721214: Excavator Operator
NSW 491 - Notes:
- The NSW 491 Occupation List (Stream 2 & 3) published on the NSW Government website is not regularly updated by the state government and may not include the latest changes to occupations. Anzscosearch data on NSW nomination under streams 2 & 3 draws directly from information provided by each participating region.
- Be aware that the NSW Government has recently started including occupations codes from the new ANZSCO catalogue v.2021 (i.e. Cotton Grower / Zoologist). For the sake of consistency with current legislation, Anzscosearch only uses ANZSCO codes from catalogue v1.3.
VETASSESS Occupation GroupA
Skills Assessment Criteria:
- Qualification(s) assessed at Australian Bachelor degree or higher degree with a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years.
VETASSESS Occupation GroupB
Skills Assessment Criteria:
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Bachelor degree or higher degree with a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years; OR
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Bachelor degree or higher degree with an additional qualification at least Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Diploma level in a highly relevant field of study and at least two years of post qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years; OR
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Bachelor degree or higher degree without a highly relevant field of study and at least three years of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years;
Note: For pre-qualification employment (if all of your employment is before your qualification assessed at the AQF bachelor degree level), five years of highly relevant employment in addition to at least one year of highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years.
VETASSESS Occupation GroupC
Skills Assessment Criteria:
- Qualification(s) assessed at least AQF Diploma level with a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years; OR
- Qualification(s) assessed at least AQF Diploma level with an additional qualification at least AQF Certificate IV in a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years; OR
- Qualification(s) assessed at least AQF Diploma level without a highly relevant field of study and at least two years of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years;
Note: For pre-qualification employment (if all of your employment is before your qualification assessed at the AQF diploma level), three years of highly relevant employment in addition to at least one year of highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years.
VETASSESS Occupation GroupD
Skills Assessment Criteria:
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Certificate IV with a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years; OR
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Certificate IV without a highly relevant field of study and at least two years of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years; OR
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Certificate III with a highly relevant field of study and at least three years of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years;
Note: For pre-qualification employment (if all of your employment is before your qualifications assessed at the AQF Certificate III or Certificate IV level), three years of highly relevant employment in addition to at least one year of highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years.
VETASSESS Occupation GroupE
Skills Assessment Criteria:
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Diploma level with a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years.
VETASSESS Occupation GroupF
Skills Assessment Criteria:
- Qualification/s assessed at least AQF Certificate II with a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years; OR
- Qualification/s assessed at Australian Certificate II without a highly relevant field of study and at least two years of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years;
Note: For pre-qualification employment (if all of your employment is before your qualifications assessed at the AQF Certificate II level), three years of highly relevant employment in addition to at least one year of highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level in the last five years.
Trades Recognition Australia (TRA)
Industry Labour Agreement (ILA)
This occupation is included in the following Industry Labour Agreements:
Generate ANZSCO Infosheet
Are you sure you want to proceed?
Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) - TRT stream
The ENS Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream provides access to permanent residence for eligible visa holders.
To be eligible under the ENS TRT stream, an applicant must have an occupation which:
- (i) is listed in ANZSCO1; and
- (ii) is the same occupation in relation to which the identified person’s most recently held Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) visa, Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage) visa or Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) visa was granted2.
1 ANZSCO as in force on 23 November 2022 (v2022).
2 Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) reg 5.19(5)(b).
Subclass 187 Regional Skilled Migration Scheme (RSMS)* - TRT stream
The RSMS Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream provides access to permanent residence for eligible visa holders.
To be eligible under the RSMS TRT stream, an applicant must have an occupation which:
- (i) is listed in ANZSCO1; and
- (ii) has the same 4‑digit ANZSCO occupation unit group code as the occupation in relation to which the identified person’s most recently held Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) visa or Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage) visa was granted2.
* Subclass 187 visa is closed to new applications except for certain transitional cases.
1 ANZSCO as in force on 27 June 2013 (v1.2).
2 Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) reg 5.19(5A)(b).
Subclass 482 Skills in Demand (SID) - Specialist Skills stream
The SID Specialist Skills stream provides access to temporary residence for eligible individuals.
To be eligible under the SID Specialist Skills stream1:
- (i) the occupation and its corresponding 6‑digit code correspond to an occupation and its corresponding 6‑digit code that is specified in Major Group 1, 2, 4, 5 or 6 in ANZSCO2.
1 Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) reg 2.72(8)(a)(i).
2 ANZSCO as in force on 23 November 2022 (v2022)
Why does ANZSCO Version 1.2 matter?
Anzscosearch utilises ANZSCO catalogues Version 1.3 (v1.3), released in 2019, and Version 2022 (v2022).
For migration purposes, the Department of Home Affairs references:
- ANZSCO v1.2 for Subclass 189, 190, 491, 485, 494, 407, and 187 visas.
- ANZSCO v2022 for Subclass 482 (Core & Specialist streams) and 186 (TRT & DE).
- A mix of both versions, along with non-ANZSCO occupations (coded as 070499), under the Labour Agreement stream for Subclass 482, 186, and 494.
In November 2019, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released ANZSCO Version 1.3 (v1.3), which updated indicative skill levels for certain occupations. However, this update was minimal and did not introduce any new categories, remove or restructure existing ones. Despite its limited scope, v1.3 replaced v1.2 as the most current version until ANZSCO v2022 was released. The ABS ceased maintaining v1.2 following this update.
Anzscosearch adopted v1.3 to ensure its catalogue reflected the latest ABS release prior to v2022.
Learn more here.
Dual ANZSCO Code
This occupation has changed its ANZSCO code or name between ANZSCO catalogue v1.2 and v2022. Ensure you select the correct occupation to assess eligibility:
| Occupation | ANZSCO Catalogue |
- ANZSCO v1.2 is relevant to Subclass 189, 190, 491, 485, 494, 407, and 187 visas.
- ANZSCO v2022 is relevant to Subclass 482 (Core & Specialist streams) and 186 (TRT & DE).
Read our POST for guidance on how to interpret the search results on this page.
