Veterinary Nurse
Cares for animals under treatment or in temporary residence at veterinary facilities and assists Veterinarians to perform procedures and operations.
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.
- Animal Nurse
- Veterinary Assistant
Duties
Published for unit group 3613 Veterinary Nurses
- holding animals to allow examination and treatment by Veterinarians
- cleaning and sterilising examination tables and equipment
- preparing instruments and handing them to the Veterinarian
- assisting Veterinarians to administer anaesthetics and oxygen during operations
- placing animals in cages for recovery from operations and monitoring their condition
- giving medications to animals
- maintaining stock control and records
- providing animal care advice, and preparing, delivering, and reviewing animal care education programs
- may perform diagnostic laboratory tests
- may act as receptionist, accept payments and undertake clerical work
- Occupation:
- 361311 Veterinary Nurse
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:
- holding animals to allow examination and treatment by Veterinarians
- cleaning and sterilising examination tables and equipment
- preparing instruments and handing them to the Veterinarian
- assisting Veterinarians to administer anaesthetics and oxygen during operations
- placing animals in cages for recovery from operations and monitoring their condition
- giving medications to animals
- maintaining stock control and records
- providing animal care advice, and preparing, delivering, and reviewing animal care education programs
- may perform diagnostic laboratory tests
- may act as receptionist, accept payments, and undertake clerical work
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 Veterinary Nurse stands right now
Vizard tracks the live queue for this occupation: how many people are waiting at every points score for the 190, 491, the recent invitation round cutoffs, and how far down the queue your own score puts you. 4 state nomination lists include this occupation.
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.