VJ Consulting and Education works with skilled migrants across a wide range of occupations, and the patterns we see on the ground closely reflect what Australia's official shortage lists and state nomination data reveal.
Are nurses in demand in Australia?
Yes — nursing is one of the most consistently shortage-listed occupations in Australia, and this is not a recent development. Registered Nurses, Enrolled Nurses, and a range of specialist nursing roles appear on both the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) and Skills in Demand visa frameworks, reflecting a structural gap between domestic training output and healthcare sector demand.
The demand is not evenly distributed. Regional and rural areas face the most acute shortages, which means nurses willing to work outside major metropolitan centres have access to additional migration pathways, including the 491 visa for skilled regional migration. Metropolitan hospitals also face shortages — particularly in aged care, critical care, emergency nursing, and mental health — but state nomination competition in these areas is higher.
For migration purposes, the key gateway is AHPRA registration. Nurses educated outside Australia must demonstrate that their qualifications meet the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia standards. This process can take several months and is entirely separate from the visa application itself. Many applicants underestimate how long AHPRA assessment takes and begin their visa preparation before the professional registration is confirmed — a sequencing error that can delay the entire plan.
On the visa side, nurses have genuine optionality. Employer-sponsored pathways via the 482 visa are common, particularly in aged care and private hospitals with established sponsorship frameworks. The points-tested stream (189 or 190 via the skills assessment pathway through ANMAC) is also viable for nurses who meet the points threshold. In practice, nurses with regional hospital offers or aged care sponsorship often find the employer-sponsored route faster and lower-risk than waiting on competitive EOI rounds.
Are engineers in demand in Australia?
Yes, but the demand is highly discipline-specific — treating 'engineering' as a single labour market is the most common analytical error prospective applicants make. Civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers are in genuine shortage, driven by sustained infrastructure investment across transport, renewable energy, and housing. Software engineers sit at the intersection of engineering and IT demand, and their outlook is discussed separately under the IT section. In VJCE's experience handling engineering applications, discipline alignment with the nominated ANZSCO code and state-specific demand is one of the most common sticking points — engineers with civil, structural, or electrical backgrounds tend to have noticeably clearer pathways than those in more generalist roles.
The skills assessment pathway for engineers runs primarily through Engineers Australia (EA) for most engineering disciplines, or VETASSESS for technician-level roles. EA assessments are known to be rigorous, particularly regarding the requirement that qualifications meet Washington Accord or equivalent standards. Applicants with degrees from non-accredited institutions face a more complex assessment process and should not assume approval.
For migration, engineers in shortage disciplines who can achieve 85 pointsAs of current · homeaffairs.gov.au or higher are competitive in the points-tested stream. The 189 visa remains the most portable outcome — no state obligation, no employer tie — but invitation cutoffs have been high and invitation rounds irregular. The 190 visa via state nomination is worth evaluating: several states, including South Australia and Western Australia, have actively nominated engineers in infrastructure-related ANZSCO codes.
Engineers with employer offers should look closely at the 482 visa and the Employer Nomination Scheme (186 visa) as a more predictable pathway. In practice, an engineer who secures a sponsored role with a Labour Agreement or standard sponsorship eliminates the EOI lottery risk entirely. The trade-off is geographic and employer flexibility during the two-year work obligation.
Are chefs still in demand in Australia?
Yes, chefs remain in demand — but the nature of that demand has shifted in ways that matter for migration purposes. The acute post-pandemic labour shortage in hospitality pushed chef roles firmly onto Australia's shortage occupation lists, and Cook (ANZSCO 351411) and Chef (ANZSCO 351311) have remained on the Core Skills Occupation List, which governs employer-sponsored pathways under the Skills in Demand visa framework.
However, the qualifying conditions for chef sponsorship are meaningful. Employers must demonstrate they are genuine hospitality businesses, and applicants must show trade-level qualifications — typically a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery or an equivalent international qualification assessed by the relevant authority. Casual or fast-food cooking experience does not generally meet the skills threshold. Many applications in this category are scrutinised for whether the role constitutes a genuine skilled chef position rather than a general kitchen hand role.
