Musician (Instrumental)
Entertains by playing one or more musical instruments. This occupation requires high levels of creative talent or personal commitment and interest as well as, or in place of, formal qualifications or experience.
ANZSCO 2013, the edition the department applies to the points tested visas (189, 190 and 491).
Job titles this occupation covers
If your job title is one of these, this is usually the code it belongs to, whatever your employer calls the role.
- Instrumentalist
Specialisations within it
- Drummer
- Guitarist
- Pianist
- Violinist
Duties
Published for unit group 2112 Music Professionals
- creating melodic, harmonic and rhythmic structures to express ideas and emotions in musical form
- translating ideas and concepts into standard musical signs and symbols for reproduction and performance
- undertaking research and liaising with clients when composing musical backing for television commercials, popular recordings, and radio, television and film productions
- auditioning and selecting musicians and Singers
- selecting music for performances and assigning instrumental parts to musicians
- directing musical groups at rehearsals and performances to achieve desired effects such as tonal and harmonic balance, rhythm and tempo
- studying and rehearsing repertoire and musical scores prior to performances
- playing music in recital, as an accompanist, or as a member of an orchestra, band or other musical group, from score and by memory
- performing music and songs according to interpretation, direction and style of presentation, using highly developed aural skills to reproduce music
This is what the occupation is, not what a skills assessment requires. The assessing body applies its own criteria on top of this, and those criteria are not published here. Check them with the body itself.
Who assesses this occupation
Last confirmed against the department's list on 30 July 2026.
This occupation reads differently for the 186 and 482
Two editions of ANZSCO are current at once, and the department applies ANZSCO 2022 to the employer sponsored visas while everything above follows ANZSCO 2013.
The definition is identical in both editions, but the published duties are not:
- creating melodic, harmonic and rhythmic structures to express ideas and emotions in musical form
- translating ideas and concepts into standard musical signs and symbols for reproduction and performance
- undertaking research and liaising with clients when composing musical backing for television commercials, popular recordings, and radio, television and film productions
- auditioning and selecting Musicians and Singers
- selecting music for performances and assigning instrumental parts to musicians
- directing musical groups at rehearsals and performances to achieve desired effects such as tonal and harmonic balance, rhythm and tempo
- studying and rehearsing repertoire and musical scores prior to performances
- playing music in recital, as an accompanist, or as a member of an orchestra, band or other musical group, from score and by memory
- performing music and songs according to interpretation, direction and style of presentation, using highly developed aural skills to reproduce music
If you are going for a 186 or a 482, this is the wording that governs you. Everything above governs the points tested routes.
Where Musician (Instrumental) stands right now
Vizard tracks the live queue for this occupation: how many people are waiting at every points score for the 189, 190, 491, the recent invitation round cutoffs, and how far down the queue your own score puts you.
Updated to 1 July 2026, from the department's own SkillSelect data.
See where you standWhere this comes from
Definition and duties: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ANZSCO
Assessing authorities and skilled lists: Department of Home Affairs skilled occupation list
Vizard is not a registered migration agent and nothing here is migration advice. It is published government information, organised. For advice on your own situation, speak to a registered migration agent.