Skills assessment

Skills Assessment

A Skills Assessment is an official assessment process used to determine whether your qualifications and work experience meet Australian standards for a specific occupation. It is one of the most important requirements for many skilled migration visas and certain work visas in Australia.

What is a Skills Assessment?

It is a process conducted by an authorised assessing authority to evaluate your professional profile and confirm that:
  • Your academic qualifications.
  • Your work experience.
  • Your professional duties and career background.
  • match the Australian standard for a nominated occupation.
The aim is to to determine whether your profile is suitable for migration or employment purposes in Australia.

What is it used for?

You need a Skills Assessment to:
  • Apply for points-based visas (189, 190, 491).
  • Certain sponsored visas (such as 186).
  • Certain streams of the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485).
  • Demonstrating that your profile meets the requirements of an eligible occupation in Australia.

Who conducts the assessment?

Each occupation has a different assessing authority depending on the professional field. Some common assessing authorities include:
  • VETASSESS
  • TRA (Trades Recognition Australia)
  • Engineers Australia
  • ACS (Australian Computer Society)
  • ANMAC
  • CPA Australia
  • AITSL
The assessing authority and assessment requirements depend entirely on the nominated occupation.

Types of Assessment

The type of assessment depends on your occupation and visa pathway:
  • Qualification-based assessments.
  • Employment experience assessments.
  • Combined qualification and employment assessments.
  • Occupation-specific assessments.
There is no single type of Skills Assessment. Each occupation has its own criteria and assessment requirements.

Importance of Choosing the Correct Occupation

A Skills Assessment is not based solely on your degree or career title, but on the occupation that best matches your professional profile and migration goals.

Choosing the correct occupation can directly impact your visa options and migration eligibility.

Processing Times

Processing times vary depending on:
  • The assessing authority.
  • The complexity of the case.
  • Document verification processes.
  • Requests for additional information.
Some assessments may take only a few weeks, while others can take several months.

What outcome will you receive?

Once completed, you will receive:
  • Positive outcome:confirms that you meet the criteria for the nominated occupation.
  • Negative outcome: indicates that you currently do not meet the required criteria.
For many migration pathways, a positive Skills Assessment is mandatory in order to proceed with a visa application.

Key requirements

Although these vary by occupation, you will usually need to provide:
  • Academic qualifications.
  • Educational certificates.
  • Evidence of work experience.
  • Employment references.
  • Employment and financial supporting documents.
  • Curriculum Vitae (CV).
In some cases, additional requirements may include:
  • English language test results.
  • Professional registration.
  • Portfolio.
  • Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
  • Professional licences.
  • Technical or practical assessments.
All documentation must be clear, consistent, verifiable, and properly prepared.

What you need to bear in mind

  • This is not a visa, it is a prerequisite.
  • Each occupation has different requirements .
  • The occupation must appear on the eligible skilled occupation lists (see list).
  • A positive outcome does not guarantee visa approval.
  • Some assessments may require highly detailed documentation or additional verification processes.
Important Migration policies and assessment criteria may change according to updates from the assessing authorities and the Department of Home Affairs. For this reason, it is strongly recommended to obtain updated professional advice before starting the process

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