Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon (ANZSCO 253517)

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 Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon 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).

Skills assessment

A positive skills assessment for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is named directly among RACS' nine surgical specialties. RACS' Specialist Assessment process applies in full: a document-based review of intended scope of practice, prior training and assessment, recent specialist practice and continuing professional development, proceeding to interview only where the paper review alone has not resolved the case. An applicant can pursue Area of Need alongside Specialist Recognition in the one application where both criteria are met.

Where these applications come unstuck

The breadth of overseas plastic-surgery practice — reconstructive, cosmetic, burns, hand surgery — can complicate RACS' scope-of-practice review, since the college assesses comparability against the specific scope an applicant intends to practise in Australia, not the full breadth of what they have done overseas. RACS' general recency standard also applies: roughly twelve months of documented specialty practice within the past twenty-four, assessed on evidence rather than seniority.

An honest read on this pathway

RACS publishes clear outcome definitions: substantially comparable, up to twelve months FTE supervised practice; partially comparable, up to twenty-four; not comparable, more than twenty-four months of further training required, with a redirect toward AHPRA's other pathways or the SET training program. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery follows this structure exactly like RACS' other eight named specialties, with the scope-of-practice framing as the main code-specific consideration.

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 Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon 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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