stream (4-year visa) and Short-Stream (2-year visa)

Click on the visa tab below and the eligible occupations for that visa will be listed below a brief description of the visa plus a link to a more detailed post on each of the visas when available.

Each of the Australian visa occupations lists includes the ANZSCO occupation code and the skills assessing authority for that occupation.

If this is the first time you have looked at one of Australia’s occupation lists then you probably have no idea what I’m talking about.

What does ANZSCO stand for?

ANZSCO stands for the Australia New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations. It’s a classification that the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Statistics New Zealand have come up with, giving all occupations a six-digit code. Along with that six-digit code, ANZSCO also includes a brief description of services or functions performed by someone in that occupation, skill level be it formal qualification such as a bachelor’s degree or years experience, and a bullet list of possible tasks routinely performed.

The ANZSCO way of classify occupations reminds me of those wooden Russian dolls, where one fits snuggly inside of the other. ANZSCO has eight major groups, instead of dolls, that get broken down to smaller and smaller groups until you get to the smallest group and out pops a specific occupation. You can take a look at the ANZSCO group break down here.

One thing to keep in mind about ANZSCO is that it is occupations that are classified and not jobs.

So what do I mean by that? Well, let’s take my occupation as an example.

I work as a research assistant for a biotech company. When I look for my job on the occupations list, I’m not going to find it because research assistant is super general and could apply to many different fields.

However, when looking at the ANZSCO classifications, I see there is a Life Scientists group. When I expand that group to see what specific occupations are in that group, I see there is Biotechnologist which is pretty much on the nose as far as my educational background and work experience. Now when looking at the skilled occupations lists, I know what the best fit occupation for me is, 234514 Biotechnologist.

If 234514 Biotechnologist is on one of the occupations lists below, I know that my chances of getting approved for that visa just went up, as long as I also meet all the other qualifications.

What if my occupation is not on one of the occupation lists below?

Then I need to go back to ANZSCO and take a closer look at the other occupations in the Life Scientists group to see if I can qualify for one of those. When I take a second look I noticed there is another occupation that I’m a pretty close fit for, Biochemist. I use a lot of biochem in my daily work and think that this could be a good alternative occupation even though I do not have a biochem degree. Hopefully, my work experience will make up for that.

Now from this point, it would be best to talk to a migration agent to see exactly how close a fit is needed.

What if there wasn’t any other occupation that I could qualify for?

Then I definitely need to talk to a migration agent as there might be a different type of visa that I could qualify for.

Lucky for me, 234514 Biotechnologist is on the MLTSSL skilled occupations list.

Even though my occupation is on the MLTSSL skilled occupations list and I match the qualifications listed on ANZSCO, I will still need to do a skills assessment for my visa application.

Australian Skills Assessing Authorities

There is a skills assessment authority for each occupation listed below. You will need to get a skills assessment done for each of these visas when you apply, or before you apply if you want to get ahead of the game.

Skills assessments are valid up to three years after the issued date unless stated otherwise by the assessment authority. Some assessments have specific expiration dates. Be sure to ask how long your assessment is valid for when you get yours.

I have listed all Australian Skills Assessing Authorities below the occupation lists here.

Occupation Lists for Australian Skilled Migration

This looks much better on a desktop than on your phone. I tried to make it work better for the phone, but just couldn’t get it right. With a tablet you should be fine, if it’s horizontal.