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Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services (VETASSESS) Skills Assessment Checklist

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  1. Skills Assessment Checklist
  2. Mistakes to Avoid in a VETASSESS Skills Assessment
  3. Vetassess Questionnaire

VETASSESS is Australia’s largest skills assessment provider, authorised by the Australian Government.

All documents must be high quality colour copies of the original documents. If your documents are not in English, you must submit copies of the original documents as well as the English translations made by a registered translation service.

Below you will find the checklist of documents required to meet their skills assessment criteria.

1. Skills Assessment Checklist

1.

Identity Documents and Photograph

Photograph: One recent passport-sized colour photograph is required. The photograph must be no more than six months old and of good quality (self-taken photographs are not acceptable).

As proof of your identity, you must provide at least one form of primary document and two others from the list below.

At least one of the following primary documents:

  • Passport bio page
  • Birth certificate

AND

At least one or more secondary documents.

Acceptable secondary forms of identification may include, but are not limited to:

  • National ID
  • Driver’s Licence
  • Social security card
  • Marriage certificate
  • Student identity card
  • Australian visa

Please ensure that:

  • At least one of your ID documents contains a photo of you; and
  • At least one of your ID documents contains your full name and date of birth.

You must also read and sign the declaration on the application form to affirm that the information you have provided is true and correct, and to acknowledge that you understand how your personal information will be handled by VETASSESS.

If you have nominated an agent representative or lawyer to act on your behalf, their name, signature, and date of signing must also be included on your signed declaration form.

If applicable only: Change of name

If applicable, evidence of name change must be provided to address any naming inconsistencies in the documents submitted. This is to support your identity.

2.

Employment Reference Letter (Service Letters)

Statement of Service template

The Statement of Service must include the following:

  • Issue date for the Statement of Service
  • The company letterhead
  • Your full name
  • The working hours per week
  • Your official position title(s) held at the organisation
  • The exact period of your employment in each position held
  • Description of your main duties for each position held
  • The salary earned.
  • Full name, position title, official contact details and signature of the person writing the statement of service – references from colleagues at the same level or below will not be accepted. Please note that your referee may be contacted for further information.

 Self Employed

If you are self-employed, you are required to provide the following:

a) Evidence of self-employment such as sole trading or business registration details and /or official statements issued by your (registered) accountant and/or legal team. The statement from your accountant or solicitor must include the accountant’s or solicitor’s letterhead, your full name, how long you have been continuously self-employed including official dates in each role, the nature of the business conducted, the signature and contact details of the accountant or solicitor. View Employment Reference for Self-Employment template.

b) Statutory declaration listing your main duties during self-employment;

c) Payment evidence showing regular income from self-employment, such as client invoices together with corresponding bank statements and/ or official taxation records;

d) Supplementary evidence, such as contracts with clients or suppliers, client testimonials, evidence of projects completed etc.

Organisational Chart:

View  List of Occupations requiring Organisational Chart.

If you are nominating a managerial occupation or one of the following occupations: Management Consultant, Marketing Specialist, Internal Auditor and Program or Project Administrator, you must submit an organisational chart. An organisational chart should include the company letterhead, your job position and those of your superiors and subordinates as well as all positions reporting to your immediate supervisor and to your direct subordinates. If you are unable to obtain an organisational chart from your employer, please provide a statutory declaration outlining the required information and the reasons why this information cannot be provided.

Evidence of Activities / Portfolio / Projects List:

If you are nominating the occupation of Management Consultant, please use this project list template to provide details of a representative sample of the consultancy engagements you were in involved in for each period of employment within the last five years.

If you are nominating the occupation of Program or Project Administrator, please use this project list template to provide details of at least three projects you have administered within the last five years.

If you are nominating the occupation of Conference and Event Organiser, please use the events list template to provide details of a representative sample of the events engagements you were involved in for each period of employment within the last five years.

If you are nominating any of the following sales occupations, including Sales Representative (Industrial Products), Sales Representative (Medical and Pharmaceutical Products), Technical Sales Representatives nec, please use the sales list template to provide details of a representative sample of the sales activities you were involved in for each period of employment within the last five years.

If you are nominating any of the following ICT sales occupations, including ICT Account Manager, ICT Business Development Manager and ICT Sales Representative, please use the ICT sales list template  to provide details of a representative sample of the sales activities you were involved in for each period of employment within the last five years.

If you are nominating any farm manager or farmer occupations, including Aquaculture Farmer, Beef Cattle Farmer, Crop Farmers nec, Dairy Cattle Farmer, Deer Farmer, Goat Farmer, Livestock Farmers nec, Mixed Crop and Livestock Farmer, Mixed Crop Farmer, Mixed Livestock Farmer, Pig Farmer, Poultry Farmer, Sheep Farmer and more, please use the farm activities list template to provide details of a representative sample of the sales activities you were involved in for each period of employment within the last five years. As outlined in the farm activities list template, you will also be required to provide photo evidence of the farm for your most recent employment.

If you are nominating any of the following design/drafting related occupations, including Photographer, Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Multimedia Designer, Web Designer, Fashion Designer, Industrial Designer, Jewellery Designer, Interior Designer, Architectural Draftsperson, Civil Engineering Draftsperson, and Landscape Architect, please provide a link to your portfolio or upload samples of your design work, of no more than 5MB per sample in your online application submission.

