Skills demand for Registered Nurse (Aged Care)
Whether an occupation is in demand shapes almost everything else about a skilled application — which visas are realistic, how competitive an invitation round is likely to be, and whether a state has any reason to nominate you.
Jobs and Skills Australia records this occupation as in shortage. A shortage rating does not guarantee an invitation or a nomination; it tells you the labour-market conditions are working in your favour rather than against you.
Visa pathways for Registered Nurse (Aged Care)
Which visas are available to you depends on which of the government's skilled occupation lists your occupation appears on. The lists are not interchangeable, and being on one of them does not put you on the others.
This occupation appears on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, which is the list that opens the independent and state-nominated skilled visas as well as the regional pathway.
This occupation appears on the Core Skills Occupation List, which is the list used for the Skills in Demand visa's Core Skills stream.
This occupation also appears on the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List, which the Department uses to prioritise processing.
Skills assessment for Registered Nurse (Aged Care)
The skills assessment is the gate. An assessing authority, independent of the Department, must agree that your qualifications and experience match this occupation before anything else counts.
The authority sets and publishes its own fees. The pathways and charges below are taken from the authority's own fee schedule, and we check them against that source. Confirm the current figure with the authority before you apply — fees change, and the authority is the only source that can be relied on.
The points test and Registered Nurse (Aged Care)
There is one distinction in the points test that matters more than all the others, and it is the one most often got wrong.
Meeting the minimum lets you submit an Expression of Interest. It does not get you invited. The Department invites in rank order from the top down, which means the effective bar is whatever the strongest applicants in your occupation happen to score.
A published minimum for this occupation appears above. Read it as occupation-specific and round-specific — it is not a standing cut-off, and it changes between rounds.
For employers considering sponsorship, target employers in regional areas (Queensland, NSW regional, SA, WA) where aged care is a recognised priority occupation. These employers often receive government incentives to hire and sponsor overseas nurses. Building relationships with aged care facility managers during your 482 visa period significantly improves your chances of 186 sponsorship.
State and territory nomination
State and territory nomination is a separate process with its own rules. Each state publishes its own list and its own criteria, they change without much notice, and being nominated by one state does not help you with another. Check the nominating body directly.
How to apply, step by step
- Confirm the correct ANZSCO code for your occupation. Everything downstream depends on it, and an assessment obtained for the wrong code does not transfer.
- Obtain a positive skills assessment from the assessing authority for that occupation.
- Meet the English language requirement for the visa you are applying for.
- Lodge an Expression of Interest through SkillSelect, claiming only points you can evidence.
- If you are seeking state nomination, apply to the nominating body separately and on its terms.
- Wait to be invited. You cannot apply for the visa until an invitation is issued.
- Lodge the visa application within the period allowed by the invitation, with the evidence for every claim you made.