Musician (Instrumental) (ANZSCO 211213)
On the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills 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 Musician (Instrumental) on?
MLTSSL — Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List. The widest list — occupations on the MLTSSL can access the points-tested permanent skilled visas including the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189), which needs no state nomination or employer.
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 Independent visa (subclass 189) — Permanent, points-tested, no sponsor needed · all occupations for the 189
- 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
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa (subclass 494) — Provisional, regional employer sponsored · all occupations for the 494
- Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) — Temporary, recent Australian graduates · all occupations for the 485
- Training visa (subclass 407) — Temporary, workplace training · all occupations for the 407
Skills assessment
A positive skills assessment for Musician (Instrumental) comes from:
- Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services (VETASSESS) (official site) · our guide to the VETASSESS process
What the assessment actually involves
Musician (Instrumental) is a Group B occupation with unusually narrow highly relevant fields of study — just Music, or Music Theory and Composition, not a general arts or performing-arts degree. VETASSESS's own page explicitly excludes five named sibling and near-sibling codes: Composer, Music Director, Singer, Music Professionals nec, and Music Teacher (Private Tuition). Applicants are advised to supply a showreel or recording link as supporting material.
Where these applications come unstuck
The exclusion list matters because the three excluded music titles inside this family sit on very different lists: Composer and Singer reach a single visa each, while Music Director reaches all eight. A working instrumentalist who also composes, arranges, or is the credited lead vocalist on recordings is doing tasks VETASSESS classifies under a different code — sometimes a much better one, sometimes a much worse one — and the page draws that line explicitly rather than leaving it to inference.
An honest read on this pathway
Musician (Instrumental) sits on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, reaching six visas including 189, the points-tested independent visa — one of only two codes in this entire 36-occupation family to reach 189 at all, the other being Dancer or Choreographer. That is a materially better reach than most of the performing-arts cluster, including Singer and Composer, its two most easily confused neighbours.
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 Musician (Instrumental) 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.
Compare registered agents — free
Related occupations
All skilled occupations · Points calculator · Skilled visa agents