Funeral Director (ANZSCO 451311)
On the Regional 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 Funeral Director on?
ROL — Regional Occupation List. Occupations on the ROL are limited to the regional provisional visas — mainly the Skilled Work Regional 491 and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional 494.
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).
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa (subclass 494) — Provisional, regional employer sponsored · all occupations for the 494
Skills assessment
A positive skills assessment for Funeral Director comes from:
- Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services (VETASSESS) (official site) · our guide to the VETASSESS process
What the assessment actually involves
VETASSESS assesses Funeral Director as a Group C occupation, requiring an AQF Diploma or higher plus the highly relevant employment history the pathway calls for. The occupation is defined around planning and coordinating funeral arrangements according to the wishes of the deceased or their relatives — a coordinating, client-facing role distinct from the hands-on preparation duties covered by the neighbouring Funeral Workers nec code. VETASSESS's own occupation description carries a hedge most pages in this family don't: registration or licensing may be required, signalling that a positive assessment is not automatically the end of the story for this occupation.
Where these applications come unstuck
Funeral Director carries the narrowest visa reach of any named title in this family — 494 only, no 407, no 190, no employer-sponsored door at all — while its own catch-all sibling, Funeral Workers nec, reaches 407, 491 and 494. The senior, named title has the narrower visa set than the assistant-level catch-all beside it. VETASSESS's licensing hedge also turns out to be genuinely state-dependent: NSW requires no licence at all to set up as a funeral director, while Western Australia requires a Funeral Director's Licence under the Cemeteries Act 1986, tied to specific named cemeteries rather than a general right to practise.
An honest read on this pathway
Treat VETASSESS's "may be required" licensing line as accurate rather than vague — the true answer genuinely varies by state, from nothing in NSW to a cemetery-specific licence in WA. Only these two states were checked in this research pass; assuming either answer applies nationally is the mistake to avoid, and the state's own regulator is the only reliable source for the other six jurisdictions before setting up a funeral-director business anywhere else.
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 Funeral Director 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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All skilled occupations · Points calculator · Skilled visa agents