The Australian Skills Assessment Map: who assesses your occupation.

One occupation, one body, usually

For most occupations, Home Affairs nominates a single specified assessing authority. You do not get to shop around. Use the wrong body and the visa application will be invalid.

Three exceptions where you actually choose

Accountants pick between CPA Australia, CA ANZ, and IPA. Some licensed trades (electricians, plumbers, RAC mechanics) can go through VETASSESS? or TRA? depending on their qualification path. A few engineering technologist roles can technically route through either Engineers Australia? or VETASSESS?.

Three years validity, usually

Most skills assessments are valid for three years from the date the letter is issued. But some bodies stamp a shorter expiry (ACS? letters historically came with a two-year validity). The expiry on the letter itself overrides the default. Read the letter, not the rule of thumb.

The Thapa decision

In 2021 the Federal Circuit Court ruled that “at the time of invitation” includes the entire 60-day invitation window, not just the single date IMMI? sends the invite. So you can obtain a skills assessment? inside that 60-day window and it counts. Departmental policy adopted this. But migration agents still say: get the assessment before lodging the EOI?. The Thapa grace window is real, but treating it as a buffer is how people miss the actual 60-day visa application deadline.

Medical practitioners get a shortcut

If you have full or unconditional general medical registration, or conditional specialist registration, with AHPRA? via the Medical Board of Australia, that registration is your skills assessment?. You do not need a separate body to assess you.

Legal practitioners get a different shortcut

If you have been admitted to practice as a lawyer in an Australian state or territory by the Supreme Court, that admission is your skills assessment?. The pre-admission qualifications assessment by the state's Legal Admissions Board is the de facto? skills check.

The letter is what gets uploaded

A “Skills Assessment? Outcome Letter” or “Letter of Assessment” or “Migration Skills Assessment? Outcome” depending on the body. That document is what attaches to your visa application. Hold onto the original PDF.

Healthcare.

This is the most fragmented sector. Every regulated health profession has its own assessing body, and many also require separate AHPRA? registration on top.

Engineering.

Engineers Australia? is the dominant body. Three smaller bodies handle quantity surveying, surveying, and architecture.

Information & Communications Technology.

Single body covering every ICT occupation. The Australian Computer Society (ACS?) handles software engineers, developers, analysts, network engineers, DBAs, security specialists, ICT project managers. All of it.

Accounting & Finance.

This is the one occupation family where you genuinely choose. All three bodies are equally acceptable to IMMI?. Pick the one whose fee and processing time fits, then commit.

Education.

Teachers go through AITSL. University lecturers and vocational education teachers route through VETASSESS?.

Trades.

This is where the choice gets messy. Most trades go through VETASSESS?. Licensed trades (electricians, plumbers, RAC mechanics) can route through VETASSESS? or TRA? depending on country and qualification path.

The VETASSESS Professional Catch-All.

For any professional occupation not covered by a specialist body above, VETASSESS? is the assessing authority. They cover 361 different professional occupations. If you cannot find a specialist body for your occupation elsewhere in this map, VETASSESS? is almost certainly your assessor.

Aviation, Language, Legal & Senior Management.

Specialist bodies for the rest. CASA has the lowest fee in the system ($100). NAATI? also doubles as the source of the 5-point Credentialled Community Language migration bonus.

Duties do not match the ANZSCO definition

Every assessor compares your employment reference letter, sentence by sentence, to the ANZSCO? task list for the nominated occupation. Job titles do not matter. Tasks do. If you held the title “Business Analyst” but your duties were 70% project management, the assessor may decide you do not match Business Analyst and may suggest Project Manager instead. By that time you have lost a year.

The employment reference letter is missing fields

Bodies want full duties, employment dates, hours per week, salary, signatory's job title, company letterhead, the signatory's contact details, and a signature. Missing any one of these and the letter does not count. Get the letter once, get all of it.

Wrong occupation chosen

Migration agents sometimes pick the closest-fit ANZSCO? when there is no perfect match. Closest fit is not the same as actually matching. If the duties are off by 30%, the assessment fails. Pick the occupation that genuinely describes what you do, even if it has a smaller invitation pool.

Pre-qualification experience does not count

Most bodies count work experience only after you completed the relevant qualification. Three years of work in your field before you graduated does not usually count. Two years after graduating does. People discover this two months into preparing their application.

Qualification not closely related to the occupation

A commerce graduate who has worked five years as an ICT Business Analyst will often be told their commerce degree is not closely related to ICT. Some bodies will accept the work history as compensating; many will not. ACS? has an entire pathway (Recognition of Prior Learning) for exactly this situation.

Documents are inconsistent

Your CV says you worked at Company A from 2018 to 2022. Your tax returns show 2019 to 2021. Your reference letter says 2018 to 2023. The assessor sees three different timelines and rejects the experience. Reconcile everything before submitting.

