Skills Assessment: Get Your Occupation Recognised

A skills assessment is an independent review, by an approved Australian assessing authority, of whether your qualifications and work experience genuinely match the Australian occupation you are nominating. The authority compares your overseas degree against the Australian Qualifications Framework and checks your employment is relevant and at the right skill level. Think of it as Australia getting a trusted professional body to confirm "yes, this person really is a software engineer / registered nurse / electrician by our standards".

It matters because, for the main skilled visas, no assessment means no visa. A positive skills assessment from the relevant assessing authority is required before you lodge a points-tested General Skilled Migration visa, and for the Core Skills stream of the employer-sponsored Skills in Demand visa.

• Subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) - points-tested, no sponsor needed; occupation must be on the relevant list.

• Subclass 190 (Skilled Nominated) - points-tested, needs nomination by a state or territory.

• Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional, provisional) - points-tested, needs state/territory nomination or eligible family sponsorship in a regional area.

• Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) Core Skills stream - employer-sponsored; a skills assessment is required. The Specialist Skills stream does not require one.

One thing to get right from the start: the assessment is tied to a specific occupation code (ANZSCO). You are assessed against the occupation you nominate, not your job title, so picking the correct code is one of the most important early decisions. Visa rules change often, so always confirm the current requirement for your visa on homeaffairs.gov.au.

There is no single skills-assessment office. The Department of Home Affairs publishes the official list of assessing authorities and tells you which one is responsible for each occupation. You must use the authority listed for your nominated occupation - you cannot pick a cheaper or faster one. Here are the main ones migrants deal with:

• ACS (Australian Computer Society) - IT, ICT, data and cyber security occupations (software engineers, developers, analysts, ICT managers).

• Engineers Australia - professional, technologist and associate engineers (civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.).

• VETASSESS - the largest assessor: more than 340 professional and general occupations (managers, scientists, marketing, social workers, many others) and 27 trade occupations.

• TRA (Trades Recognition Australia) - a government body assessing many trades (electricians, carpenters, cooks, mechanics, etc.).

• ANMAC (Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council) - the migration skills assessment for nurses and midwives. Separately, AHPRA handles your professional registration to actually work.

• AITSL (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership) - primary and secondary school teachers.

• CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants ANZ (CA ANZ) and the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) - accountants and auditors.

Health and some other regulated occupations have their own specialist bodies (for example the Occupational Therapy Council). If you are a doctor, allied health professional, lawyer or in another licensed field, check the official assessing-authorities page for the exact body, because the registration step and visa strategy differ by occupation.

The exact steps vary by authority, but the shape is the same for almost everyone:

• 1. Confirm your occupation code (ANZSCO) and check the skilled occupation lists on homeaffairs.gov.au to make sure it is eligible for the visa you want.

• 2. Find your assessing authority on the official assessing-authorities page.

• 3. Read that authority's specific requirements - they each have their own criteria, document checklist and English rules.

• 4. Gather documents: identity, degree certificates and transcripts, detailed employment references (on letterhead, with dates, hours and duties), payslips/tax records, and an up-to-date CV.

• 5. Apply and pay online through the authority's portal.

• 6. Wait for assessment. Some bodies (notably Engineers Australia for non-Accord qualifications) require extra work such as a Competency Demonstration Report (CDR). Trades applicants via TRA may face a Provisional Skills Assessment, a Job Ready Program, or a practical/technical interview.

• 7. Receive your outcome letter. A positive result is what you submit with your Expression of Interest and visa application.

Trades have an extra wrinkle: TRA runs several distinct programs (Migration Skills Assessment, Provisional Skills Assessment, the Job Ready Program for graduates of Australian trade courses, and the Offshore Skills Assessment Program for certain countries and licensed occupations). The Job Ready Program in particular includes a workplace-based component and can run many months, so start early.

Budget for both money and patience. These are the figures reported in 2026 from the authorities and their guidance - treat them as a guide and confirm the exact amount on the authority's own website before you pay, because fees are indexed and change (several rose on 1 July and again from 1 July 2026).

• ACS (IT): around AUD 530 standard, plus about AUD 150 for priority processing. Standard 8-10 weeks; priority around 10-15 business days. Valid 24 months.

• Engineers Australia: roughly AUD 1,020 for the Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) pathway, and less (lower hundreds) for an accredited Washington/Sydney/Dublin Accord pathway. Accord assessments take about 8-12 weeks, CDR about 10-16 weeks; fast-track is available for an extra fee.

• VETASSESS: professional/general occupations around AUD 1,070-1,180 (now typically 8-10 weeks); trade occupations around AUD 1,033 (overseas) to AUD 1,136 (onshore).

• TRA (trades): from around AUD 300 for documentary stages up to several thousand dollars for a full Job Ready Program across all stages; Migration Skills Assessment commonly 12-16 weeks, the full Job Ready Program can take many months.

• Accountants (CPA / CA ANZ / IPA): roughly AUD 545-650; processing about 4-6 weeks (CA ANZ often faster).

• ANMAC (nurses/midwives) and AITSL (teachers): AITSL teacher assessments are commonly completed within about 4 weeks. Nurses also need separate AHPRA registration (initial registration around AUD 500) to work, which is a different process to the migration assessment.

On top of the assessment you will pay for English testing (IELTS/PTE), document certification, and later the visa application charge itself - the subclass 189 primary applicant charge is AUD 4,765 (with additional charges for partners and children). Plan your money for the whole journey, not just one step.

For the points-tested visas, the skills assessment is only one piece. You also lodge an Expression of Interest in SkillSelect and are scored against the points test. The official minimum is 65 points, but be realistic: in 2025-26 invitation rounds, competitive scores have generally sat around 85-95+ points, so 65 rarely leads to an invitation.

English earns points and is often a hard requirement for the assessment itself. On the points test: Competent English (IELTS 6.0 in each band, or equivalent) scores 0 points, Proficient English (IELTS 7.0 each band) scores 10 points, and Superior English (IELTS 8.0 each band) scores 20 points. Several assessing bodies - for example the accounting bodies and AITSL for teachers - set their own English minimums (commonly IELTS 7.0, with higher speaking/listening for teachers) just to pass the assessment.

Other points come from age (the highest band is for ages 25-32), skilled employment (up to 20 points), qualifications, Australian study, and partner factors. Because the thresholds and pass marks move, use the official points calculator and confirm the current rules on homeaffairs.gov.au rather than relying on any third-party figure - including this page.

This is the stage where people get exploited, so protect yourself. A few rules:

• Your TFN and myGov are free. Apply for a Tax File Number directly through the ATO (ato.gov.au) and set up Medicare through Services Australia (servicesaustralia.gov.au). Never pay a third-party website that offers to "get your TFN" - those are reselling a free government service.

• Be wary of fake job offers and guaranteed-PR promises. No one can guarantee a visa, and a real employer will not ask you to pay them for sponsorship in cash.

• Only pay an authorised person for visa advice. By law, only an OMARA-registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner (immigration lawyer) can lawfully be paid to give you immigration assistance. Anyone else charging you is operating illegally. Check any agent on the official OMARA register before you pay.

• Using an unregistered "agent" leaves you with no complaints process, no professional indemnity insurance, and a real risk your application is poorly prepared or even contains false information - which can get you banned.

You can absolutely do a straightforward skills assessment yourself. But if your case is complex - mixed or unusual qualifications, a borderline occupation code, employment that is hard to document, a CDR-based engineering assessment, a previous refusal, or a tight deadline - it is worth paying a registered professional. Confirm everything that matters against the official source: homeaffairs.gov.au for the visa and your assessing authority's own website for the assessment.