The practical pathway for most internationally-trained chefs is employer sponsorship via the 482 visa. Points-tested pathways exist — chefs can pursue a skills assessment through TRA (Trades Recognition Australia) — but invitation rounds for this occupation in the points-tested stream have been inconsistent. Regional Australia remains the stronger access point: regional employers in tourism-heavy areas (Far North Queensland, the Whitsundays, wine regions in South Australia and Western Australia) have active sponsorship pipelines for qualified chefs.
For chefs already in Australia on working holiday or student visas, the practical advice is to secure employer sponsorship early rather than accumulate experience and pursue points. The employer relationship is the bottleneck, not qualification recognition.
Are electricians in demand in Australia?
Yes — electricians are among the most consistently in-demand trade occupations in Australia, and the structural drivers of that demand are strengthening rather than easing. The national transition to renewable energy infrastructure, combined with sustained residential construction activity and industrial project pipelines in Western Australia and Queensland, has created demand that domestic apprenticeship output cannot meet in the short to medium term.
Electricians sit on the Core Skills Occupation List (Electrician General, ANZSCO 341111), which means employer-sponsored pathways are open. Skills assessment for electrical trades runs through TRA, and state-by-state licensing requirements add an additional layer — an electrician licensed in one state is not automatically licensed in another. This is a detail many applicants overlook: visa approval does not equal the right to work on a specific state's electrical grid. Most states require applicants to sit a local licensing assessment, which may involve practical and written components.
For migration, the 482 visa with employer sponsorship is the primary route. Several state governments also actively prioritise electrical trade nominations under their 190 and 491 state nomination programs, recognising that the tradesperson shortage is a regional infrastructure constraint. Western Australia in particular has had periods of high nomination activity for electrical trades, particularly for electricians willing to work in the resources sector.
Applicants with both a TRA-approved skills assessment and a genuine employer offer are in a strong position. Those without an employer offer should focus on building one — recruitment agencies specialising in Australian trades are a common and effective channel.
Are teachers still in demand in Australia?
Yes, but the demand is subject-specific and state-specific in ways that significantly affect migration access. Teachers in mathematics, science, special education, and vocational education and training (VET) face the most documented shortages. Primary school teachers and generalist secondary teachers in metropolitan areas are less straightforwardly advantaged — demand exists, but state nomination competitiveness is higher and registration requirements vary.
Teacher registration is the critical gateway. Each state and territory has its own teacher regulatory authority (VIT in Victoria, NESA in New South Wales, QCT in Queensland, and so on), and registration requirements differ. Internationally-qualified teachers must demonstrate that their qualifications are comparable to an Australian teaching degree, and this assessment is conducted by the relevant state authority, not a central body. The process is not automatic and can take several months.
For migration, teachers appear on state nomination lists and the CSOL. The practical pathway depends heavily on which state a teacher is targeting and what subject they teach. In practice, a secondary mathematics teacher with a confirmed teaching position and state registration has a significantly smoother nomination pathway than a generalist primary teacher without a job offer. Several regional areas in Queensland, New South Wales, and Western Australia have specific shortfalls in secondary STEM teachers, and regional postings can strengthen both nomination and, ultimately, permanent residency applications.
Teachers considering Australia should prioritise qualification recognition and state registration assessment before spending significant time on visa pathway planning — the registration decision determines which pathways are viable.
Are childcare workers in demand in Australia?
Yes — childcare is a genuine and growing shortage sector in Australia, underpinned by government policy to expand access to early childhood education and care (ECEC) and a significant workforce gap that has developed over the past decade. Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teacher (ANZSCO 241111) and Child Carers (ANZSCO 42111x) appear in workforce planning data as shortage occupations, though the specific ANZSCO codes eligible for migration pathways differ. VJ Consulting advisors consistently find that childcare and early childhood education applicants benefit from addressing qualification recognition early in the process, as delays in this step are among the most common causes of avoidable setbacks in an otherwise strong application.
The critical distinction for migration purposes is between a qualified early childhood teacher — typically holding a four-year degree and eligible for state teacher registration — and a certificate-level childcare worker. The former has access to a wider set of skilled migration pathways, including points-tested visas. Certificate III and Diploma-level childcare workers can access employer-sponsored pathways under the 482 visa framework, but their points-tested eligibility is more limited depending on their specific ANZSCO classification.
