ICT Systems Test Engineer (ANZSCO 263213)

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 ICT Systems Test Engineer 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 ICT Systems Test Engineer comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

ACS assesses ICT Systems Test Engineer under the standard Migration Skills Assessment pathways shared across this cluster, but its lead definition is the most concretely distinct of the four support-and-test codes: it "specifies, develops and writes test plans and test scripts, produces test cases, carries out regression testing, and uses automated test software applications to test the behaviour, functionality and integrity of computer software." Automated test-script authorship specifically, not general process audit or general support, is what ACS's own wording anchors this code to.

Where these applications come unstuck

Because this code carries STSOL and CSOL, it reaches the same six-visa menu as ICT Quality Assurance Engineer and the nec code, so getting the code right matters for how the application is assessed, not for which visas end up reachable. The risk is duty overlap with ICT Quality Assurance Engineer's "audits systems to ensure compliance" framing and with the nec code's blended wording — a reference letter describing testing work in generic terms, without naming test-script or test-case authorship specifically, gives an assessor less to distinguish this code from its neighbours with.

An honest read on this pathway

This is the code with the clearest, most checkable duty description in its cluster, and it carries the same broad six-visa reach as ICT Quality Assurance Engineer and the nec code. An applicant whose actual work was writing and running automated test scripts has a genuinely strong match here; someone whose work only touched testing incidentally, alongside broader support or audit duties, may fit the nec code better than this one.

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 ICT Systems Test 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.

Compare registered agents — free

Related occupations

All skilled occupations · Points calculator · Skilled visa agents