New South Wales publishes its skills lists and relaxes its skilled employment definition for the 2024-25 skilled visa nomination program
NSW Skills List & NSW Regional Skills List
New South Wales’ 2024-25 NSW Skilled Migration Program reopened on 10 October 2024, with important updates which streamline its skilled nomination process and align its skilled nomination program to the NSW Government’s Priority Sectors of Construction (infrastructure and housing), Renewables (net zero and clean energy), Care Economy (aged care and disability services, early childhood education and care sectors), Digital and Cyber (across all sectors), Education (teachers), Agriculture and Agrifood and Advanced Manufacturing.
In particular, the New South Wales Government has now published respective skills lists for the Skilled Nominated (Subclass 190) visa and the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (Subclass 491) visa, reflecting skills in high demand across the state.
To be eligible for NSW skilled nomination for the Skilled Nominated (Subclass 190) visa, your occupation must fall within an ANZSCO Unit Group identified on the NSW Skills List and be available for the Subclass 190 visa, amongst other requirements.
To be eligible for NSW skilled nomination for the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) (Subclass 491) visa, your occupation must fall within an ANZSCO Unit Group identified in the NSW Regional Skills List and be available for the Subclass 491 visa, amongst other requirements.
NSW’s updated skilled employment criteria
As previously discussed in our guide to claiming skilled employment for general skilled migration purposes, each state or territory government may have its own comprehensive list of requirements for different types of skilled employment which they may be interested in for skilled visa nomination, in addition to their requirements on how much skilled employment candidates can claim in their Expression of Interest (EOI). In particular, the New South Wales Government was previously the only state or territory government which expressly excluded skilled employment gained before the deemed skilled date from being claimed, stating that for the purpose of NSW nomination, you may only claim skilled employment from:
Skills Assessor's Date: The date your skills assessor officially recognises you as skilled, provided this date is explicitly stated on your skills assessment.
Qualifying Study Completion Date: If your skills assessor does not specify this date, you may only claim skilled employment from the date you completed your qualifying study.
In this regard, the NSW Government had previously further warned that if you have claimed employment in your Expression of Interest (EOI) prior to meeting the above criteria including the Skills Assessor’s Date (i.e. the deemed skilled date), you are not eligible to accept an invitation to apply for NSW nomination, and that no exceptions will be made to this unique NSW requirement.
Nonetheless, with the reopening of NSW’s skilled visa nomination program for the 2024-25 program year, the NSW Government’s website currently states that they have simplified their approach to skilled employment for the 2024-25 Program, removing previous restrictions on what employment can be claimed in your EOI, and expressly confirming that the NSW Government now adopts the Home Affairs definition of skilled employment:
Excerpt from the NSW Government’s Common questions about skilled visas page.
Our immigration lawyers at Inclusive Migration have extensive experience in advising prospective migrants to Australia about their skilled migration options in Australia. Should you wish to discuss your eligibility for migration to Australia through general skilled migration pathways, please email info@inclusivemigration.com.au or submit an enquiry using the contact form on our website.
