Getting Overseas Qualifications Recognised in Australia

The single biggest source of confusion for new arrivals is that 'getting your qualification recognised' means three separate processes, and you may need one, two, or all three. Sorting out which one you actually need will save you months and a lot of money.

• General qualification comparison: A statement that says, for example, 'your Bachelor's degree is comparable to an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Level 7 Bachelor degree.' Useful for job applications and your own confidence, but it is advice only and does not let you work in a regulated job, register, license, or migrate.

• Skills assessment for migration: A formal assessment by the body the Department of Home Affairs designates for your occupation, confirming your qualifications and (usually) work experience meet the Australian standard for that specific job. This is mandatory for points-tested skilled visas and many employer-sponsored ones.

• Professional registration or licensing: For 'regulated' occupations (doctors, nurses, teachers, electricians, lawyers and many trades), a separate licence or registration from the relevant Australian regulator before you can legally practise, on top of any visa.

If your job is not regulated and you are not relying on a points-tested skilled visa, you may not formally need any of these. Many employers will simply assess your overseas qualification themselves.

Australia maps every regulated qualification onto the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), a single 10-level scale. As a rough guide: Certificate IV sits at Level 4, a Diploma at Level 5, a Bachelor degree at Level 7, Graduate Certificate/Diploma at Level 8, a Master's at Level 9 and a Doctoral degree at Level 10. Knowing your AQF-equivalent level helps you read job ads and pitch yourself accurately.

Behind the scenes, Australian universities, employers and assessing bodies use the Country Education Profiles (CEP) tool, run by the Department of Education's National Information Centre, which holds authoritative guidance for 127 countries on how overseas qualifications compare to the AQF. You don't buy CEP yourself, but it is the engine most assessors rely on.

If you want your own written comparison, you have two main routes. First, if you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident, your state or territory government runs a free Overseas Qualifications Unit (OQU) that can compare your qualification in general terms. Second, the Department of Education offers a paid qualification assessment, costing roughly AUD $295-$495 for citizens/PRs in Australia and around $450-$650 for temporary residents and others.

Read the limits carefully. The Department states its assessment 'is a guide to the level of an overseas qualification' and explicitly 'does not allow you to work, get registration, licensing, professional membership, migrate to Australia, or study at an Australian university.' For those outcomes you need the migration or registration pathways below.

If you are coming on a points-tested skilled visa (subclass 189, 190 or 491) or many employer-sponsored visas, a positive skills assessment is not optional. Home Affairs designates a specific assessing authority for each occupation, and you must use the right one. Get the wrong body and the assessment won't count.

Who assesses what (the common ones):

• VETASSESS: the largest assessor, authorised for around 341 professional and general (non-trade) occupations plus 25+ trades, covering most business, management, science and community-services roles.

• Engineers Australia: all engineering occupations. If your degree is from a Washington Accord (or Sydney/Dublin Accord) signatory it can be recognised more directly; otherwise you write a Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) with career episodes.

• ACS (Australian Computer Society): ICT and IT occupations, including a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) pathway for experienced applicants without a relevant degree (typically 6+ years' experience, two project reports; RPL fee around $625).

• Trades Recognition Australia (TRA): trades, via the Offshore Skills Assessment Program (OSAP) and the Migration Skills Assessment (MSA), which TRA aims to finalise within about 120 days. Note: TRA temporarily paused OSAP and TSS-stream registrations from 14 March 2026 for system upgrades, so check dates before you start.

• Professional bodies for their fields: CPA Australia / CA ANZ (accounting), ANMAC (nursing and midwifery), AITSL (teachers), ACWA (social work), and others.

Always confirm your occupation's assessing authority on the Home Affairs assessing-authorities list, because the pairing of occupation to body is fixed by the Department and changes from time to time.

The system was overhauled in December 2024, so older guides online are now wrong. The two changes that matter most:

• The Temporary Skill Shortage visa became the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482), with Core Skills and Specialist Skills streams instead of the old short/medium-term split.

• The MLTSSL and STSOL occupation lists were replaced by a single Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL).

Salary thresholds for sponsored visas are indexed each year. The Core Skills Income Threshold for the 482 rose to AUD $79,499 from 1 July 2026 (up from $76,515). Sponsored-visa figures move annually, so treat any number you read as a starting point and confirm the current figure.

