The 2020 – 2021 Occupations Ceilings have been released by the Australian department of immigration which is positive news as there are finally clear guidelines to support the number of visa invitation being offered which will hopefully increase the number of visa invitations offered in recent months.
An ‘occupation ceiling’ may be applied to invitations issued under the independent, skilled regional (provisional) visas. This means there will be a limit on how many EOIs can be invited for skilled migration from an occupation group under these visa classes. Occupation ceilings do not apply to State or Territory Nominated, Business Innovation or Employer-Sponsored and Investment visa subclasses.
The intent behind this approach is that it ensures that the skilled migration program is not dominated by a small number of occupations. Once this limit is reached, no further invitations for that particular occupation group will be issued for that program year with invitations being allocated to migrants in other occupation groups even if they are lower points ranking
As we are still fresh into the 2020 – 2021 Migration year, you probably won’t need to worry too much about the number of places available, however as we have seen in previous years, after a number of months, certain occupations do begin to near their ceilings resulting in a limited number of invitations being offered for the remainder of that financial year which may limit the chances of individuals who chose to wait before registering an Expression Of Interest. (EOI).
The table below shows the occupation ceilings for the 2020-2021 program year for each occupation on the list of eligible skilled occupations by four-digit ANZSCO code unit group.
Occupation ceiling values are based on a percentage of stock employment figures for each occupation. Employment figures are provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and represent the number of people employed in Australia in each occupation.
Australian Occupation ceilings – 2020-21 program year
| Occupation ID | Description | Occupation Ceiling Value 2020-21 | Invitations to 14/07/2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1331 | Construction Managers | 7,145 | |
| 1332 | Engineering Managers | 1,474 | |
| 1341 | Child Care Centre Managers | 1,000 | |
| 1342 | Health and Welfare Services Managers | 1,666 | |
| 1399 | Other Specialist Managers | 4,188 | |
| 2111 | Actors, Dancers and Other Entertainers | 1,000 | |
| 2112 | Music Professionals | 1,000 | |
| 2121 | Artistic Directors, and Media Producers and Presenters | 1,000 | |
| 2211 | Accountants* | 1,000 | |
| 2212 | Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers* | 1,619 | |
| 2241 | Actuaries, Mathematicians and Statisticians | 1,000 | |
| 2243 | Economists | 1,000 | |
| 2245 | Land Economists and Valuers | 1,000 | |
| 2247 | Management consultant | 4,526 | |
| 2321 | Architects and Landscape Architects | 1,452 | |
| 2322 | Cartographers and Surveyors | 1,000 | |
| 2331 | Chemical and Materials Engineers | 1,000 | 65 |
| 2332 | Civil Engineering Professionals | 3,919 | 141 |
| 2333 | Electrical Engineers | 1,348 | 98 |
| 2334 | Electronics Engineers* | 1,000 | <20 |
| 2335 | Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers* | 2,682 | 48 |
| 2336 | Mining Engineers | 1,000 | 20 |
| 2339 | Other Engineering Professionals* | 1,000 | <20 |
| 2341 | Agricultural and Forestry Scientists | 1,000 | <20 |
| 2342 | Chemists, and Food and Wine Scientists | 1,000 | <20 |
| 2343 | Environmental Scientists | 1,295 | |
| 2344 | Geologists, Geophysicists and Hydrogeologists | 1,000 | |
| 2345 | Life Scientists | 1,000 | <20 |
| 2346 | Medical Laboratory Scientists | 1,536 | |
| 2347 | Veterinarians | 1,000 | |
| 2349 | Other Natural and Physical Science Professionals | 1,056 | |
| 2411 | Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teachers | 3,321 | |
| 2414 | Secondary School Teachers | 8,716 | |
| 2415 | Special Education Teachers | 1,721 | |
| 2421 | University Lecturers and Tutors | 5,042 | |
| 2512 | Medical Imaging Professionals | 1,161 | <20 |
| 2514 | Optometrists and Orthoptists | 1,000 | |
| 2519 | Other Health Diagnostic and Promotion Professionals | 1,000 | |
| 2521 | Chiropractors and Osteopaths | 1,000 | |
| 2524 | Occupational Therapists | 1,461 | <20 |
| 2525 | Physiotherapists | 1,685 | <20 |
| 2526 | Podiatrists | 1,000 | |
| 2527 | Speech Professionals and Audiologists | 1,000 | |
| 2531 | General Practitioners and Resident Medical officers | 4,257 | <20 |
| 2533 | Internal Medicine Specialists | 1,000 | <20 |
| 2534 | Psychiatrists | 1,000 | |
| 2535 | Surgeons | 1,000 | |
| 2539 | Other Medical Practitioners | 1,168 | <20 |
| 2541 | Midwives | 1,333 | <20 |
| 2544 | Registered Nurses | 17,859 | 40 |
| 2611 | ICT Business and Systems Analysts* | 2,273 | |
| 2612 | Multimedia Specialists and Web Developers | 1,000 | |
| 2613 | Software and Applications Programmers* | 8,405 | |
| 2621 | Database and Systems Administrators and ICT Security Specialists | 2,667 | |
| 2631 | Computer Network Professionals* | 2,245 | |
| 2633 | Telecommunications Engineering Professionals | 1,000 | 76 |
| 2711 | Barristers | 1,000 | |
| 2713 | Solicitors | 4,535 | |
| 2723 | Psychologists | 1,545 | <20 |
| 2725 | Social Workers | 1,862 | |
| 3122 | Civil Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians | 1,000 | <20 |
| 3123 | Electrical Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians | 1,000 | <20 |
| 3132 | Telecommunications Technical Specialists | 1,000 | <20 |
| 3211 | Automotive Electricians | 1,000 | |
| 3212 | Motor Mechanics | 5,205 | |
| 3222 | Sheetmetal Trades Workers | 1,000 | |
| 3223 | Structural Steel and Welding Trades Workers | 4,866 | |
| 3232 | Metal Fitters and Machinists | 6,335 | |
| 3233 | Precision Metal Trades Workers | 1,000 | |
| 3241 | Panelbeaters | 1,000 | |
| 3311 | Bricklayers and Stonemasons | 1,712 | |
| 3312 | Carpenters and Joiners | 6,812 | |
| 3322 | Painting Trades Workers | 3,303 | |
| 3331 | Glaziers | 1,000 | |
| 3332 | Plasterers | 1,452 | |
| 3334 | Wall and Floor Tilers | 1,000 | |
| 3341 | Plumbers | 5,861 | |
| 3411 | Electricians | 8,021 | |
| 3421 | Airconditioning and Refrigeration Mechanics | 1,581 | |
| 3422 | Electrical Distribution Trades Workers | 1,000 | |
| 3423 | Electronics Trades Workers | 2,047 | |
| 3513 | Chefs | 2,256 | |
| 3611 | Animal Attendants and Trainers | 1,239 | |
| 3941 | Cabinetmakers | 1,694 | |
| 3991 | Boat Builders and Shipwrights | 1,000 | |
| 4523 | Sports Coaches, Instructors and Officials | 1,262 | |
| 4524 | Sportspersons | 1,000 |
*Occupations that are subject to pro-rata arrangements. For Accountants (2211) the occupational ceiling also reflects volumes in other skilled visa categories.
What do you think?
Do you see your occupation and are the ceiling aligned with what you were thinking? Let us know in our comments below.
