Specialised Occupations List Published - Likely Basis of New Skilled Occupations List

By Mark Webster
20 March 2010

On 5 March 2010, Skills Australia produced a strategy report titled "Australian Workforce Futures". Skills Australia will be responsible for setting the new Skilled Occupations List, and within the report, there is a list called the "Specialised Occupations List". The Specialised Occupations list is likely to be the basis of the revised Skilled Occupations List to be finalised at the end of April 2010 and introduced in July 2010.

The Specialised Occupations List gives an insight into the likely future Skilled Occupations List. The list covers the following broad specialisations:

  • Medical Occupations - from doctors, nurses, pharmacists through to medical administrators and aged care workers
  • Engineering
  • Architecture, Surveying and Construction
  • Educational professionals
  • Accountants and Auditors
  • Legal Professionals
  • Selected Trades
It includes a number of occupations which are not currently on the Skilled Occupations List, including:
  • A broader range of education professionals, including university lecturers and teachers of English as a Second Language
  • Aviation professionals (pilots and flight instructors)
  • Judges, magistrates and tribunal members
  • Police officers and fire fighters
The list has many of the occupations on the current Migration Occupations in Demand List such as engineers, accountants and selected trades.

However, the following occupational groups are excluded from the Specialised Occupations List:

  • General business occupations such as management, marketing and HR
  • Hairdressing and Commercial Cookery
  • Fitters and welders
Accountants are on the list, but only if their qualifications are CPA-equivalent. This would most likely affect a large number of international students studying accounting in Australia, as the CPA qualification generally takes several years of post-qualification work experience to obtain.

Surprisingly, the list is relatively short on science occupations such as mathematicians, life scientists and chemists - the low priority of these occupations under the current system was one of the stated reasons for making drastic changes.

The list is published using ANZSCO codes - we have attempted to translate these through to the current ASCO codings.

Feel free to contact us if you wish to discuss how the new list will affect you.

Below is the list as published by Skills Australia:

1331Construction managers
1332 Engineering managers
1341 Child care centre managers
1342 Health and welfare services managers
1343 School principals
1344 Other education managers
2211 Accountants(a)
2212 Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers(b)
2221 Financial brokers
2241 Actuaries, mathematicians and statisticians(c)
2245 Land economists and valuers
2311 Air transport professionals
2312 Marine transport professionals
2321 Architects and landscape architects
2322 Cartographers and surveyors
2326 Urban and regional planners
2331 Chemical and materials engineers
2332 Civil engineering professionals
2333 Electrical engineers
2334 Electronics engineers
2335 Industrial, mechanical and production engineers
2336 Mining engineers
2339 Other engineering professionals
2341 Agricultural and forestry scientists
2346 Medical laboratory scientists
2347 Veterinarians
2493 Teachers of English to speakers of other languages
2411 Early childhood (pre-primary school) teachers
2412 Primary school teachers
2413 Middle school teachers
2414 Secondary school teachers
2415 Special education teachers
2421 University lecturers and tutors
2511 Dieticians
2512 Medical imaging professionals
2514 Optometrists and orthoptists
2515 Pharmacists
2521 Chiropractors and osteopaths
2523 Dental practitioners
2524 Occupational therapists
2525 Physiotherapists
2526 Podiatrists
2527 Speech professionals and audiologists
2531 Generalist medical practitioners
2532 Anaesthetists
2533 Internal medicine specialists
2534 Psychiatrists
2535 Surgeons
2539 Other medical practitioners
2542 Nurse educators and researchers
2543 Nurse managers
2544 Registered nurses
2611 ICT business and systems analysts
2613 Software and applications programmers
2633 Telecommunications engineering professionals
2711 Barristers(d)
2712 Judicial and other legal professionals(d)
2713 Solicitors(d)
2723 Psychologists
2725 Social workers
3122 Civil engineering draftspersons and technicians
3132 Telecommunications technical specialists
3211 Automotive electricians
3212 Motor mechanics
3221 Metal casting, forging and finishing trades workers
3222 Sheet metal trades workers
3231 Aircraft maintenance engineers
3233 Precision metal trades workers
3241 Panel beaters
3243 Vehicle painters
3311 Bricklayers and stonemasons
3312 Carpenters and joiners
3321 Floor finishers
3322 Painting trades workers
3331 Glaziers
3332 Plasterers
3334 Wall and floor tilers
3341 Plumbers
3411 Electricians
3421 Air-conditioning and refrigeration mechanics
3422 Electrical distribution trades workers
3423 Electronics trades workers
3942 Wood machinists and other wood trades workers
3991 Boat builders and shipwrights
3996 Sign writers
4112 Dental hygienists, technicians and therapists
4114 Enrolled and mothercraft nurses
4115 Indigenous health workers
4231 Aged and disabled carers
4233 Nursing support and personal care workers
4412 Fire and emergency workers
4413 Police

(a) CPA or equivalent
(b) Auditors only
(c) Actuaries only
(d) Legal professionals admitted to practice only

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