Laboratory Manager (ANZSCO 139913)
On the Short-term Skilled Occupation List and Core Skills Occupation List
From the official Home Affairs skilled occupation lists, as at 2026-08-12. Lists change at each government update — always confirm on the official page before acting.
Which lists is Laboratory Manager on?
STSOL — Short-term Skilled Occupation List. Occupations on the STSOL can access state-nominated and regional skilled visas (190/491), but not the Skilled Independent 189.
CSOL — Core Skills Occupation List. The employer-sponsorship list — occupations on the CSOL can be nominated for the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) and the Employer Nomination Scheme 186.
Visas this occupation can access
Being on a list makes the occupation nominatable for these visas — each visa still has its own requirements (points, age, English, a positive skills assessment, and for sponsored visas a willing employer or state).
- Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) — Permanent, state or territory nominated · all occupations for the 190
- Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491) — Provisional, regional, points-tested · all occupations for the 491
- Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) — Temporary, employer sponsored · all occupations for the 482
- Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186) — Permanent, employer sponsored · all occupations for the 186
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa (subclass 494) — Provisional, regional employer sponsored · all occupations for the 494
- Training visa (subclass 407) — Temporary, workplace training · all occupations for the 407
Processing priority
Laboratory Manager isn't in any of the ANZSCO groups that Directions 121 and 122 list for the priority sectors. Some of the first group is defined by the job rather than the code: a nominated position directly involved in agriculture, aquaculture or fishing, one that directly supports mining, oil and gas or coal production, or one related to defence. Otherwise the application is processed after the priority sectors. For the permanent and provisional skilled visas, applicants who were in Australia when they applied come next, then those who applied from outside Australia. For the 482, Specialist Skills stream applications come before both.
Priority changes the order in which lodged applications are looked at, not whether they are granted. Who is invited to apply through SkillSelect is decided separately. See all 202 occupations in the priority sectors.
Skills assessment
A positive skills assessment for Laboratory Manager comes from:
- Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services (VETASSESS) (official site) · our guide to the VETASSESS process
What the assessment actually involves
Laboratory Manager is a VETASSESS Group B occupation on STSOL and CSOL, reaching six visa subclasses. Unlike most of this family's codes, its page carries no published exclusion list of named neighbouring occupations. What it does state is a setting-based boundary: employment managing a laboratory that is not in a research or production setting, such as pathology or general practitioner clinics, will not be assessed positively — a rule stated by the type of laboratory, not by job title.
Where these applications come unstuck
Managing a diagnostic laboratory inside a pathology service or a GP clinic is, by ordinary standards, one of the most common real-world laboratory-management jobs — and it is the one setting VETASSESS explicitly rules out for this code. An applicant whose laboratory-management experience is entirely clinical or diagnostic, rather than in research or manufacturing production, does not have a workaround here; the setting itself is the test, independent of how senior or well-documented the role is.
An honest read on this pathway
Solidly open for research or production laboratory management — six subclasses, employer sponsorship included — and closed by the code's own stated wording for the clinical and diagnostic setting many laboratory managers actually work in. Confirm which category the actual laboratory falls into before assuming this code fits; a well-run pathology lab manager is not automatically a fit here regardless of the seniority of the role.
VETASSESS assesses qualifications and employment separately. Both need documentation that agrees with itself. The Employment History Builder and Document Vault organise each trail before you lodge.
Talk it through with a registered agent
Whether nominating Laboratory Manager is your best route depends on your points, experience evidence and timing — exactly what a MARA-registered agent works through in an initial consultation. Describe your situation once through Migratio and compare real consultation quotes from registered agents, free.
Related occupations
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- Environmental Manager (139912)
- Quality Assurance Manager (139916)
- Regulatory Affairs Manager (139917)
- Specialist Managers nec (139999)
- Sports Administrator (139915)
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