Software Engineer (ANZSCO 261313)

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 Software Engineer 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).

Processing priority

Software Engineer 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 Software Engineer comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

ACS assesses Software Engineer either against a recognised ICT qualification (a degree with at least 33% computing content, or 50% for a diploma) or through Recognition of Prior Learning for applicants without one — six years of relevant software engineering experience with no ICT qualification, or four years with a non-ICT degree. The RPL route requires Key Areas of Knowledge responses plus two detailed project reports covering real, individually-performed work.

Where these applications come unstuck

Applicants with an ICT-adjacent but not ICT-major degree are frequently caught by ACS's "deduction" rule, where a chunk of otherwise-qualifying experience is deducted before it counts at all — a shock to applicants who assumed their whole employment history would carry through. RPL project reports written in generic, template language rather than describing a specific system the applicant actually built are the most common rejection reason.

An honest read on this pathway

A strong, high-demand pathway, but the deduction rule means an applicant's actual qualifying experience can be meaningfully lower than their years of employment — worth confirming with ACS's own guidance before assuming a given work history clears any downstream threshold.

Assembling an ACS application? ACS wants employment evidence that lines up exactly with the dates and duties you claim elsewhere. The Skilled Visa EOI Organiser keeps your claims consistent across the skills assessment, EOI and Form 80 — inconsistencies between them are a common cause of delay.

Talk it through with a registered agent

Whether nominating Software Engineer 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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