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When choosing a course of study, many students want to know what  careers would increase their chances of successfully applying for a permanent residency visa in Australia. The advice we give is often based on a list of occupations that are currently in high-demand in Australia, called the “Skilled Occupation List” (SOL). The Department of Immigration announced, however, that on the 30th April there will be major changes to the SOL – making it difficult for us to guess what professions the Department of Immigration will consider ‘in high demand’ in the future. But today, hints of information have started to appear…

Skills Australia is the organisation with the responsibility of preparing the new SOL. They have now released an official paper titled “Australian Workforce Futures – A National Workforce Development Strategy“. The ideas and statistics in the paper outline what will be taken into account in the preparation of the new Skilled Occupation List that is going to be released in April.

The paper recommends ‘a fundamental overhaul in the way the nation approaches and supports workforce development – at a national, industry and enterprise level.’ It lists industries and occupations projected to have the highest rate of employment until 2025. According to the paper (table 3, page 22), these industries – and their expected employment growth rates per annum – are:

• Storage: 6.5%
• Community services: 4.0%
• Services to finance and insurance: 3.7%
• Water transport: 3.0%
• Welfare associate professionals: 2.8%
• Scientific research, technical and computer services: 2.7%
• Carers and aides: 2.6%
• University and vocational teachers: 2.3%
• Computing professionals: 2.0%
• Process workers and elementary clerks: 1.9%

The paper also lists ‘Specialised Occupations’ (pages 83 & 84), which may be also indicative of the professional fields more likely to appear in the new SOL:

• Construction managers
• Engineering managers
• Child care centre managers
• Health and welfare services managers
• School principals
• Other education managers
• Accountants
• Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers
• Financial brokers
• Actuaries, mathematicians and statisticians
• Land economists and valuers
• Air transport professionals
• Marine transport professionals
• Architects and landscape architects
• Cartographers and surveyors
• Urban and regional planners
• Chemical and materials engineers
• Civil engineering professionals
• Electrical engineers
• Electronics engineers
• Industrial, mechanical and production engineers
• Mining engineers
• Other engineering professionals
• Agricultural and forestry scientists
• Medical laboratory scientists
• Veterinarians
• Teachers of English to speakers of other languages
• Early childhood (pre-primary school) teachers
• Registered nurses
• ICT business and systems analysts
• Software and applications programmers
• Telecommunications engineering professionals
• Barristers
• Judicial and other legal professionals
• Solicitors
• Psychologists
• Social workers
• Civil engineering draftspersons and technicians
• Telecommunications technical specialists
• Automotive electricians
• Motor mechanics
• Metal casting, forging and finishing trades workers
• Sheet metal trades workers
• Aircraft maintenance engineers
• Precision metal trades workers
• Panel beaters
• Vehicle painters
• Bricklayers and stonemasons
• Carpenters and joiners
• Floor finishers
• Painting trades workers
• Glaziers
• Plasterers
• Wall and floor tilers
• Plumbers
• Electricians
• Primary school teachers
• Middle school teachers
• Secondary school teachers
• Special education teachers
• University lecturers and tutors
• Dieticians
• Medical imaging professionals
• Optometrists and orthoptists
• Pharmacists
• Chiropractors and osteopaths
• Dental practitioners
• Occupational therapists
• Physiotherapists
• Podiatrists
• Speech professionals and audiologists
• Generalist medical practitioners
• Anaesthetists
• Internal medicine specialists
• Psychiatrists
• Surgeons
• Other medical practitioners
• Nurse educators and researchers
• Nurse managers
• Air-conditioning and refrigeration mechanics
• Electrical distribution trades workers
• Electronics trades workers
• Wood machinists and other wood trades workers
• Boat builders and shipwrights
• Sign writers
• Dental hygienists, technicians and therapists
• Enrolled and mothercraft nurses
• Indigenous health workers
• Aged and disabled carers
• Nursing support and personal care workers
• Fire and emergency workers
• Police

I’m afraid that this is all the information we have at the moment – I’m guessing that no more details will be forthcoming until the final SOL is actually released in April. This, however, does mean that the changes may not be as sweeping as we feared, and that our Superstudents can, indeed – and with some degree of confidence – choose courses and careers that may help with immigration matters in their future.

Further information about the paper can be found on the Skills Australia website.