Conservation Officer (ANZSCO 234311)

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 Conservation Officer 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).

Skills assessment

A positive skills assessment for Conservation Officer comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

VETASSESS describes Conservation Officer as developing and implementing programs and regulations for the protection of fish, wildlife and other natural resources — a regulatory and protection framing, distinct from the advisory role of Environmental Consultant or the research role of Environmental Research Scientist in the same broader environmental cluster. It follows the standard Group A structure: 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, working 20 hours or more a week.

Where these applications come unstuck

Because this occupation sits between Environmental Consultant's advisory work and Environmental Research Scientist's pollution-and-degradation research in the same broader cluster, evidence that reads as consulting or research rather than program administration and regulatory protection risks a mismatch with the occupation description. This code names program design and regulation as the core activity, not fieldwork alone or advisory reports alone — a wildlife-protection career built mostly around field survey work without the program-and-regulation component may sit closer to a different code, or may need the evidence framed to show that administrative dimension explicitly.

An honest read on this pathway

Conservation Officer is ROL-listed only, reaching 407, 491 and 494 — no 186, 189, 190, 482 or 485. That is a genuinely narrow visa set: no points-tested pathway, no employer-sponsored permanent route, no post-study 485. It is one of only three ROL-only codes in this family alongside Park Ranger and Exercise Physiologist, and it did appear on the Northern Territory's DAMA occupation list at the age-concession ceiling of 55 when that specific document was checked, which is worth knowing given how narrow the standard list access is here.

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 Conservation Officer 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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