ACS
About the Skills Assessment Authority
The Australian Computer Society (ACS) is Australia’s official Information and Communications Technology (ICT) vocational assessment organisation, responsible for assessing overseas applicants wishing to work in IT-related occupations in Australia to ensure that their skills meet Australian IT industry standards. Whether you are applying for skilled migration (189/190/491) or employer sponsorship (482/186), you will need to pass an ACS occupational assessment. If an applicant’s qualifications are not fully relevant to the IT field, additional work experience will be required to compensate for the skill requirements.
List of Assessable Occupations & Assessment Criteria
Cyber Security Occupations and ANZSCO codes：
261315 – Cyber Security Engineer
261317 – Penetration Tester
262114 – Cyber Governance Risk and Compliance Specialist
262115 – Cyber Security Advice and Assessment Specialist
262116 – Cyber Security Analyst
262117 – Cyber Security Architect
262118 – Cyber Security Operations Coordinator
Data Science occupations and ANZSCO codes：
224999 – Information and Organisation Professionals NEC (Data Scientist)
224114 – Data Analyst
224115 – Data Scientist
IT occupations and ANZSCO codes：
135111 – Chief Information Officer
135112 – ICT Project Manager
135199 – ICT Managers NEC
223211 – ICT Trainers
261111 – ICT Business Analyst
261112 – Systems Analyst
261211 – Multimedia Specialist
261212 – Web Developer
261311 – Analyst Programmer
261312 – Developer Programmer
261313 – Software Engineer
261316 – DevOps Engineer
261314 – Software Tester
261399 – Software and Application Programmer
262111 – Database Administrator
262113 – Systems Administrator
262112 – ICT Security Specialist
263111 -Computer Network and Systems Engineer
263112 – Network Administrator
263113 – Network Analyst
263211 – ICT Quality Assurance Engineer
263212 – ICT Support Engineer
263213 – ICT Systems Test Engineer
263299 – ICT Support and Test Engineer NEC
313113 – Web Administrator
- Educational Requirements: Bachelor’s Degree or higher, ICT related (additional work experience required if degree is not fully relevant)
- Work experience requirement: Minimum 2-8 years of relevant work experience, depending on the relevance of the qualification.
- RPL application (no IT qualification): detailed evidence of work experience and completion of a Report of Professional Competence (RPL) from ACS is required
Processing Time & Fees
- Standard processing time: 8-10 weeks, complex cases or additional documents may extend the processing time.
- Assessment fees (based on the latest official standards): Assessment of Australian accredited qualifications: 1100 AUD; Assessment of non-Australian accredited qualifications: 1450 AUD; RPL assessment (no IT qualifications): 605 AUD.
Assessment Validity & Renewal
- Valid for 2 years from the date of passing the assessment, which can be used for visa applications, employer sponsorship, state sponsorship, etc.
- Non-extendable, after expiry of the assessment period, applicants are required to re-submit the application and provide the latest employment proof or academic documents.
- Applicants are advised to submit their visa application within the validity period of the assessment to avoid the expiry of the assessment affecting the immigration programme.