Country-specific verification

VETASSESS? conducts additional verification for qualifications from China, the Philippines, Lebanon, and parts of Europe. ANMAC? has different rules depending on whether your nursing degree came from a recognised country. ACS? flags qualifications without a clear completion date. These are not rare cases; they are routine.

English requirement missed

Most bodies want IELTS 7.0 in each band for the skills assessment? itself, separate from the visa's English requirement. Below that, the assessment is deemed not suitable.

ACS? is the assessor. The B.Tech is widely recognised. ACS? commonly assesses Indian engineering and computer science degrees through their standard pathway. Application fee around $550, processing around 6 to 8 weeks. The applicant should nominate the ANZSCO? that matches their actual duties most closely (Software Engineer 261313, Developer Programmer 261312, or Analyst Programmer 261311), and can nominate up to three codes in one application for the same fee.

ANMAC? is the skills assessor. The UK is on ANMAC?'s recognised country list for the Full Skills Assessment? pathway. Application fee around $595, processing 6 to 8 weeks. The nurse will separately need AHPRA? registration through the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia to legally work, which is a different process with its own fee.

Engineers Australia?. Pakistan is a Washington Accord signatory, so the Accord pathway applies and the CDR? is not needed. Faster and cheaper than the CDR? route. Application fee depends on whether additional services like skilled employment assessment are added.

Pick one of CPA Australia, CA ANZ, or IPA. The Bachelor is from an accredited Australian institution, so the qualification check is straightforward. CA ANZ tends to be fastest at 15 to 20 business days. CPA is the most common choice in the accounting profession. None of the three has a structural advantage with IMMI?.

VETASSESS? Trades, Chef pathway 1 (no formal qualification). Pathway 1 requires 6 years of employment without formal training, of which 12 months must be in the last 3 years. From 1 January 2026, the application must also include an LLND assessment. The chef will likely need to budget for both VETASSESS? fees and LLND fees, plus translated documents for any Tagalog-language employment records.

How do I find out which body assesses my occupation?

Look up the IMMI? “Specified Assessing Authorities” page or check the occupation in the skilled occupation list for your visa. Each occupation lists its nominated assessing authority. If your occupation is not assigned to a specialist body (medical, ICT, engineering, etc.), it almost certainly routes to VETASSESS?. Use the IMMI? list as the legally binding source if anything else conflicts.

Can I use whichever body I want?

No, unless you are an accountant. Home Affairs nominates a specific assessing authority for each occupation, and using the wrong one makes your application invalid. The exceptions are accountants (three bodies to choose from), some licensed trades (VETASSESS? or TRA? depending on country and qualification path), and medical and legal practitioners who use registration or admission instead of a third-party assessment.

How long does an Australian skills assessment take?

Posted processing times range from under a week (some pathways) to 16 weeks or more (CDR? with Engineers Australia?, complex AASW applications). Most professional assessments fall in the 6 to 12 week range when documents are complete. The honest end-to-end timeline for a first application is 3 to 4 months once requests for further information are factored in.

How much does a skills assessment cost?

Fees range from around $100 (CASA pilot assessment) to $7,585 per attempt (OCANZ optometrist clinical exam). Most professional skills assessments cost between $500 and $1,700. Trade pathways vary widely based on whether documentary assessment or workplace assessment is required. Always check fees on the assessing body's website directly because most update annually.

How long is a skills assessment valid?

The default is three years from issue date, but some bodies stamp shorter validity (ACS? has historically issued two-year letters; AITSL is two years). The expiry on the letter itself overrides the default rule. Read the validity field on your letter when you receive it, and calendar the expiry.

Can I get the skills assessment after I receive the visa invitation?

Yes, under the Thapa decision?. The Federal Circuit Court held in 2021 that the 60-day invitation window counts as “the time of invitation,” so a skills assessment? obtained inside that window is accepted. Departmental policy adopted this. Migration agents still recommend getting the assessment before lodging the EOI?, because relying on the 60-day window puts the visa application deadline at risk.

Do medical practitioners need a separate skills assessment?

No. Full or unconditional general medical registration, or conditional specialist registration, with AHPRA? via the Medical Board of Australia counts as the skills assessment?. No separate body assessment is needed. The same exemption applies to a few other AHPRA?-regulated practitioners (chiropractors, osteopaths, Chinese medicine practitioners, podiatrists).

My job duties do not exactly match the ANZSCO description. Is that a problem?

Probably yes. Assessors compare your employment reference letter line by line against the ANZSCO? duties for your nominated occupation. If the duties do not match, the assessment can be refused or downgraded. Choose the occupation that genuinely describes what you do, even if a closest-fit alternative looks more attractive on the points side.