For the points-tested visas (subclass 189 Skilled Independent, 190 Skilled Nominated, 491 Skilled Work Regional), the mechanics are: you submit an Expression of Interest through SkillSelect, you need a minimum of 65 points to be in the pool, and Home Affairs invites the highest scorers in periodic rounds. In practice the real cut-off for an invitation is well above 65 (often 85-95+ depending on occupation), because invitations are competitive and capped by occupation ceilings.

Because immigration rules change often, do not lodge anything based on this page alone. Confirm every subclass number, list, threshold and fee on homeaffairs.gov.au before you act, and for a complex case get professional advice (see the last section).

For subclass 189/190/491 you score points across age, English, skilled employment, qualifications and other factors. The two that trip people up most:

• Age: you generally must be under 45 at invitation, and the maximum 30 age points apply only while you are aged 25 to 32. Points taper off after that.

• English: there are three named bands. Competent English is IELTS 6.0 in each of the four components (this meets the basic requirement but earns 0 points). Proficient English is IELTS 7.0 in each component and earns 10 points. Superior English is IELTS 8.0 in each component and earns 20 points. Equivalent PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, OET and Cambridge scores are accepted, but Home Affairs does not accept fully online/at-home test sittings.

Because English alone can swing your total by 20 points, it is often the single most cost-effective thing to improve before lodging. Many applicants who fall short on points retest for a higher English band rather than wait years.

Use the official Home Affairs points calculator to estimate your score, but remember it is an estimate; the assessing authority's decision on your skills and your verified English result are what count.

A visa and a skills assessment let you enter and be counted as skilled; they do not automatically let you practise a licensed profession. For regulated work you need registration from the Australian regulator, which is a separate application.

• Health practitioners (doctors, nurses, physios, pharmacists, psychologists and more): register with AHPRA and the relevant National Board. Overseas-qualified applicants are assessed either by the profession's accreditation authority before applying, or by AHPRA after applying. You will typically need an English standard, identity checks, and a Certificate of Good Standing sent directly from each regulator you have been registered with, dated within three months. AHPRA's initial review is around 30 days with full assessment up to about 6 weeks.

• Teachers: AITSL conducts the skills assessment for migration, but to actually teach you also register with the teacher regulatory authority in your state or territory.

• Engineers: chartered status and, for some roles, state registration schemes apply on top of the Engineers Australia migration assessment.

• Trades: many trades need a state/territory occupational licence (for example an electrical licence) before you can work, separate from your TRA assessment.

Where there is a gap between your overseas training and the Australian standard, bridging exists: bridging courses, supervised practice, examinations or, for some trades, a Job Ready Program. The assessing body or regulator will tell you exactly what is missing and how to close it, rather than simply rejecting you.

Once you can work, two practical steps matter. Enrol in Medicare through Services Australia (myGov) once you hold a permanent resident visa, or have applied for permanent residency and can supply the required documents; you can even enrol while appealing a refused visa. And apply for a Tax File Number (TFN), which every worker needs.

Crucial: applying for a TFN is always free through the ATO (ato.gov.au), Australia Post or Services Australia. Many copycat websites charge a 'processing fee' for something the government provides at no cost. Never pay a third party for a TFN.

Be alert to other common scams targeting new arrivals: fake job offers that ask for money up front, people charging to 'guarantee' a visa, and anyone offering paid migration advice who is not properly authorised. Verify everything against the official .gov.au sites, and treat unsolicited offers with suspicion.

If a job offer, agent or website feels off, slow down and check it. Legitimate Australian government services do not cold-call you demanding payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency, and no one can guarantee a visa outcome.

You can do a straightforward skilled-visa application yourself. But for a fee, only an OMARA-registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner (immigration lawyer) can lawfully give you Australian visa advice. Giving paid immigration assistance without that registration is an offence, with penalties up to 10 years' imprisonment, which is exactly why unregistered 'agents' are a red flag.

Always check an agent on the official register at portal.mara.gov.au before paying anything. If your preferred agent does not appear, they are not registered and cannot legally help you. There is no fixed fee scale; OMARA recommends getting three quotes so you can judge a fair price.

Get professional help when your case is complex: a previous visa refusal or cancellation, a health or character issue, a partner/family situation with complications, an occupation that is borderline on the CSOL, or a points total that is close to the cut-off. The cost of good advice is small next to the cost of a refused application.

This guide is general information, not personal migration, legal or financial advice. Rules, lists, fees and thresholds change frequently. Always confirm the current position on homeaffairs.gov.au and the relevant assessing body before you act.