Retail Pharmacist (ANZSCO 251513)

On the Short-term Skilled Occupation 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 Retail Pharmacist on?

STSOL — Short-term Skilled Occupation List. Occupations on the STSOL can access state-nominated and regional skilled visas (190/491), but not the Skilled Independent 189.

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).

Skills assessment

A positive skills assessment for Retail Pharmacist comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

As with Hospital Pharmacist, the Australian Pharmacy Council issues one Skills Assessment Outcome via one of four streams selected by training country and current registration, not by intended practice setting. APC's site does not distinguish retail from hospital pharmacists anywhere in its assessment criteria; the two ANZSCO codes exist for Home Affairs list-and-visa purposes, and which one an applicant nominates depends on their own employment setting, not on a different APC procedure. Whichever stream applies — Competency, International Student, Knowledge or New Zealand-registered — the exam requirement, where one exists, is the same regardless of which of the two codes is eventually lodged.

Where these applications come unstuck

The recurring mistake is assuming a retail-specific assessment track exists, then either misreading the general framework or defaulting to whichever stream sounds closest without checking the actual eligibility wording. A second, quieter trap sits in the work-experience rule: APC only credits time worked as a fully registered pharmacist, not as an intern, above a set weekly minimum and within a set period over the last decade — hours that don't clear that registered, non-intern, minimum-week threshold do not count toward the assessment regardless of how relevant the work was.

An honest read on this pathway

A positive Outcome supports the visa application; it does not authorise practice. Registration with the Pharmacy Board of Australia through AHPRA is a separate, later requirement, run by an entirely different regulator. Because the four-stream structure is genuinely comprehensive — it accounts for pharmacists trained almost anywhere — the pathway is open to a wide range of applicants, but the real complexity has moved from which ANZSCO code to which of the four streams, and which exam if any, that stream requires.

Whichever authority assesses you, the paperwork is the part applicants underestimate. The Document Vault keeps a single register of every document, what it was needed for, and what is still missing.

Talk it through with a registered agent

Whether nominating Retail Pharmacist 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.

Compare registered agents — free

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