Environmental Consultant (ANZSCO 234312)
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 Environmental Consultant 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
Environmental Consultant 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 Environmental Consultant comes from:
- Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services (VETASSESS) (official site) · our guide to the VETASSESS process
What the assessment actually involves
VETASSESS describes Environmental Consultant as analysing and advising on policies guiding the design, implementation and modification of government or commercial environmental operations and programs — an advisory role sitting between clients or agencies and the environmental work itself. Group A 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. The occupation description centres on advising on environmental impact assessments and operational policy, not conducting the underlying research itself.
Where these applications come unstuck
The concrete trap sits with its most similarly-named neighbour: Environmental Research Scientist (234313) explicitly excludes Environmental Consultant from its own code, despite the two sitting two digits apart in the same unit group and both carrying MLTSSL. A CV built around environmental consulting work — impact assessments, advisory reports to government or commercial clients — does not automatically satisfy 234313's own occupation description, which is framed around pollution control, degradation studies and ecology instead. Getting this boundary wrong means preparing evidence for a research-framed code when the actual work was advisory.
An honest read on this pathway
Environmental Consultant carries MLTSSL and CSOL, reaching all eight visas in this family, which puts it in the strongest list position available and gives it real flexibility across points-tested, employer-sponsored and post-study routes. That breadth is also why the occupation-description match matters more here than the list-access question — with every visa route open under this code, the only real risk is nominating it for research-flavoured work that VETASSESS's own Environmental Research Scientist page says belongs elsewhere.
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 Environmental Consultant 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
- Conservation Officer (234311)
- Environmental Research Scientist (234313)
- Environmental Scientists nec (234399)
- Park Ranger (234314)
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