Workforce Skills Pathways 

The Victorian Government has established the Workforce Skills Pathway (WSP)  to address state-wide or region-wide skills gaps which may have its own unique selection criteria.  Any targeted occupations will be highly skilled. The pathway will help industry address labour shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic.  

Today we are going to discuss: 

1. The requirements for the Hospitality  and Early Childhood Educators Pathways 

2. Which occupations can apply for the Hospitality  and Early Childhood Educators Pathways 

3. Where to find more information on VIC State Migration 

4. How to apply for VIC  State Nomination. 

Current Workforce Skills Pathways 

Hospitality Pathway  

Great news for many Commercial Cookery and Patisserie students and/or graduates, as the Victorian State Government recently announced a Hospitality  pathway for highly skilled Cooks and Chefs living and working in Victoria. 

Early Childhood Educators Pathway: 

The Victorian State Government  is also accepting applications from eligible Early Childhood Educators for Victorian nominated skilled visas.  

Who is eligible to apply? 

You must be eligible under either the subclass 190 or subclass 491 Victorian visa nomination criteria. To take advantage of the Hospitality  or Early Childhood Educator pathways, you must be living and working in Victoria as a Cook/Chef or as an Early Childhood Educator respectively.  You also must have  a relevant skills assessment as an Cook/ Chef. Please note for Early Childhood Pathway, your occupation must be (Pre-primary School) Teacher and your skills assessment must be from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL).  

What is the main difference between the 190 and 491? 

The State/Skilled Nominated (Subclass 190) is a permanent visa to Australia. The Skilled Regional (491 visa) is a 5 year temporary visa that converts to PR after as few as 3 years. 

• On the 190 visa, you can live anywhere in Victoria (including Melbourne) 
• Whereas, on the 491, you cannot live in Melbourne (you can only live in a regional area – everywhere in Victoria  except Melbourne) 

You require Victorian State Nomination in order to apply for the pathway for either the State Nominated (Subclass 190) or Regional Nominated Visa (Subclass 491) in NSW. 

What are the requirements of Victorian State nomination? 

In order to be eligible for consideration: 

• have submitted an EOI in SkillSelect 
• be under 45 years of age 
• have at least Competent English 
• have a valid Skills Assessment  
• have achieved at least 65 points 
• meet the pathway requirements 

How do I apply under a Workforce Skills Pathway? 

Victorian nomination for the Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491) and State/Skilled Nominated (Subclass 190)  is now by invitation only. Below are the steps to apply for Victorian nomination: 

1. Register your interest .
2. Be invited to apply.
3. If selected to apply for Victorian visa nomination, complete the relevant nomination application. 

Potential Pathway  

The 190 is a permanent visa and allows you to live anywhere. So, it generally speaking is a more desirable visa.  

Whereas the 491 is 5 year provisional visa where you need to continue live and work in a designated regional area for at least three years before applying for Permanent Residency.   

Key Takeaway.  

Victoria has not published an occupation list to date and applicants were only invited to apply if they were working in a target sector. Both the Hospitality  and Early Childhood Educators Pathways clearly signal a skills gap identified in these two industries! Evidently, they have not been addressed through local training and/or recruitment. As such, Victorian industry require migration to quickly supplement the number of skilled professionals available in the state which presents a great opportunity for Chef/Cooks and Early Childhood Educators.