Finally! Australia’s skilled migration warms up for the new financial year! And these occupations remain rock-solid for jobs and migration — the priority of priorities!
That said, however high the priority, it still can’t match the priority level given to the medical field. For example, this financial year’s invitations for the very limited Subclass 189 and family-stream Subclass 491 still gave the medical field the green light across the board. State nomination goes without saying, medical and nursing occupations are a fixture on almost every list, and some aren’t just a fixture — they get direct priority invitations too.
Nursing (Registered Nurse) topped the list, with 658 EOIs issued.
Medical Laboratory Scientists came in second, with 261 EOIs issued, second only to nursing.
Veterinarians also had 41 EOIs issued
— and while many occupations received zero invitations at all, medical occupations have consistently punched well above their weight!
So, with the new financial year almost here, let’s take stock of the study pathways, employment and future prospects for these three occupations.We hope this helps everyone with their future decisions.
#Nursing
nursing
Nursing should be a familiar occupation to everyone — it was already on Australia’s shortage occupation list. Under the impact of the pandemic, several nursing-related occupations also appeared on the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL). This occupation is seen as one that can help Australia gradually recover from the effects of the pandemic.
This financial year, nursing students have been the biggest winners — not only did they receive the most EOI invitations under Subclass 189 skilled independent migration, but they’ve also been given preferential treatment under state nomination across various states.
And even while travel restrictions have been in place, nursing students and other medical students still have the chance to apply for a travel exemption.
According to Payscale data, the average salary for nursing is AUD 64,871 per year, with even higher pay for those rostered onto night shifts.
In Australia, nurses can broadly be divided into two types: enrolled nurses and registered nurses. The two roles have different responsibilities — enrolled nurses only need a vocational education qualification and handle basic nursing duties.Whereas registered nurses require a higher education qualification and enjoy better pay and career prospects. This article mainly focuses on registered nurses.
Career pathways: public and private hospitals, GP clinics, aged care facilities, community nursing, emergency departments and more. With accumulated work experience, nurses can also move up into management roles.
Skills assessment
Both enrolled nurses and registered nurses can migrate to Australia, but it’s harder for enrolled nurses, so we’ll focus mainly on registered nurses.
The assessing authority is the Australian Nursing & Midwifery AccreditationCouncil (ANMAC)To obtain a full skills assessment, applicants need to complete a bachelor’s degree or higher that is highly relevant to nursing, and meet the English test score requirements.
Recognised English tests:
IELTS four 7s
PTE Academic four 65s
OET four Bs.
Below we take a detailed look at two accredited programmes
Charles Darwin University
Located on the Casuarina campus, with Semester 1 intake only (most nursing programmes generally only take Semester 1 intakes)
The programme includes 800 hours of clinical placement, completed over the 2-year duration.
Academic requirements: any undergraduate discipline, with no specific medical background required.
English requirements: IELTS four 7s, PTE four 65s, or equivalent
Tuition: AUD 32,850.4/year
The Northern Territory government offers preferential treatment to international graduates of the territory, and the clinical placements built into the nursing programme will also be a big help when it comes to future job hunting.Living costs in the Northern Territory offer excellent value, and places on the nursing programme are limited, so interested students should apply early.
University of Canberra
Bachelor of Nursing, 3-year undergraduate degree
The campus is located in Bruce, Canberra
There are two intakes per year — not only February but also July (this is quite rare, as most programmes only take a February intake)
The programme requires multiple relevant clinical placements to be completed.
English requirements
IELTS four 7s, PTE four 65s or equivalent
Tuition AUD 31,000/year
Canberra (the ACT) has confirmed its state nomination places will grow to 2,000 for the next financial year, continuing the migrant-friendly stance it has held in recent years — a big advantage for future migration. Canberra is also convenient, with everything you need close at hand, and it’s not far from Sydney either, so it’s well worth considering. Get in touch with me for a detailed assessment!
#Medical Laboratory Scientists
Medical lab scientists
Medical Laboratory Scientists, often shortened to medical lab scientists, have received strong support from the Department of Home Affairs this financial year.
These scientists gain expertise inclinical chemistry, endocrinology, haematology, transfusion science, histopathology, medical microbiology, human molecular biology and immunology and other disciplines.
This isn’t hard to understand — in the fight against infectious disease and the pandemic, professional laboratory testing staff are extremely important.They use modern technology to test samples and provide the key data and results needed to make accurate judgements, ultimately helping to diagnose and treat disease. It’s also through this pandemic that the government has come to understand how important and in-demand this occupation is, and it will keep receiving strong support for some time to come.
