Disabilities Services Officer (ANZSCO 411712)

On the Short-term Skilled 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 Disabilities Services Officer 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.

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 Disabilities Services Officer comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Disabilities Services Officer runs the same AQF Level 5 diploma floor as its 4117 siblings, but its employment test roughly halves for a matching qualification: a diploma specialised in disability services needs about 12 months of paid employment in a disability services setting, while a generalist, non-specialised community-services diploma needs a full 2 years in the same setting. Both routes still carry the qualification-comparability, English (IELTS 7 across every band since 7 August 2025 replaced employment as acceptable English evidence) and currency tests common to the whole family. Accredited-course graduates are exempt from the paid-employment test altogether, their field placement standing in its place.

Where these applications come unstuck

The occupation's own page excludes the same lower-skilled direct-care work Community Worker excludes: hands-on personal-care, supervision and daily-living-support roles, however senior the title, sit under Aged or Disabled Carer instead, on a lower qualification bar. Applicants also under-plan for the specialisation split itself — two years of identical frontline experience can clear this code on the non-specialised route or fall a year short if the underlying diploma wasn't disability-specific, so the qualification's stated field, not just its level, decides which employment threshold applies. A generalist diploma holder who assumes the shorter 12-month bar because the job was disability work will find the assessment reads the qualification, not the job.

An honest read on this pathway

This is the disability-sector code in the family and it sits on STSOL only, with no CSOL listing and no 186 or 482 — despite disability being one of the strongest-demand areas in the sector. That means no employer-sponsored route through this occupation alone; the visas open to it are 190, 407, 491 and 494, all points-tested, state-nominated or DAMA rather than direct sponsorship. An applicant assuming disability demand translates into an employer-sponsorship pathway on this exact code will find it does not — Community Worker or Family Support Worker, which do carry 482, may fit the same work depending on what the qualification and evidence actually support.

Going through Trades Recognition Australia? TRA pathways lean heavily on documented work history and evidence of on-the-job experience. The Employment History Builder reconstructs it with gap detection, so the record you submit holds together.

Talk it through with a registered agent

Whether nominating Disabilities Services Officer 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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