Qualification recognition follows a similar pattern to teaching: it is state-regulated for early childhood teachers, and involves assessment against the Australian Qualifications Framework for certificate-level workers. ACECQA (Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority) provides an overseas qualification assessment service that is widely used by employers and migration agents to evaluate international childcare qualifications.
In practice, childcare workers who are already in Australia on other visa types — student visas, working holiday visas — and who have built experience in an Australian ECEC setting are well-placed to secure employer sponsorship. The combination of local experience, a formal qualification, and a willing employer is the most reliable route to a sponsored visa in this sector.
Are construction workers in demand in Australia?
Yes, with important nuance about which construction roles are eligible for skilled migration and which are not. Construction as an industry is in high demand — driven by government housing targets, major infrastructure projects, and resource sector construction in Queensland and Western Australia — but 'construction worker' covers a wide spectrum from labourers to licensed tradespeople, and only skilled trade-level roles sit within the skilled migration framework.
Occupations that have clear skilled migration pathways include plumbers, carpenters, bricklayers, concreters (at trade level), construction project managers, and building surveyors. General labourers and machine operators typically do not qualify for skilled visa categories. This distinction is fundamental: an applicant who has spent years on construction sites but in a labouring capacity, rather than a licensed trade capacity, will find the skilled migration pathway largely inaccessible.
For licensed tradespeople, TRA skills assessment is the starting point, followed by either employer sponsorship or a points-tested application. Construction project managers — a white-collar role within the construction sector — are assessed through AIPM or AIM, depending on their background, and often have a stronger points-tested profile. The current housing shortage has renewed policy interest in accelerating construction workforce migration, and several state governments have adjusted their nomination criteria to prioritise construction-related trades.
The practical advice for construction tradespeople is to obtain Australian state-based licensing recognition early — many trades require both a skills assessment and a state-specific licence to work legally. Visa approval and the ability to practise on site are separate processes.
Are IT professionals in demand in Australia?
Yes — IT professionals are in sustained demand, and the sector continues to attract significant migration interest. However, the occupational landscape has shifted over the past two years in ways that have significant implications for which IT roles have smooth migration pathways and which face unexpected obstacles. From the cases VJCE has processed, IT professionals who identify a specific in-demand specialisation — such as cybersecurity or cloud architecture — rather than applying under a broad 'ICT professional' category tend to present significantly stronger and more targeted visa profiles.
The Department of Home Affairs has refined the Skills in Demand visa (482 successor) occupation lists, and not all IT roles that were previously eligible remain automatically included. Software engineers, cybersecurity specialists, cloud infrastructure engineers, and data scientists are consistently represented. Generic 'ICT consultant' or 'ICT business analyst' roles face more scrutiny — both because the occupation list has tightened and because these roles sometimes lack the technical depth that assessors look for in a genuine skilled migration context.
Skills assessment for most IT roles runs through the Australian Computer Society (ACS). ACS assessments evaluate qualifications and experience against the relevant ANZSCO code. A common issue is that applicants with non-computing degrees — even those who have worked in IT for years — face a more challenging ACS assessment because their academic pathway does not directly align. ACS has specific rules about recognised degrees and ICT-related work experience that must be met.
For migration, IT professionals who meet the points threshold should prioritise EOI submission and monitor invitation round patterns. Applicants with employer offers have an additional option via the 482 visa. In practice, IT professionals working in Australia on a 485 graduate visa often find that converting to employer sponsorship through an existing employer is the most efficient path to permanent residency.
Which skilled worker is in demand in Australia?
The most reliable answer runs through three filters: occupation list inclusion, skills shortage evidence, and regional distribution of demand. Applying these three filters consistently identifies which occupations offer the best migration access at any given time.
Filter one — occupation list inclusion — determines whether a role is eligible for employer-sponsored or points-tested migration at all. The Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) and the Specialised Skills stream occupation coverage are the two primary gatekeeping mechanisms. If an occupation is not on these lists, employer sponsorship is unavailable regardless of how acute the labour shortage is.
