Skilled occupation lists and assessing authorities: LIN 19/051

The Migration (LIN 19/051: Specification of Occupations and Relevant Assessing Authorities) Instrument 2019 was made on 5 March 2019 by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. Section 3 now lists six provisions of the Migration Regulations 1994 it is made under, including subregulations 1.15I(1) and 2.26B(1). It commenced on 11 March 2019 and repealed IMMI 18/051 (section 13). This page describes Compilation No. 5, in force from 28 March 2026, which incorporates amendments made by five instruments between 2019 and 2026 (Endnote 3).

The explanatory statement, written for the instrument as made in 2019, gives its purpose as to update the occupations included in the skilled occupations lists, with the allocation of occupations based on labour market advice provided by the Department of Jobs and Small Business. In 2019 the regional provisional visa it covered was subclass 489; LIN 19/243 brought in subclass 491 from 16 November 2019 (section 14).

Which list applies to which visa

Section 7(1) sets out four classes of persons and the lists that apply to each. Under section 7(3), every occupation on an applicable list is a skilled occupation for that class for paragraph 1.15I(1)(a) of the Regulations.

Classes of persons and applicable lists (section 7(1))

Item	Class of persons	Applicable lists
1	Invited to apply for a subclass 189 visa; invited to apply for a subclass 491 visa without State or Territory nomination; and their spouses or de facto partners	MLTSSL
2	Applicants for a subclass 485 visa	MLTSSL
3	Invited to apply for a subclass 190 visa with State or Territory nomination, and their spouses or de facto partners	MLTSSL and STSOL
4	Invited to apply for a subclass 491 visa with State or Territory nomination, and their spouses or de facto partners	MLTSSL, STSOL and ROL

Section 7(6) also specifies each occupation for the visa criteria tied to each item: subitem 1241(5) of Schedule 1 for items 1 and 4, paragraph 1229(3)(k) for item 2, and item 4 of the table in subitem 1138(4) for item 3. Section 7(5) does the same for subitem 1137(4C) where item 1 applies.

The three lists

Occupation lists in Compilation No. 5

List	Section	Occupations
Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL)	8	212
Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL)	9	215
Regional Occupation List (ROL)	10	77

Each list has two columns: the occupation and its 6-digit ANZSCO code, with a note that the code column is included for information only. No ANZSCO code appears on more than one list, so the three lists hold 504 occupations between them. The first items are construction project manager (133111) on the MLTSSL, flower grower (121212) on the STSOL and aquaculture farmer (121111) on the ROL. Section 8(2) excludes item 9 of the MLTSSL, dancer or choreographer, where the position is an exotic dancer (section 7(7)). The full lists are in the instrument.

Assessing authorities

Section 10AA(1) specifies, under subregulation 2.26B(1), the relevant assessing authority for each occupation and for all countries. Its table has 504 items with columns for occupation, ANZSCO code and assessing authority. Examples are construction project manager (VETASSESS), engineering manager (Engineers Australia or IML), child care centre manager (ACECQA) and surveyor (ISNSW, item 26).

Section 10AA(2) splits four occupations: a physicist other than a medical physicist (VETASSESS), a medical physicist (ACPSEM), a Vocational Education Teacher (Trades) (TRA) and (Non-Trades) (VETASSESS), and an information and organisation professional (nec) who is a data scientist (ACS) or is not (VETASSESS). Section 10A keeps TRA for child care centre managers and the Australian and New Zealand Podiatry Accreditation Council Limited for podiatrists where the assessment occurred before 16 November 2019. Section 11 expands 37 abbreviations, from AACA (Architects Accreditation Council of Australia) to VETASSESS (Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services).

Which applications it applies to

• Section 12: invitations for items 1, 3 and 4 issued on or after 11 March 2019, and subclass 485 applications made on or after that day.
• Section 13: IMMI 18/051 continues for invitations issued, or subclass 485 applications made, on or after 18 March 2018 but before 11 March 2019.
• Section 15: for subclass 189, 190, 485 and 491 applications made on or after 6 May 2022, the authorities listed in its table (for example the Australian Institute of Management for engineering manager) remain specified for 11 occupations where the skills assessment application was made before that day.
• Section 16: the amendments made by Schedule 7 to LIN 24/083 (commenced 14 December 2024) apply to applications made in response to an invitation given on or after that Schedule commenced.
• Section 17: items 1 and 3 of Schedule 1 to LIN 26/027 apply to applications made, but not finally determined, on or after 8 October 2025, except where the application includes a Surveyor skills assessment dated on or before 21 August 2025; item 2 applies to applications made, but not finally determined, on or after 14 December 2024.

Section 5, which defined ANZSCO, was repealed by LIN 24/105 (F2024L01616) from 7 December 2024 (Endnotes 3 and 4).