August SkillSelect Invitation Round 2020

It appears that States and Territories have received a very small allocation of places for Subclass 491/190 nominations, until the Federal Budget is handed down on 6 October 2020.

Very strict conditions have been imposed on the occupations the State and Territory Governments can approve for the Subclass 491/190. These may only be used for occupations that are critical to the COVID economic recovery. The critical occupations and industry sectors are those providing critical or specialist medical services, including air ambulance, medical evacuations and delivering critical medical supplies; those with critical skills required to maintain the supply of essential goods and services (such as in medical technology, critical infrastructure, telecommunications, engineering and mining, supply chain logistics, agricultural technology, food production, and the maritime industry)

Invitation process and cut offs

The highest ranked applicants by points score are invited to apply for the relevant visa. For clients who have equal points for that subclass determines their order of invitation. Expressions of Interest with earlier dates of effect are invited before later dates.

You will see that only candidates with a minimum of 90 points received invitations in the August round under the Subclass 189 stream. However, the invitation did not extend to occupations subject to a pro rata arrangement. There have been NO invitations being issued to candidates under the following occupation groups: accountants, auditors, electronics engineers, industrial/mechanical and production engineers, ICT business and system analysts, software and application programmers, and computer network professionals.

In fact, the Department of Home Affairs has not issued any invitation for pro rata occupations since May 2020.

August Skillselect Invitation Round

Visa Subclass	Minimum Points Score	Number
Skilled Independent Visa ( subclass 189)	90	110
Skilled Work Regional ( Provisional) visa (subclass 491) Family Sponsored	75	90

2020-2021 Occupation Ceiling and Current COVID 19 Reality

The specific numbers for 2020-2021 Migration Planning are still not available until the Commonwealth Government’s allocation of state nomination places for 2020-21 takes place as part of the Federal budget process (6 October 2020). However, some States and Territories have opened with a limited number of interim allocation places for the Subclass 491 and 191 programmes.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, it appears that the Department considers priority to be given to candidates already in Australia and meeting the points requirements and has temporarily stopped the invitations for candidates located outside of Australia.

The Department also indicates that the occupation ceilings and the latest invitation rounds are based largely as a result of the need for fighting COVID-19 pandemic and Australians economic recovery. As a result, we can see a number of invitations for candidates in such occupations as Registered Nurses, General Practitioners, Civil Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Telecommunications Engineering, Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist.

Latest Invitation Rounds and Remaining Spots

The table, below, is a summary of the skilled occupations and the occupation ceiling, with the number of invitations that have been issued under the occupation for the current financial year and places remaining up until 11 August 2020.

