The largest Skills Assessment Body in Australia, VETASSESS conducted a Migration Agent Round Table Meet at Hotel Sheraton in New Delhi on 20 July 2023. The meeting was headed by Dr. Mamta Chauhan, Skills Recognition VETASSESS and Preeti Dang, Country Head [India].
Fascinating insights were shared by the VETASSESS with regard to the data on the skills assessment applications received. Currently, India is at the No.1 position with 28% of applications for Skills Assessments coming from those living in India. VETASSESS assesses more than 360 professional occupations and 28 trade occupations assessments conducted by its Trades arm āVETASSESS Tradesā. Interestingly, India also ranks No.1 amongst the top 10 countries providing the most permanent migrants to Australia in order of rank followed by the Peopleās Republic of China [No.2]ā, the United Kingdom [No.3] and the Philippines [No.4].
Most onshore applications received by the VETASSESS were submitted directly by the applicants- 54% of applications came directly from applications that lived Onshore, which underlined the onshore applicantsā better understanding and confidence in putting up their applications with the VETASSESS without using migration agents. As for offshore applications, especially in India, 52% of applications were lodged by the applicants through migration agents while 48% were lodged directly by the applicants. While the number of applicants using the services of migration agents was larger the gap was rather narrow. The Information Guides published by the VETASSESS appear to be a clear reason for the applicants being able to put up their applications without the assistance of migration agents.
The decreasing reliance on migration agents seems concerning for those in the business of providing migration advice. However, the Department of Home Affairs sees the role of migration agents as facilitative instead of an additional hoop being added to the application process, as clarified by Dr.Mamta Chauhan.
The top 10 occupations that skills assessments were applied for with the VETASSESS from around the world for the calendar year 2022-23 were Marketing Specialist [1865]; University Lecturer [1418]; Construction Project Manager [1210]; CafƩ or Restaurant Manager [1051]; Program or Project Manager [677]; Information & Organisation Professionals NEC [670]; Civil Engineering Technician [546]; Management Consultant [544]; and Human Resource Advisor [529]. Within the Indian application scenario the top 1- occupations were comparable to those worldwide with the exception of Recruitment Consultant being listed amongst the top 10 and the Civil Engineering Technician not making it to the list.
The top 10 occupations and the number of applications received for each of these occupations in India in 2022-23 are as follows:
The VETASSESS announced that it was proud to be endorsed by 75 industries, which is 63% of the industries it assesses occupations for.
Dr. Mamta also assured that the applicants receiving positive skills assessments for their nominated occupations were regularly monitored by the Australian departments to check the efficacy and has found the assessments to be well aligned with the job roles the applicants were absorbed in when in Australia. Any skills gaps identified were largely owing to the job applicantsā soft skills.
The Priority Processing service had become more responsive to the urgent need for a skills assessment by some applicants and the applicants would no longer have to push their applications during a short window for submitting the priority applications anymore, it was further advised.
Concluding the information updates, Dr. Mamta brought out that the ANZSCO is currently being updated and it appears that the Health and Education sectors would continue to be prioritised.
On the Trades front, Preeti Dang apprised that VETASSESS has introduced the Video CV and Photographic evidence requirement for the applicants to demonstrate their expertise in their occupations from 31 July 2023. This supplementary evidence of employment along with a Supervisor Report and an Online Assessment will help ensure the applicant matches the skill set required for being employed within their occupation group in Australia and the Skills Assessor have a deeper insight into the applicantās knowledge and abilities before progressing the application to the next stage of processing.