Chemist (ANZSCO 234211)
On the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List and Core Skills 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 Chemist 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.
CSOL — Core Skills Occupation List. The employer-sponsorship list — occupations on the CSOL can be nominated for the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) and the Employer Nomination Scheme 186.
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
- Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) — Temporary, employer sponsored · all occupations for the 482
- Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186) — Permanent, employer sponsored · all occupations for the 186
- 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
Processing priority
Chemist 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 Chemist comes from:
- Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services (VETASSESS) (official site) · our guide to the VETASSESS process
What the assessment actually involves
VETASSESS describes a Chemist as someone who studies the chemical and physical properties of substances and develops and monitors chemical processes and production. It is a Group A occupation: a bachelor's degree or higher in a highly relevant field — Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Applied Chemistry or Biochemistry are named on its own page — plus at least one year of post-qualification employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years, 20 hours a week or more. Its own page excludes Pharmacist (Non-clinical) and Industrial Pharmacist by name, and separately excludes Food Technologist, which is the more consequential boundary for most applicants working in industry rather than a research lab.
Where these applications come unstuck
Food-industry quality-control and process-chemistry roles are the concrete trap: VETASSESS's Food Technologist page states directly that the two occupations do not overlap because "these occupations are classified elsewhere in ANZSCO or are not at the required skill level," and a chemistry graduate whose actual job title and duties sit inside food manufacturing may plausibly be described under either code by a home-country employer, even though the authority treats them as genuinely distinct. Reading the occupation you're evidencing against the day-to-day duties, not the sector the employer operates in, is what actually decides which of the two fits.
An honest read on this pathway
Chemist reaches every visa in this family — 186, 189, 190, 407, 482, 485, 491 and 494 — carrying both MLTSSL and CSOL, which makes it the broadest-list code in the chemical-sciences cluster. That breadth is a genuine advantage over its cluster neighbour Wine Maker, which sits on the weaker ROL+CSOL combination and has no points-tested route at all. The list access here is not in question; the only real risk is nominating it for work that VETASSESS's own exclusions place under Food Technologist instead.
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 Chemist 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