Description	Occupation Ceiling 2020-2021	Invitations to 14/07/2020	Invitations to 11/08/2020	Remaining
Other Medical Practitioners	1,168	<20	29	>1119
General Practitioners and Resident Medical officers	4,257	<20	24	>4215
Electronics Engineers*	1,000	<20	<20	>960
Other Engineering Professionals*	1,000	<20	<20	>960
Agricultural and Forestry Scientists	1,000	<20	<20	>960
Chemists, and Food and Wine Scientists	1,000	<20	<20	>960
Life Scientists	1,000	<20	<20	>960
Medical Imaging Professionals	1,161	<20	<20	>1121
Occupational Therapists	1,461	<20	<20	>1421
Physiotherapists	1,685	<20	<20	>1645
Internal Medicine Specialists	1,000	<20	<20	>960
Midwives	1,333	<20	<20	>1293
Psychologists	1,545	<20	<20	>1505
Civil Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians	1,000	<20	<20	>960
Electrical Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians	1,000	<20	<20	>960
Telecommunications Technical Specialists	1,000	<20	<20	>960
Health and Welfare Services Managers	1,666	0	<20	>1646
Medical Laboratory Scientists	1,536	0	<20	>1536
Civil Engineering Professionals	3,919	141	141	3,637
Registered Nurses	17,859	40	194​​	>17625
Electrical Engineers	1,348	98	98	1,152
Telecommunications Engineering Professionals	1,000	76	76	848
Chemical and Materials Engineers	1,000	65	65	870
Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers*	2,682	48	48	2,586
Mining Engineers	1,000	20	20	960
Construction Managers	7,145	0	0	7,145
Engineering Managers	1,474	0	0	1,474
Child Care Centre Managers	1,000	0	0	1,000
Other Specialist Managers	4,188	0	0	4,188
Actors, Dancers and Other Entertainers	1,000	0	0	1,000
Music Professionals	1,000	0	0	1,000
Artistic Directors, and Media Producers and Presenters	1,000	0	0	1,000
Accountants*	1,000	0	0	1,000
Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers*	1,619	0	0	1,619
Actuaries, Mathematicians and Statisticians	1,000	0	0	1,000
Economists	1,000	0	0	1,000
Land Economists and Valuers	1,000	0	0	1,000
Management consultant	4,526	0	0	4,526
Architects and Landscape Architects	1,452	0	0	1,452
Cartographers and Surveyors	1,000	0	0	1,000
Environmental Scientists	1,295	0	0	1,295
Geologists, Geophysicists and Hydrogeologists	1,000	0	0	1,000
Veterinarians	1,000	0	0	1,000
Other Natural and Physical Science Professionals	1,056	0	0	1,056
Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teachers	3,321	0	0	3,321
Secondary School Teachers	8,716	0	0	8,716
Special Education Teachers	1,721	0	0	1,721
University Lecturers and Tutors	5,042	0	0	5,042
Optometrists and Orthoptists	1,000	0	0	1,000
Other Health Diagnostic and Promotion Professionals	1,000	0	0	1,000
Chiropractors and Osteopaths	1,000	0	0	1,000
Podiatrists	1,000	0	0	1,000
Speech Professionals and Audiologists	1,000	0	0	1,000
Psychiatrists	1,000	0	0	1,000
Surgeons	1,000	0	0	1,000
ICT Business and Systems Analysts*	2,273	0	0	2,273
Multimedia Specialists and Web Developers	1,000	0	0	1,000
Software and Applications Programmers*	8,405	0	0	8,405
Database and Systems Administrators and ICT Security Specialists	2,667	0	0	2,667
Computer Network Professionals*	2,245	0	0	2,245
Barristers	1,000	0	0	1,000
Solicitors	4,535	0	0	4,535
Social Workers	1,862	0	0	1,862
Automotive Electricians	1,000	0	0	1,000
Motor Mechanics	5,205	0	0	5,205
Sheetmetal Trades Workers	1,000	0	0	1,000
Structural Steel and Welding Trades Workers	4,866	0	0	4,866
Metal Fitters and Machinists	6,335	0	0	6,335
Precision Metal Trades Workers	1,000	0	0	1,000
Panelbeaters	1,000	0	0	1,000
Bricklayers and Stonemasons	1,712	0	0	1,712
Carpenters and Joiners	6,812	0	0	6,812
Painting Trades Workers	3,303	0	0	3,303
Glaziers	1,000	0	0	1,000
Plasterers	1,452	0	0	1,452
Wall and Floor Tilers	1,000	0	0	1,000
Plumbers	5,861	0	0	5,861
Electricians	8,021	0	0	8,021
Airconditioning and Refrigeration Mechanics	1,581	0	0	1,581
Electrical Distribution Trades Workers	1,000	0	0	1,000
Electronics Trades Workers	2,047	0	0	2,047
Chefs	2,256	0	0	2,256
Animal Attendants and Trainers	1,239	0	0	1,239
Cabinetmakers	1,694	0	0	1,694
Boat Builders and Shipwrights	1,000	0	0	1,000
Sports Coaches, Instructors and Officials	1,262	0	0	1,262
Sportspersons	1,000	0	0	1,000

 

Latest News on State Nomination

The nomination process will be dependent on each State and Territory Government, and applications will be prioritised based on skills and sectors critical to supporting the country’s response to the COVID19 pandemic.

Critical skills, services, and sectors include:

• Critical or specialist medical services, such as air ambulance, medical evacuations, and delivering critical medical supplies.
• Critical skills required to maintain the supply of essential goods and services, such as in medical technology, critical infrastructure, telecommunications, engineering and mining, supply chain logistics, agricultural technology, food production, and the maritime industry.
• Services in sectors critical to Australia’s economic recovery such as financial technology, large scale manufacturing, film and television production, and emerging technology.

According to the above, some States/Territories have now published relevant Skills Occupation Lists.

State/Territory	List	Status	Release date
Australian Capital Territory	ACT Critical Skills List	OPEN Canberra Residents only	19/08/2020
New South Wales		OPEN
Northern Territory		CLOSED
Queensland		CLOSED
South Australia		OPEN
Tasmania		OPEN
Victoria		CLOSED
Western Australia		CLOSED

 

Next Skillselect Invitation Rounds

The next invitation round will be on 11 September 2020 and it’s expected that the invitations will look similar to the August round.