As the ageing of Australia’s population accelerates, the aged and disability care sector has become a complete and substantial industry. In Australia’s official 2023 labour-market data, it was the No.1 occupation by number of people employed，with the workforce approaching 300,000. Demand in the sector also keeps growing, with a growth rate nearing 30%。

With such a large and fast-growing sector—and Australia being one of the most sparsely populated countries—the only way to fill the shortage is to open its arms to people from overseas, and the government is gradually showing its goodwill through policy.

On 15 May this year, Australia’s first aged-care labour agreement under the new Labour Agreement framework was signed—namely, the Curtin Heritage Living aged-care provider in Perth. After that, Italian Village Fremantle, also located in Western Australia, signed an aged-care agreement as well.In just around three months under the brand-new policy, five aged-care providers across Australia have signed agreements with the United Workers Union。

Given such a large staffing shortfall, it is only reasonable to expect that more aged-care providers will join these agreements over time.

Those familiar with employer-sponsored “aged care” pathways may already know that you only need to complete a single Australian (AQF) Certificate III to be exempt from a skills assessmentand meet the qualification requirement for a Subclass 482 employer-sponsored application。

At this point, many people who have been overseasworking in the relevant sector for a long time will ask: if I haven’t studied a Certificate III in Australia, does that mean I can’t migrate through the aged-care pathway?

The answer is, of course: yes you can!

Before we explain how overseas workers can obtain an Australian “aged care” skills assessment, let’s recap the three occupations that meet the Subclass 482 visa requirements under the aged-care labour agreement:

Nursing Support
Worker (ANZSCO 423312)

Personal Care
Assistant (ANZSCO 423313)

Aged or Disabled Carer (ANZSCO
423111)

Skills assessment

Do your qualifications

and work history meet the requirements?

Occupations 1 and 2 above are assessed by Australia’s ANMAC, which we’ll cover in detail in the next issue of our official account.

This article focuses on the Aged or Disabled Carer occupation—that is, the skills assessment conducted by Australia’s ACWA.

Before we explain how to apply for the skills assessment, here’s a brief overview of what aged and disability care work involves and the common job roles.

13 September: Nurses & Aged-Care Workers in China

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What aged and disability care work involves

Put simply, this work provides emotional support, care and companionship to the elderly or people with disability, improving their quality of life. Day-to-day duties may include managing everyday housework and assisting their household, such as preparing meals and helping them with dressing and personal hygiene.

Aged and disability care roles can be broken down into:

aged care worker, personal care assistant, aged carer, disability carer, and carer in a home or healthcare setting, among others.

Eligibility requirements for the skills assessment

Option 1: Meet the requirement with qualifications

Evidence, within the past four years, of a relevant qualification at least equivalent to Year 12 in China (a secondary vocational diploma or a college diploma is sufficient), together with relevant vocational placement or practical training experience;

Option 2: Meet the requirement with work experience

If you don’t meet Option 1, you need, within the past five years, at least 12 months of relevant full-time work experience in aged or disability care—in Australia or another country—or an equivalent period of part-time experience (paid work of at least 30 hours per week).

Please note: if the Certificate III was obtained within Australia, no skills assessment is required。

No English test score is mandatory at the skills-assessment stage, but you’ll need one later

From the requirements above you can see that, for applicants lodging an aged or disability carer skills assessment from outside Australia, no minimum English level is currently mandated, but once the skills assessment is done, the next step is naturally to seek a job opportunity in Australia, and from the perspective of the overall employer-sponsored migration plan, English remains an essential requirement—whether for the Subclass 482 application or the subsequent Subclass 186 application.

What does the journey to PR look like?

Once a skills-assessment holder has secured a job with an approved Australian aged-care provider, they can apply for a Subclass 482 visa，to first gain the right to work and live legally in Australia for four years. While holding the Subclass 482 visa, after completing two years of work experience in the relevant field, obtaining a skills assessment in the relevant field and meeting the industry’s minimum English requirement, you can transition to the Subclass 186 visa—the Subclass 186 being a permanent residency visa—and obtain Australian PR.

What are the Subclass 482 visa requirements for “aged or disability care”?

English requirement:

Aged-care providers: IELTS 5.0 (or equivalent), with a minimum of 5.0 in Speaking and Listening and 4.5 in Reading and Writing

Culturally and linguistically diverse aged-care providers: IELTS 4.5 (or equivalent), with fluency in the target community language

Skills and qualification requirement:

Hold a skills assessment, or evidence of a qualification at least equivalent to the relevant Australian Certificate III;

or have 12 months of relevant full-time work experience or the part-time equivalent

Work-experience requirement:

No work-experience requirement

Salary requirement (full-time):

The employer must pay the employee an annual salary of at least AUD 51,222

Age requirement:

The Subclass 482 visa has no age limit, but transitioning to the Subclass 186 visa requires you to be no older than 45 (under current rules).

From the requirements above, one conclusion emerges: for applicants who have lived overseas long-term and have no study experience in Australia, ，the aged or disability care skills assessment can be an important first step towards Australian PR—because, compared with other Australian migration routes, this skills assessment sets a relatively low bar for applicants, and the English requirements across the overall migration process are not demanding either, as shown below:

Low qualification requirement (work experience can substitute for qualifications)

Relatively low English requirement (compared with the high IELTS demands for social work or early childhood education)

Care-related jobs in Australia

How do you find them?

Having covered so much about Australia’s aged and disability care policy and skills assessments, what everyone cares most about is surely:

Once I have my skills assessment, what should I do next?

I’ve never been to Australia and don’t know its job market, my English is only average, and I’m worried I won’t be able to find a job—what should I do?

Besides sending out your resume to employers one by one, you can also apply for jobs through a specialist Australian recruitment agency:

Hire & Seek Recruitment is a subsidiary of the Newstarsec group, dedicated to addressing skilled-trade shortages in Australia—sourcing outstanding overseas talent for employers and connecting overseas workers with jobs at Australian companies. Its main recruitment areas currently include aged care, welding and cooking, among others.
Website: https://www.hireandseek.com.au/

If you’re reading this article and you hold a relevant qualification at least equivalent to a Chinese secondary vocational or college diploma, or have years of relevant work experience in an aged-care home or other welfare facility, plus some English ability, and you’re very interested in migrating to Australia, scan the QR code below and message us your background—we’ll tailor a migration plan to suit you.

Catch up on past articles

Multiple Subclass 190 grants this week—employer sponsorship still moving fast!

Queensland lowers requirements—submit your EOI first? Three MINT updates in a row!

Can you change employers on a Subclass 482? Can you switch jobs? What happens to my PR if my employer runs into trouble?

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