The Community Development Officer’s Guide For Emigrating to Australia
Welcome to our guide on the Australian skills assessment process for a Community Development Officer. Before we examine the skills required to be recognised as a Community Development Officer it may be helpful to explain that the skills assessment is the first step of the emigration process. The skills Assessment of a Community Development Officer determines their eligibility to emigrate and the visa options available. Ultimately, it will affect their employment opportunities once they are in Australia.
While we appreciate that each case is unique, we always strive to secure the best possible outcome from the Skills Assessing Authorities in Australia. Experience has proven that a positive accreditation result is an essential first step to a successful case.
Australia’s top employers and recruiters are increasingly turning to the UK for highly skilled workers to meet the demand in key professions.
Securing Employment in Australia
Sterling Migration works closely with many of Australia’s leading employers, connecting them with international candidates who possess the specific skills these Australian companies require.
To secure a job offer from a reputable Australian employer, candidates must first complete their skills accreditation, receive an invitation to emigrate from the government and be able to provide a potential start date.
Leading recruiters across Australia trust Sterling Migration to endorse and introduce only the best candidates who have been assessed and are ready to emigrate. We are always delighted when we can recommend a client for a role that we believe will be their ideal fit.
Ensuring Community Development Officers Are In High Demand
Every skilled migrant wants to know that they will be able to secure the best role that matches their personal requirements quickly and easily in Australia. The Australian emigration system ensures that they can.
Each year, State Governments and the two territorial Governments report to the federal government on their local demand for Community Development Officers and if they need to bring any in from overseas to fill potential shortage skills gaps. The report will provide the precise number of overseas a Community Development Officers required in the region during the coming year to fill any potential skills gap.
The Skills in demand are placed on priority lists. These lists range from those skills in high demand across the entire country to those skills with only limited demand within rural areas. Depending on the list a skill is on will determine which visa(s) are available to people within that profession.
Curently, Community Development Officers are on the STSOL skills shortage list. Being on the STSOL list means a Community Development Officer may qualify for the following visa streams:
186, 189 (PT), 190, 407, 485 (GW),491 (F), 491 (S/T), TSS (M), 494TRA Visa streams.
Skills and Experience Required To Be a Community Development Officer
Before a Community Development Officer can apply to emigrate as a skilled worker to Australia, their qualification, skills, and experience must be independently verified via a rigorous accreditation process. The process ensures all Community Development Officers invited to emigrate can do their job to the required Australian standards.
1. Defining the job title a Community Development Officer:
The profession “a Community Development Officer” can mean something slightly different in Australia to what is referred to overseas. In “official emigration terms”, this profession is aligned within the occupation category “Community Worker” and is uniquely identified by the code 411711. This registry system that has been in place since 2006 and has proven to work well for Australia.
2. Key Requirements for a Community Development Officer:
For a Community Development Officer to be deemed experienced to the Australian standard, here are the essential skills, tasks, duties and responsibilities they must be familiar with:
General Duties:
Communication and collaboration
Human resources
Recreation and sporting events
Records
documentation
reports and research
Sales and marketing
Business operations and financial activities
Core Specialist Responsibilities:
Conduct sales and marketing activities
Communicate and collaborate
Establish organisational policies or programs
Coordinate recreational activities or special events
Assess and advise on public opinions
Undertake financial reporting
documentation and analysis
Respond to legal
regulatory and compliance issues
Undertake recruitment activities
Specific Tasks Associated with the Role:
Recruit staff
Conduct opinion surveys or needs assessments
Develop organisational policies or programs
Prepare financial documents
reports or budgets
Establish interpersonal business relationships to facilitate work activities
Advise others on legal or regulatory compliance matters
Promote goods
services
or programs
Coordinate special events or programs
Analyse impact of legal or regulatory changes
3. The Australian eligibility criteria for a Community Development Officer:
Currently Community Development Officer’s are listed on the STSOL reflecting the demand for the profession within Australia.
Please note:
Even though Community Development Officer is on the STSOL shortage skills list, it does not guarantee that there are currently places available under any visa stream. The emigration selection process is a dynamic environment that changes continually as quotas for specific skills are met within each region and economic demands change. We provide an up-to-date report at the time of application to ensure our clients secure the best possible visa for their requirements.
Navigating the Skills Assessment Process
As part of the accreditation process, you will be required to provide:
- Relevant qualifications
- Detailed reports from previous employers
- Registrations and licences
Additional for specific cases:
- Video footage of your work
- Photographs
- Attend an interview
These additional items may incur further costs and will cause delays, so they are best avoided where possible.
Context and Function:
The primary purpose of the assessing authority is to protect their Australian Community Development Officers from migrants entering Australia and driving down standards or wages.
Therefore, they often look to delay, frustrate, delay or even reject cases preventing accreditations wherever possible with those aims in mind. They are also motivated by the additional fees they may charge when a person is required to resit an assessment.
The result of a candidate’s skills assessment is often a critical factor in their emigration success. It is vital that a Community Development Officer secures the highest possible skills accreditation possible. To have your own team of experts fighting for you provides a considerable advantage in preparing your case and maximising your credibility.
Points Test For Community Development Officers
Each candidate applying to emigrate as a Community Development Officer is assessed against a number of criteria set out by the Australian Department of Home Affairs. The criteria include:
- Age
- Qualifications
- Work Experience
- Partners Skills
- English Language Ability
- Miscellaneous
The candidate is awarded points accordingly. Those Community Development Officers who achieve the minimum points required will be eligible to enter the Expression of Interest pool. As with all legal processes, there are many ways to gain points and forfeit points, simply by how a case is presented. The Australian Immigration Authorities do not provide any feedback on the quality of a case once it has been presented and have no statutory obligation to do so. Therefore, if a case has an error that could be easily corrected, the candidate will not be asked to correct the mistake.
Expression of Interest
Once candidates complete their skills accreditation successfully and achieve the minimum points required for a Community Development Officer, they become eligible to enter the “Expression of Interest” pool.
The best analogy is that it is a recruitment process. Entering the Expression of Interest pool is like meeting the minimum requirements set out by the employer to be eligible to apply for a position. There is no guarantee of selection.
This is a competitive environment where Community Development Officers from across the globe are requesting one of the available visas to emigrate. Australia periodically selects those it deems to best meet its requirements for a Community Development Officer from the pool of available candidates. Those a Community Development Officers selected are invited to apply to emigrate.
Candidates who fail to be selected within two years are automatically removed from the pool.
Police and Medical Checks
The final hurdle to overcome is completing the Police and Medical checks. Assuming nothing is discovered that has not been previously disclosed, the visa will usually be issued within a few weeks.
From the date the visa is issued a Community Development Officer will have one year to enter Australia to activate the visa. It is during that time that it is best to reach out to potential employers and make all the necessary arrangements to begin a new life in Australia.
Once a visa is activated, the Community Development Officer may leave Australia for a few more months if they require extra time before emigrating permanently.
Find Out More
Emigration law is one of the most complex areas of legislation and is continuously being adapted. By definition, emigrating to Australia is a legal process where the individual must prove their case. The government is not responsible for assisting an applicant in that process. On the contrary, in legal terms, it is the government against whom a Community Development Officer must fight and win their case and the right to be hired by the best employers in Australia.
Once you have completed your skills assessment and been invited by the Government to emigrate, you will be ready to meet leading employers with vacancies that will fit your requirements perfectly.
To discover more, complete our online assessment form for your complimentary guide and to discuss your options with one of our friendly experts.
