Quarantine Officer

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.

• Biosecurity Officer (Ministry for Primary Industry) (NZ)
• Quarantine Inspector

Duties

Published for unit group 3113 Primary Products Inspectors

• inspecting animals, plants and agricultural produce to identify product quality issues, and providing advice to producers
• auditing and monitoring quality procedures at farms and food handling and processing facilities to ensure compliance with required standards
• testing samples of produce for quality, size and purity
• ensuring that required standards of hygiene are observed at storage, processing and packing facilities and in transport vehicles
• advising primary producers on economic aspects of disease eradication and informing producers and the general public of the health implications of diseases and impurities
• advising on the identification of pests and diseases and on regulations pertaining to grading, packing and loading of products
• examining imported plants and animals, and products, such as timber, seeds and dried fruits, and making quarantine arrangements
• patrolling and investigating waterways for unlawful fishing activities and the removal of protected marine life
• educating, advising and providing information on a wide range of topics relating to fish and their protection
• may initiate or assist in legal action to enforce regulations

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.

Under the 2022 edition this occupation is defined as:

Inspects and assesses goods, conveyances, plants, animals, and the environment for biosecurity risk to ensure compliance with laws and regulations and to prevent the incursion and spread of exotic pests and diseases.

Its duties are also published differently:

• inspecting animals, plants and agricultural produce to identify product quality issues, and providing advice to producers
• developing, implementing, auditing and monitoring quality procedures at farms and food handling and processing facilities to ensure compliance with required standards
• testing samples of produce for quality, size and purity ensuring that required standards of hygiene are observed at storage, processing and packing facilities and in transport vehicles
• advising primary producers on economic aspects of disease eradication and informing producers and the general public of the health implications of diseases and impurities
• advising on the identification of pests and diseases and on regulations pertaining to grading, packing and loading of products
• examining imported plants and animals, and products, such as dairy and meat products, timber, seeds and dried fruits and the conveyances that transport them for biosecurity risks, and issuing directions to control biosecurity risks
• patrolling and investigating waterways for unlawful fishing activities and the removal of protected marine life
• educating, advising and providing information on a wide range of topics relating to fish and their protection
• may initiate or assist in legal action to enforce regulations

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 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.