Agricultural Scientist (ANZSCO 234112)

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 Agricultural Scientist 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).

Skills assessment

A positive skills assessment for Agricultural Scientist comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Agricultural Scientist is a Group A occupation: a bachelor's degree or higher in a field VETASSESS names directly — Agricultural Science, Animal Science and Management, Crop Science/Agronomy, Viticulture, or Plant and Animal Production — plus at least one year of post-qualification employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years, working 20 hours or more a week and highly relevant to the occupation. VETASSESS's own page states its closely related occupations in this unit group are Agricultural Consultant and Forester, which is the authority itself pointing at where the boundary questions sit rather than leaving applicants to guess.

Where these applications come unstuck

The named field-of-study list is narrower than "a science degree," and a qualification outside it — general biology, or environmental science without an agricultural concentration — is a real risk under this code specifically, since there is no lesser-field pathway to fall back on. The other trap is title-driven: someone whose work is closer to formal crop or livestock research risks under-describing it as general agricultural science, or over-describing consulting work as research, when the two sit on genuinely different lists (see the reality note below) and VETASSESS reads the evidence against the code nominated, not the job title on the payslip.

An honest read on this pathway

Agricultural Scientist sits on MLTSSL only, with no CSOL access — it reaches 189, 190, 407, 485, 491 and 494, all the points-tested and graduate routes, but not the CSOL-gated 186 or 482 employer-sponsored streams that its own near-neighbour Agricultural Research Scientist carries instead. That's the reverse of what an applicant might assume from the job titles alone: the code with "Scientist" in the name is the points-tested one, and the code with "Research" in the name is the one that needs an employer to sponsor it. Confirm which list actually matches the visa route you're planning before assuming either title gets you there.

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 Agricultural Scientist 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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All skilled occupations · Points calculator · Skilled visa agents