Environmental Research Scientist (ANZSCO 234313)
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 Environmental Research 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).
- 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
- 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 Research Scientist 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 Research Scientist comes from:
- Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services (VETASSESS) (official site) · our guide to the VETASSESS process
What the assessment actually involves
Environmental Research Scientist carries a section on its own page headed "Occupations not considered under this ANZSCO code," and lists Ecologist as suitable under its own code — there is no separate "Ecologist" ANZSCO code anywhere in this family, so that job title routes here specifically. The occupation is framed around research and policy-development work such as pollution control, degradation studies and ecology, which is a materially different centre of gravity from the advisory framing used for its similarly-named neighbour Environmental Consultant.
Where these applications come unstuck
This page's own exclusion list is the sharpest single finding in the environmental cluster: it explicitly excludes Environmental Consultant, Environmental Health Officer, Environmental Manager and Marine Biologist, despite Environmental Consultant being the most similarly-named neighbouring code in the same unit group. An applicant whose CV is built around environmental consulting — advisory reports, impact assessments for government or commercial clients — does not automatically satisfy this code's occupation description even though the job title sounds like a close match; the assessor is reading for research and policy-development work specifically.
An honest read on this pathway
This code sits on MLTSSL with no CSOL, reaching 189, 190, 407, 485, 491 and 494 but not the employer-sponsored 186 or 482 that its neighbour Environmental Consultant carries. An applicant genuinely doing environmental research work has full points-tested and post-study access; someone whose employer is offering direct sponsorship needs to check whether Environmental Consultant is the better-matched code first, since that one reaches every visa this family covers and this one does not reach the two sponsorship-only routes 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 Environmental Research 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.
Related occupations
- Conservation Officer (234311)
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- Environmental Scientists nec (234399)
- Park Ranger (234314)
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