The Four Tiers Explained

The tier system allows Home Affairs to manage invitations more strategically across the program year. Importantly, occupations within each tier can be amended in response to emerging labour market needs.

The full list of occupations by tier is set out in Attachment B – Occupation Composition of the Tiers (Home Affairs).

Tier 1: Highest Value Occupations

Tier 1 represents the highest priority occupations for Australia’s long-term skills needs.

Key characteristics include:

• Very long training times
• Highly specialised skill sets
• Strong, long-term projected demand
• Skills that are difficult to replace or train domestically

Most occupations in this tier are highly trained medical specialists, such as:

• Cardiologists
• Oncologists
• Other specialist medical practitioners

Due to their importance, Tier 1 occupations receive the highest weighting, with a 4.0% multiplier applied to maximise intake.

Tier 2: High Priority Occupations

Tier 2 captures occupations that are:

• Government priorities, and
• Identified in Ministerial Direction No. 105 (s499), excluding those already in Tier 1.

This tier allows Home Affairs to remain responsive to policy changes and workforce demands.

Occupations currently in Tier 2 include key roles in:

• Health
• Education
• Other nationally significant sectors

Applicants in Tier 2 remain strongly positioned for invitation, particularly during targeted invitation rounds.

Tier 3: Diverse Occupations

Tier 3 includes 121 occupations that are not listed in Tiers 1 or 2.

The purpose of this tier is to:

• Select candidates with high levels of human capital
• Promote diversity across industries
• Build a workforce with strong long-term adaptability

This tier supports Australia’s ability to respond to future and emerging skill shortages, rather than only current ones.

Tier 4: Oversupplied Occupations

Tier 4 includes occupations with persistently high volumes of Expressions of Interest (EOIs), such as:

• Accounting professionals
• ICT professionals
• Chefs

These occupations often:

• Require higher points scores due to intense competition
• Attract additional points through occupation-specific factors
• Risk dominating invitation rounds if left unchecked

Historically, Home Affairs has applied lower occupation ceilings to these roles to:

• Prevent oversupply
• Avoid a single occupation group forming the bulk of the migration intake

Under the new model, Tier 4 occupations continue to face the most restrictive invitation settings.

How Home Affairs Calculates Occupation Ceilings

Home Affairs determines occupation ceilings using a combination of:

• Labour market data
• Historical invitation and visa grant rates
• Projected workforce demand
• Program-level planning considerations