Lately, one of the most frequently asked questions is, “Should I study aged care on a student visa?” Aged care providers can now request an Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement (“ACILA”) to address the severe shortage of workers across Australia.
While there is a Labor agreement and this pathway appears accessible, sponsoring an aged care worker might not be as easy as it seems. Employers must meet specific requirements, including signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the industry and union, as well as requesting a Labor agreement with the Department of Home Affairs. This pathway is becoming increasingly competitive, making it challenging to find an employer willing to nominate you for a visa.
If you’re already working in the industry, it might be a good option for you. However, if you’re considering studying in Australia with the goal of gaining more opportunities, aged care might not be the most effective choice. Aged care occupations are not currently on Australia’s skilled occupation list, limiting visa options for aged care workers, such as point-based visas like 189, 491, or 190.
For aged care workers, employer-sponsored visas are only available under specific designated area migration agreements or the Aged Care Industry Labor Agreement. Aged care studies do not directly lead to these options in the standard migration program.
Instead, you might want to explore fields that offer more migration pathways. Courses leading to occupations on the Australian skilled occupation list, such as the Diploma of Commercial Cookery, Advanced Diploma in Civil Construction and Design, Bachelor’s Degree in IT, Bachelor of Marketing, and Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, could be more beneficial. Upon completing these studies, you might become eligible for a graduate visa, which often provides sufficient time to prepare for one of the General Skilled Migration (GSM) Visas.
On the other hand, aged care courses do not have access to graduate visas or GSM visas. The aged care pathway is purely dependent on the employer’s sponsorship overall, aiming at courses that provide a wider range of visa options might be better than aiming at the aged care pathway.
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