494 visa occupations list announced

The department of Home Affairs has announced the list of occupations eligible for the new Subclass 494 Skilled Employer Sponsored (Regional). The 494 visa will be substituting the current 187 (RSMS) visa and commencing November 16, 2019 the 494 visa has 9,000 places allocated per year. It requires employer sponsorship and the position must be likely to exist for 5 years. It has a 45 year age limit, competent English, RCB advice and must meet the AMSR. Visa applicants must have a suitable skills assessment and at least 3 years’ skilled employment.

The 491 has a pathway to permanent residency through the 191 visa: applicant must have at least three years’ full-time relevant work experience in the nominated occupation or a related field, at the same level of skill.

Regional areas are defined as any area excluding Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Note:          For the meaning of the expressions in column 2, see section 9.

(2)  The assessing authority:

(a)  for a physicist (other than a medical physicist) is VETASSESS; and

(b)  for a medical physicist is ACPSEM.

Note:          For the meaning of VETASSESS and ACPSEM, see section 9.

7  Regional Occupation List

(1)  The following table is the Regional Occupation List.

Note 1:       A small number of occupations are known by different titles in Australia and New Zealand. In these cases, ANZSCO uses a dual title, which notes the country‑specific titles, to describe the occupations, e.g. “grain, oilseed or pasture grower (Aus) / field crop grower (NZ)”. These dual titles have been used in column 1 of the table in this subsection for consistency with ANZSCO.

Note 2:       For the meaning of the expressions in column 2, see section 9.

(2)  The assessing authority:

(a)  for a vocational education teacher (Aus) / polytechnic teacher (NZ) (trades) is TRA; and

(b)  for a vocational education teacher (Aus) / polytechnic teacher (NZ) (other than a vocational education teacher (Aus) / polytechnic teacher (NZ) (trades)) is VETASSESS.

Note:          For the meaning of TRA and VETASSESS, see section 9.

8  Specification of assessing authorities for child care centre managers and podiatrists—assessments that occurred before 16 November 2019

For the purposes of subclause 494.224(6) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, a person or body listed in column 2 of an item of the following table is specified as the assessing authority for the occupation listed in column 1 of the item in relation to an assessment if the assessment occurred before 16 November 2019.

Note:          For the meaning of TRA, see section 9.

9  Assessing authorities

An expression mentioned in column 1 of an item of the following table is short for the expression mentioned in column 2 of that item.