Data from Payscale shows that the average salary for medical lab scientists is AUD 66,520 per year, with annual salary rising steadily as years of experience increase.
Career pathways: hospital clinical and pathology laboratories, private pathology services, transfusion services, veterinary pathology laboratories and public health laboratories.Other areas of employment are in universities and research teams, doing research work.
Skills assessment
For students interested in this field, we recommend enrolling in a programme accredited by the assessing authority, the Australian Instituteof Medical Scientists (AIMS).
That’s because graduates of an accredited programme for this occupation are exempt from the written exam component of the skills assessment.They only need to pass an English test on top of that to complete the skills assessment.
Accepted English tests:
IELTS (four 7s)
TOEFL (95)
PTE (four 65s)
OET (four Bs)
Below we take a detailed look at two accredited programmes.
University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Master of Laboratory Medicine, 2-year postgraduate degree
Campus located in Launceston, with intake in Semester 2 only (that is, July each year) — applicants need to pay close attention to this.
This programme requires a degree of relevant undergraduate background.
Applicants need to have successfully completed an undergraduate degree in biochemistry, or medicine, health science, science, or another related field, with an average grade of Credit.
Language requirements: IELTS four 6.5s or PTE four 58s
Key point: students must choose the Professional Experience Sequence during their studies in order to pass the skills assessment.
Tuition AUD 37,950/year
Tasmania’s favourable migration policies have attracted many international students to study and settle here. Although competition is now fairly intense, local university graduates and medical/nursing occupations are given priority invitations. Students with some medical-related undergraduate background could consider this programme, which offers fairly solid job prospects down the track.
University of South Australia (UniSA)
Bachelor of Laboratory Medicine (Honours)
Intake in February each year
Admission requirements for this programme are
an ATAR of 80 or equivalent, along with some background in physics, chemistry or biology.
Language requirements
IELTS four 6.5s or PTE four 58s
Tuition AUD 35,900/year
South Australia has always welcomed international students and is keen to offer them more opportunities, with policies that give special consideration to local graduates and a range of exemptions on offer. The federal government has also approved South Australia’s plan to bring international students back, so we’d recommend students consider studying this programme in South Australia.
If any students are interested in programmes at other universities, please feel free to get in touch with us too.
#Veterinary Science
VET
On 11 May 2021, the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) added veterinarians.Veterinary science is a fairly niche field. In Australia, where animals outnumber people, the profession still has a promising future.
As a niche occupation, several dozen independent skilled migration EOIs were still issued before the end of the financial year.
According to Payscale data, the average salary reaches AUD 67,533 per year, and annual salary rises substantially each year on the job.
Below we introduce an accredited programme
James Cook University
Bachelor of Veterinary Science, 5-year programme
Tuition AUD 59,200/year (relatively low for a veterinary science programme)
Students interested in veterinary science are also welcome to contact us for a one-on-one, tailor-made study plan.
With the new financial year almost here, Australian skilled migration has finally started to warm up. We’d boldly predict that medical and nursing occupations will remain the priority of priorities for some time yet, and will stay highly sought-after on the migration path. Students interested in any of the above occupations are welcome to message Newstars privately for a one-on-one consultation.
Featured short video!
Click the image to read more great articles
Major news! Accounting/auditing/multiple engineering disciplines/ICT occupations added to the shortage occupation list!
The ACT confirms 600 additional state nomination places for the new financial year! New travel exemption categories added — parents and other relatives can now apply!
A full explainer on the residency and income requirements for moving from Subclass 491 to Subclass 191.
IT and engineering professionals — here’s how to plan your migration for the new financial year!
One applicant got an offer in 2 weeks and a nomination in 3 months! The fast-track migration pathway!
Priority invitations continue into the new financial year, with fast processing open steadily all year round!
Migration news and Q&A group
Step 1: Press and hold to add our customer service
Step 2: After adding, please note:
Attention!Please verify that you are talking to a genuine Newstars consultant!
Study-abroad and migration consultations by region
↓↓ Tap to contact customer service ↓↓
Sydney
Melbourne
Canberra
Brisbane
Adelaide
Hobart
Beijing
Guangzhou
Scan the code to follow the Newstars WeChat official account
Reply in the official account with one of the numbers below or any keyword (not in the comments at the bottom of the article), to get the most timely and professional migration updates!Reply [A] to view the contents list (covering all topics)!
Reply: 0000 → view the 16 November policy update (Subclass 491 + skilled migration points test)
Reply: 000 → latest visa/citizenship processing wait times
Reply: 001 → latest official Subclass 189 EOI report