Evidence of Research:

If you are nominating the occupation of University Lecturer, please use this publication list template to provide a complete list of your research output within the last five years.

Other Supplementary Employment Evidence:

In addition to the above, other supplementary employment evidence may include:

Licence or Registration documents and details of the requirements for obtaining the licence or registration

Evidence of professional development completed during applicant’s employment

Prizes / Certificates or other forms of commendation

Evidence of land valuation certificates, sales and purchase receipts and J forms if you are self-employed in India and nominating one of the farming occupations

Notice of establishment for employment in Iran

Statutory Declarations and Affidavits:

View Statutory Declaration / Affidavit template.

Please note, in order for VETASSESS to consider the contents of a Statutory Declaration for skills assessment purposes, the statutory declaration (or equivalent legal document) must be properly executed by the appropriate legal professional(s) in the country of origin. Applicants may need to seek appropriate legal advice as to how this is carried out in the country of their current residence.

Statutory Declarations should provide any information you are unable to supply through official documents such as, for example, a description of the tasks associated with a particular period of employment. Please note that skills assessments cannot be conducted based on the contents of a statutory declaration or affidavit alone. VETASSESS will require a range of official employment documentation as evidence to support any claims made using statutory declarations. Examples of the range of employment evidence that may be produced by applicants include official taxation documents, signed contract documents, appointment letters and official job descriptions.

A statutory declaration cannot be accepted as evidence of your employment dates, position title(s) or as payment evidence – such relevant information should be provided in the form of official documentation.

3.

Payment Evidence

Payment evidence can include one of the following types:

  • Pay slips (ideally your first and last payslip);
  • Taxation Records of Assessment (bearing company and applicant name)
  • Bank Statements showing at least two salary payments, your name and the employer’s name; OR
  • Employment-linked insurance / superannuation records (bearing company and applicant name).

4.

Academic Certificates and Transcripts

1. Degree or Award Certificate
  • Title of Degree or Award
  • Name of University or Awarding Institution
  • Date the Degree or Award was completed – the qualification will be assessed as NOT suitable if there is no documented evidence that the degree has been completed and awarded.
2. Degree or Award Transcript
  • Unit or Subject Names and Grades or Marks Achieved (uploaded in chronological order)
  • If you have a Post Graduate degree, please provide documents for the undergraduate qualification.
  • For research degrees please provide the abstract of the thesis or research project. The abstract should be endorsed by the primary supervisor where possible.

5.

Resume and CV

2. Mistakes to Avoid in a VETASSESS Skills Assessment

Applying for VETASSESS Skills Assessment for migration purposes can feel daunting. Besides money and time, it also needs skills, experience, and judgement to avoid irreversible disastrous consequences for your future.

The biggest problem is not knowing the intricacies of Migration law that should be assessed in parallel to the  Skills Assessment and to get it aligned. You must also know about assessment criteria.

Here are seven mistakes identified by VETASSESS  themselves in their own words to avoid when applying with a professional or other non-trades occupation. These are the most common mistakes that we see and can delay an application:

  1. Not including the relevant qualification documents

There are additional requirements for qualifications obtained from specific regions of the world. These include China, Europe, the Philippines and Lebanon. You should ensure that you understand the requirements for the documents specific to the country of origin.

  1. Submitting an incomplete application

We often find we don’t receive documents that cover a particular period of employment or that support proof of you completing a qualification. You must provide evidence of all the employment periods as well as your formal academic qualifications that relate to your occupation, not just the most recent ones.

  1. Assuming an occupation is assessed by occupation title only

The types of work done in one occupation can vary between countries and applicants need to ensure they understand the requirements of their occupation in Australia. This is set by the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).

Someone who does a particular job in their home country may find their application under this occupation is unsuccessful because they do not meet the educational and/or work experience qualifications required for this role in Australia. It is important to read the ANZSCO definition and tasks before submitting an application to understand the significance of the ANZSCO definition and the required skill levels. We also have information sheets available for most of the occupations that we assess.

We offer an additional and optional Skills Assessment Support service for professional occupations, and this can be helpful for people seeking clarification about the criteria for an occupation.

  1. Not having sufficient employment durationat the time of lodging an application. At least a full calendar year of employment within the last five years of the application lodgement date is required.
  1. Lodging a Priority Processingapplication for a second or subsequent application. Priority Processing is only available to returning applicants:
  • If they have not previously received a negative outcome for the occupation nominated
  • They wish to renew an application that has previously been assessed positively for both the employment and qualifications
  • They are applying for reassessment for a new occupation.
  1. Not providing the applicant’s contact details(their phone number and email address) when an agent/lawyer is lodging the application. This can significantly delay the assessment process if an assessor needs to contact the applicant directly. Sometimes the assessor has a question or needs to verify qualification and/or employment information.
  1. Not supplying original language and/or English translation documents

If documents are not issued in English, you must submit copies of the originals as well as an English translation made by a registered translation service. Documents in the original language without a translation will not be accepted.

An application will be assessed much more quickly if these mistakes are avoided.

Applicants are usually eager to get the process rolling and can be frustrated by the time taken to gather their documents. However, the effort taken at this stage will be worth the time taken.

 

3. Vetassess Questionnaire

Click here to download Vetassess Questionnaire.