Is there scope in Australia for occupations like teacher, accountant, engineer, or someone with a software or IT background? What are the salary packages like, and which states should you move to for that occupation?
Jobs and Skills Australia is an Australian government body that demand after the labor market and reports on which occupations are in shortage. This information matters both for you and for the Australian government, since it heavily relies on data and reports released by Jobs and Skills Australia to decide which occupations to prioritize for visas.
What The Jobs And Skills Australia Website Shows
The Jobs and Skills Australia website is the official Australian government source, and it includes the latest news, employment projection data, the Internet Vacancy Index, occupation and industry profiles, research, and more. In this article we’re focusing on the occupation shortage list. There are several hundred occupations listed under the ANZSCO classification, and we’re looking at the latest update. Since we can’t cover every occupation here, we’ll walk through how to search, sort, and filter, and explain what the table actually shows.
Understanding The Shortage Table
The table lists the ANZSCO code, the occupation, and a column for Australia overall plus each individual state and territory: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory, and the ACT. A shortage rating means employers are unable to fill, or have considerable difficulty filling, vacancies for that occupation, and this can show up as a metropolitan shortage or a regional shortage. NS means no shortage.
Teacher Occupation Data
If you’re a teacher looking for data on your occupation, you can simply search for it. The list breaks teaching down into several categories, including art teacher, dance teacher, early childhood teacher, primary school teacher, and secondary school teacher, and shortages show up for these across every state. Because of that, teaching is considered a shortage occupation overall in Australia, which is part of why there’s strong demand for teachers. In the most recent invitation round for subclass 189, teachers reportedly received permanent residency at points as low as 80 to 85, which reflects that same shortage.
Nurse Occupation Data
Nursing shows a similar pattern. The list covers roles like enrolled nurse, nurse educator, nurse manager, nurse practitioner, and registered nurse, including areas like aged care and mental health, and nearly all of them carry a shortage rating across the states. That’s another reason nurses reportedly received Australian permanent residency at similarly low points, around 80, in the last subclass 189 invitation round. Even for subclass 190 or 491, states tend to nominate nurses and teachers relatively easily because of these ongoing shortages.
Accountant Occupation Data
Accountants are a different story. There’s no shortage of accountants in any state, with the exception of taxation accountants specifically. Because of that, it’s typically harder for people with an accounting background to get subclass 189, since they often need points somewhere above 95, which is difficult to reach. That doesn’t mean accountants can’t get permanent residency at all, since there are other pathways, but the path is noticeably tougher than it is for shortage occupations. If you’re a taxation accountant specifically, the shortage rating may improve your chances.
Engineer Occupation Data
Engineering covers a wide range too, including agricultural engineer, biomedical engineer, chemical engineer, and civil engineer. Civil engineering shows a shortage rating across every state, making it one of the more in-demand occupations in Australia. If you’re a civil engineer, that puts you in a fairly strong position. The broader point is that you can search for your own occupation in this table to see which state suits you best and whether there’s real demand for it. This isn’t limited to office-based roles either. Trade occupations like plumbing show shortages across the country too, which is part of why trades such as plumbers, electricians, and bricklayers tend to get PR more easily. Beyond the shortage list, Jobs and Skills Australia also offers detailed occupation and industry profiles.
Exploring Occupation And Industry Profiles
Under the data section, you can explore by industry or by occupation. For accountants, the site reports a median weekly earning of $1,841. For truck drivers, it shows roughly 148,400 people employed in the role, with a median weekly earning of $1,780.
Median Weekly Earnings By Occupation
Civil engineers show a median weekly earning of $1,738 according to the same data. Teachers vary by specialization: private tutors sit around $1,876, primary school teachers around $2,000, and special education teachers around $2,153. Solicitors come in at roughly $1,828. These figures obviously shift depending on the exact occupation, but overall this site is one of the more useful, thorough resources for understanding the Australian labor market. If you’re weighing up an occupation, a state, or a PR pathway, it’s worth spending time on the Jobs and Skills Australia website directly.
