New Financial Year - New SkillSelect Information
Immigration conducted the first round of invitations for the 2020-2021 financial year on 14 July, with a total of 600 invitations issued across the Subclass 189 Skilled Independent and Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Family Sponsored) visa types.
Of these, 500 invitations went to 189 visa applicants, with the lowest points score of 90 in this visa subclass. The minimum points score for the 491 visa was higher at 95 points.
Pro-rata occupations:
Due to high levels of demand, certain occupations are issued invitations on a pro-rata basis. Places are first allocated to 189 EOIs, with remaining places issued to the 491 Family Sponsored EOIs.
As per previous rounds, Accountants, Auditors, and IT professionals in the pro-rata occupations did not receive any invitations.
| Occupation ID | Description | Minimum Points Score | Latest date of EOI |
| 2334 | Electronics Engineer | 90 (SC189) | 12/2019 |
| 2334 | Electronics Engineer | 95 (SC491) | 05/2020 |
| 2335 | Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers | 95 (SC491) | 11/2019 |
| 2339 | Other Engineering Professionals | 95 (SC491) | 11/2019 |
Which occupations were invited
As per our
previous blog, many invitations this round were issued to Medical and Scientific occupations. However, there were a significant number of invitations issued to Engineering occupations in the July round, including:
- Civil Engineering Professionals - 141 invitations;
- Electrical Engineers - 98 invitations;
- Telecommunications Engineering Professionals - 76 invitations; and
- Chemical and Materials Engineers - 65 invitations.
This does reflect the Australian Government's focus on critical skills during the pandemic, as well as the push for more large civil projects in order to generate jobs in the current climate.
New Occupation Ceilings
Although there has been no announcement on changes to skilled occupation lists, there has been a change in occupation ceilings for the 2020-2021 financial year. Most affected include:
| Description | Old Ceiling | New Ceiling | Change |
| Construction Managers | 4983 | 7145 | +2162 |
| Other Specialist Managers | 3044 | 4188 | +1144 |
| Accountants | 2746 | 1000 | -1746 |
| Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers | 1600 | 2682 | +1082 |
| Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teachers | 2294 | 3321 | +1027 |
| University Lecturers and Tutors | 3407 | 5042 | +1635 |
| Motor Mechanics | 6399 | 5205 | -1194 |
| Carpenters and Joiners | 8536 | 6812 | -1724 |
| Sports Coaches, Instructors and Officials | 4071 | 1262 | -2809 |
Less transparency?
Immigration is now releasing less detailed information in their SkillSelect data, only showing the month and year of invitation and not the specific date and time. This makes tracking potential invitation dates very difficult.
Also, there is less detail on the exact number of invitations issued under the occupation ceilings, with actual numbers for occupations only provided where there are more than 20 invitations.
Our Thoughts
As the State Migration programs are restricted to only critical skills needs - as directed by the Australian Government - most applicants will need to wait until at least October 2020 when the budget is released in order to see if there are pathways forward. There may not be any significant increases in invitations while the international borders are still closed.
