Director of Photography (ANZSCO 212313)
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 Director of Photography 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
Skills assessment
A positive skills assessment for Director of Photography comes from:
- Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services (VETASSESS) (official site) · our guide to the VETASSESS process
What the assessment actually involves
Director of Photography is a Group B occupation, assessed against an AQF Bachelor degree or higher in a highly relevant field plus the standard employment test. Its own suitable-occupations list names only Cinematographer. It is separately excluded, by name, from Photographer's own occupation page, alongside Video Producer — Photographer's page draws a clear line between still photography and cinematography, even though both involve operating a camera professionally.
Where these applications come unstuck
Photographer's own page excludes Director of Photography by name, so a stills photographer who has moved into cinematography work, or a cinematographer assuming the general 'photographer' code is the closer or safer fit, is nominating under a code VETASSESS's own text says does not cover the work. The two occupations also sit on different lists, so the mismatch is a visa-reach issue, not only a classification technicality.
An honest read on this pathway
Director of Photography is Regional Occupation List only, reaching a single visa — subclass 494. Photographer, the code it is most often confused with, is Short-term Skilled Occupation List, reaching four visas — 190, 407, 491, 494 — a better reach than Director of Photography despite both being camera-based creative occupations in adjacent unit groups within this same family, and both ultimately answering to VETASSESS.
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 Director of Photography 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.
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Related occupations
- Art Director (Film, Television or Stage) (212311)
- Director (Film, Television, Radio or Stage) (212312)
- Film and Video Editor (212314)
- Film, Television, Radio and Stage Directors nec (212399)
- Program Director (Television or Radio) (212315)
- Stage Manager (212316)
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