Author (ANZSCO 212211)
On the Regional 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 Author on?
ROL — Regional Occupation List. Occupations on the ROL are limited to the regional provisional visas — mainly the Skilled Work Regional 491 and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional 494.
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 Employer Sponsored Regional visa (subclass 494) — Provisional, regional employer sponsored · all occupations for the 494
Processing priority
Author 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 Author comes from:
- Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services (VETASSESS) (official site) · our guide to the VETASSESS process
What the assessment actually involves
VETASSESS assesses Author as a Group B occupation, requiring a qualification comparable to an AQF Bachelor degree or higher in a highly relevant field such as creative writing, journalism or professional writing, combined with post-qualification employment producing literary or written work for publication or performance — creating and developing material, researching and assembling content, and submitting finished work to a publisher, at a minimum of 20 hours a week.
Where these applications come unstuck
CORRECTED 2026-09-04. This entry previously said applicants without a relevant degree could qualify on employment alone. They cannot: VETASSESS Group B requires an AQF Bachelor-or-higher qualification in all four pathways, and Pathway 4 only lets the degree's FIELD stop mattering in exchange for six years of employment. ANZSCO's own wording — creative talent "in place of formal qualifications" — reads like a promise the assessment does not keep. Separately, self-published work with no submission, editorial or commissioning trail is harder to evidence as employment than work placed with a publisher or agent, and freelance income needs contracts, invoices and payment records.
An honest read on this pathway
Author sits on the Regional Occupation List rather than the broader skilled lists, so it only supports the subclass 494 regional visa — a genuinely assessable occupation for a working writer, but a narrower visa footprint than most occupations in this set, and one that carries a regional-work commitment.
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 Author 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
All skilled occupations · Points calculator · Skilled visa agents