Filter two — shortage evidence — matters because state nomination programs and priority processing are partly determined by documented workforce data. Occupations with strong shortage evidence in Infrastructure Australia reports, the National Skills Commission data, and state-level workforce plans are prioritised by state nomination programs. The occupations that consistently appear across all these sources include: Registered Nurses, Aged and Disability Carers (at certificate level for 482), Civil Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Software Engineers, Secondary School Teachers (STEM subjects), Electricians, Plumbers, Chefs, and Childcare Workers.
Filter three — regional demand — is the strategic differentiator. Many of the occupations listed above have stronger migration access in regional Australia than in major cities. The 491 visa is specifically designed for this, and applicants willing to live and work regionally for the required 3 yearsAs of current · homeaffairs.gov.au can access pathways to permanent residency via the 191 visa. For applicants flexible on location, regional demand opens doors that metropolitan-only job searching closes. The interaction between these three filters, not any single factor, determines where genuine migration opportunity lies.
Which IT job is in demand in Australia?
The IT roles with the strongest demand and clearest migration pathways cluster around software development, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and data engineering. Within those clusters, the specific role that sits at the intersection of high employer demand and migration pathway accessibility is Software Engineer (ANZSCO 261313) — it appears on shortage lists, has a well-established ACS assessment track, and attracts both employer sponsorship and points-tested invitations.
Cybersecurity specialists have seen demand accelerate significantly following major incidents across Australian critical infrastructure and increased government investment in cyber resilience programs. Roles including ICT Security Specialist (ANZSCO 262112) and Penetration Tester have strong employer demand, and the scarcity of qualified local candidates has translated into active sponsorship by enterprise and government contractors.
Cloud and DevOps engineers occupy a growing niche. The challenge for migration purposes is that ANZSCO codes were designed before many modern IT roles existed, which means cloud engineers and DevOps practitioners often assess under broader codes like ICT Systems Administrator or Software Engineer. The appropriateness of the code matters for ACS assessment, and applying under the wrong ANZSCO code — even with strong experience — can result in a negative assessment.
Data scientists and machine learning engineers are in demand, particularly in financial services, health technology, and logistics. These roles often assess under ICT Business Analyst or Software Engineer codes, depending on the nature of the work. Applicants in this space should obtain formal advice on ANZSCO code selection before lodging an ACS skills assessment, as this decision affects both the assessment outcome and the points-tested occupation ceiling. The current market also shows strong employer appetite for ERP and cloud implementation specialists, particularly those with Salesforce, SAP, or AWS credentials.
Next Step
Identifying that your occupation is in demand is the starting point, not the conclusion. The gap between 'this occupation is on the shortage list' and 'I have a viable visa pathway' involves skills assessment sequencing, ANZSCO code accuracy, state nomination timing, and employer sponsorship strategy — and errors at any stage can cost months. If you are working through these decisions and want an independent assessment of your specific occupation profile and visa options, VJ Consulting's migration practitioners can map your pathway against current occupation lists and invitation trends.
This article is intended as general guidance only and does not constitute legal or migration advice. Visa requirements, fees, and processing times change regularly — always verify details on the relevant authority's official website before making decisions. For advice specific to your circumstances, consider consulting a MARA-registered migration agent.
References
- Department of Home Affairs — Core Skills Occupation List and Skills in Demand visa framework: homeaffairs.gov.au
- Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) — Nursing and Midwifery registration requirements: ahpra.gov.au
- Engineers Australia — Skills assessment for engineers: engineersaustralia.org.au
- Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) — Skills assessment for trade occupations: tradesrecognitionaustralia.gov.au
- Australian Computer Society (ACS) — ICT skills assessment: acs.org.au
- ACECQA — Overseas qualification assessment for childcare: acecqa.gov.au
- Department of Employment and Workplace Relations — National Skills Commission workforce data: dewr.gov.au
Related reading
To see how in-demand status fits into the bigger occupational assessment picture, explore the Can My Occupation Work? stage; if you want to follow a specific career path, How to Migrate to Australia by Occupation: Nurses, Teachers, Tradespeople and More walks through the exact steps for nurses, teachers, tradespeople, and beyond.
