Forester (ANZSCO 234113)

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 Forester 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 Forester comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Forester (also assessed as Forest Scientist for New Zealand-trained applicants) is a Group A occupation, VETASSESS describing the role as studying, developing and managing forest areas to maintain commercial and recreational uses, conserve flora and fauna, and protect against fire, pests and diseases. The standard Group A rule applies: a bachelor's degree or higher in a highly relevant field, plus at least one year of post-qualification employment at an appropriate skill level within the last five years, at 20 hours a week or more. VETASSESS's Agricultural Scientist page independently names Forester as a closely related occupation in the same unit group, which is the authority itself signalling the two are commonly confused.

Where these applications come unstuck

Because Forester sits in the same unit group as Agricultural Scientist and Agricultural Consultant, and VETASSESS's own material draws the connection between them, evidence built around general land-management or agribusiness work risks landing under the wrong one of the three. The occupation description is specifically about forest areas — fire, pest and disease protection, commercial and recreational forest management — not agricultural land generally, so a career spent mostly outside forestry, even in an adjacent land-management role, is the kind of mismatch that invites a request for further information rather than a straightforward pass.

An honest read on this pathway

Forester carries the same list profile as Agricultural Scientist: MLTSSL only, no CSOL, reaching 189, 190, 407, 485, 491 and 494 but not the employer-sponsored 186 or 482 that CSOL-listed neighbours like Agronomist carry. An applicant assuming any agricultural-cluster code opens an employer-sponsorship route should check this specifically — Forester does not. It does mean the points-tested and post-study pathways are genuinely open, which is not true of every code in this family; six of the thirty-three sit on CSOL only with no points-tested route at all.

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 Forester 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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