Psychotherapist (ANZSCO 272314)

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 Psychotherapist 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 Psychotherapist comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

VETASSESS assesses Psychotherapist as a Group A occupation: an AQF Bachelor degree or higher in Counselling or Psychotherapy directly, or a related field plus an AQF Graduate Diploma in Counselling or Psychotherapy, alongside at least one year of highly relevant post-qualification employment in the last five years at 20 or more hours a week. VETASSESS also runs a wholly separate, non-migration product for this qualification area — an assessment against PACFA's own membership standards — stating plainly that "this qualification assessment does not guarantee a successful membership application," a different outcome, a different fee, and a different purpose from the migration skills assessment covered here.

Where these applications come unstuck

Psychotherapist's own VETASSESS page excludes in two directions at once: sideways, from all five named counsellor codes and Counsellors nec, and across an entirely different unit group, from ANZSCO 252299 Complementary Health Therapists nec — naming Dance Therapist, Drama Therapist, Hypnotherapist, Music Therapist and Play Therapist as assessed elsewhere. Anyone searching "therapist" and assuming a match under Psychotherapist risks landing on the wrong unit group entirely; VETASSESS's own page states the boundary directly rather than leaving it open to interpretation or assumption by the applicant.

An honest read on this pathway

Psychotherapist carries STSOL plus CSOL, reaching six visas — 186, 190, 407, 482, 491 and 494 — the same tier as Drug and Alcohol Counsellor, Rehabilitation Counsellor and Student Counsellor, and wider than Careers Counsellor, Family and Marriage Counsellor or Counsellors nec. Like every counsellor and psychotherapist code, it never reaches 189 or 485 the way all four psychologist codes do — the ceiling on this side of the family sits at six visas with genuine employer sponsorship, not the full eight the psychologist codes carry between them.

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 Psychotherapist 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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