On 02 September 2020, the Australian Government had announced the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List to give priority to 17 occupations for Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa and other work visa applications, including Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa, Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) visa. The occupation of Social Worker (ANZSCO – 272511) has been added as the 18th occupation to this list based on advice from the National Skills Commission.
The 18 priority occupations on the list are as follows:
- Chief Executive or Managing Director (ANZSCO – 111111)
- Construction Project Manager (ANZSCO – 133111)
- Developer Programmer (ANZSCO – 261312)
- General Practitioner (ANZSCO – 253111)
- Maintenance Planner (ANZSCO – 312911)
- Mechanical Engineer (ANZSCO – 233512)
- Medical Practitioner nec (ANZSCO – 253999)
- Midwife (ANZSCO – 254111)
- Psychiatrist (ANZSCO – 253411)
- Registered Nurse (Aged Care) (ANZSCO – 254412)
- Registered Nurse (Critical Care and Emergency) (ANZSCO – 254415)
- Registered Nurse (Medical) (ANZSCO – 254418)
- Registered Nurse (Mental Health) (ANZSCO – 254422)
- Registered Nurse (Perioperative) (ANZSCO – 254423)
- Registered Nurses nec (ANZSCO – 254499)
- Resident Medical Officer (ANZSCO – 253112)
- Social Worker (ANZSCO – 272511)
- Software Engineer (ANZSCO – 261313)
Temporary visa holders working in these occupations, who were ineligible to travel to Australia amid Covid restrictions, are now eligible to travel as long as they obtain a travel exemption from the Australian Border Force (ABF) prior to travelling to Australia.
