Last Updated on December 18, 2022 by Ozlinks Education
Why is skill assessment required for a pharmacy technician?
If you are a pharmacy technician who wants to migrate to Australia and apply for one of the following points-tested General Skilled Migration (GSM) visas, you must have a skills assessment that is appropriate for your ANZSCO 311215 pharmacy technician. This is one of the most important requirements for a General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa application.
- Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) — Points tested stream
- Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
- Skilled Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 489) — Invited Pathway
- Skilled Work Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 491)
The purpose of a skills assessment is to ensure that you have the necessary qualifications and work experience to work as a pharmacy technician in Australia. The skills assessments also provide assurance to the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills, and Employment and the individual that the individual’s education and work experience are applicable and relevant to the Australian labour market.
The result of the skills assessment will indicate whether it can be used to apply for a visa, and only a positive result is valid for your General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa application. For more information about General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa, visit the
What does a pharmacy technician do?
A pharmacy technician in Australia is a professional medical who works under the supervision of a pharmacist and is in charge of filling and labelling patients’ prescriptions. They identify, distribute, pack, and label a prescription drug for a patient, which is then examined by a pharmacist to ensure that it is accurate before being dispensed to the patient. They might also help pharmacists do things like fill out paperwork, keep track of inventory, store medications and medical supplies, and deliver them to patients.
What is the ANZSCO 311215 pharmacy technician job description?
According to the assessing authorities for the ANZSCO 311215 pharmacy technician occupation
Tasks Include:
- Referring prescriptions to Pharmacists and assisting in preparing medications.
- Filling and labelling patients’ prescriptions under the supervision of a pharmacist.
- Recording details of, placing orders for, taking stock of, and storing medications and medical supplies and delivering them to patients.
- Compounding products under the supervision of a pharmacist.
- Managing stock levels and inventory in pharmacies or onwards.
- Assisting with medication audits, reports, and reviews.
- Supporting clinical Pharmacists in their routine work, such as screening patients or gathering information for Pharmacist review.
What is an alternative title for a pharmacy technician?
The alternate job title for a pharmacy technician is “dispensary technician“
Who is the assessing authority for the pharmacy technician?
The assessing authority for the ANZSCO 311215 Pharmacy Technician is the Vocational Education and Training Assess (VETASSESS).
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What are the skill assessment requirements for a pharmacy technician?
To meet the requirements for the skills assessment that a pharmacy technician needs, you must have both the required level of qualifications and the required length of work experience. The qualifications are assessed according to the guidelines set out by the Department of Education, Skills, and Employment of the Australian Government.
All applicants are required to demonstrate that they meet at least one of the following four (1–4) criteria for employment and qualification requirements.
Criteria Option 1
To be eligible for option 1 of the pharmacy technician skills assessment, you must have:
Comparable Certificate III or IV AQF level
With highly relevant major field of study
Minimum 1 year highly relevant employment to the nominated occupation.
Criteria Option 2
To be eligible for option 2 of the pharmacy technician skills assessment, you must have:
Comparable Minimum AQF Certificate IV
NO highly relevant major field of study
Minimum 2 years highly relevant employment to the nominated occupation.
Criteria Option 3
To be eligible for option 3 of the pharmacy technician skills assessment, you must have:
Comparable Minimum AQF Certificate III
With highly relevant major field of study
Minimum 3 years highly relevant employment to the nominated occupation.
Criteria Option 4
To be eligible for option 4 of the pharmacy technician skills assessment, you must have:
Minimum 4 years highly relevant employment to the nominated occupation.
Comparable Minimum AQF Certificate IV
What documents do I need for skill assessment?
The following is a summary of the documentation list that you need in order to submit your application for the skill assessment. Please visit VETASSESS for a comprehensive list of all of the document requirements. Documents in a language other than English have to be translated by a professional translator first.
- Passport and passport photo
- Proof of identity, including a national ID or driver’s license
- qualification certificate and academic transcript.
- employment evidence, including an employment letter, payslips, and superannuation.
What qualifications do they accept?
A comparable AQF Certificate IV or higher, including qualifications at the AQF Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral levels in highly relevant major fields of study, such as:
- Pharmacy
- Community Pharmacy
- Community Pharmacy Dispensary
- Hospital/Health Services Pharmacy Support
What will I get after the assessment?
When your application for a skills assessment is done, the assessing authority will send you an email with a soft copy of the skills assessment outcome letter.
The letter should contain the required skill level outcome, whether your qualification is assessed as comparable to the education level of an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) or not. Furthermore, it outlines the employment period that you have claimed and whether the evidence that you provided is met or not. If you meet both the qualifications and employment criteria for the skill assessment, you will get a positive result. If you don’t, you will get an unsuccessful result.
Documents Requirement
The following is a summary of the documentation list that you need in order to submit your application for the skill assessment. Please visit VETASSESS for a comprehensive list of all of the document requirements. Documents in a language other than English have to be translated by a professional translator first.
- Passport and passport photo
- Proof of identity, including a national ID or driver’s license
- qualification certificate and academic transcript.
- employment evidence, including an employment letter, payslips, tax return and superannuation.
Processing Time
The full skills assessment process for this occupation will take between 12 and 20 weeks from the date you submit and pay for the application to VETASSESS. The time it takes to finish depends on how quickly VETASSESS get all of the required documents and any other information from you. Making sure you've given all the necessary documents in the right format will help cut down on the time it takes to process.
What will I get after the assessment?
When your application for a skills assessment is done, the assessing authority will send you an email with a soft copy of the skills assessment outcome letter.
The letter should contain the required skill level outcome, whether your qualification is assessed as comparable to the education level of an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) or not. Furthermore, it outlines the employment period that you have claimed and whether the evidence that you provided is met or not. If you meet both the qualifications and employment criteria for the skill assessment, you will get a positive result. If you don't, you will get an unsuccessful result.
Application Fees
The following table provides an outline of the fees that are charged by VETASSESS in accordance with it for the purpose of their service of full skill assessments for professional occupations.
| Application Fees – Full Skills Assessment | |
| Applicant is a resident of Australia for tax purposes* (fee includes GST) | AUD $1058.20 |
| Applicant is NOT a resident of Australia for tax purposes*(fee excludes GST) | AUD $962.00 |
Why do I need help with skill assessment?
Each assessing authority that evaluates skills has its own set of rules, procedures, and time limits. The criteria are backed by an assessing authority and will apply to your chosen ANZSCO occupation from the Skilled Occupation List (SOL). The assessing authority will evaluate your chosen occupation based on professional standards.
Ozlinks Education and Career Services is an agency that helps people understand what the skill assessment requirements are. Based on the ANZSCO occupation you’ve chosen, we’ll be able to find the right assessing authority and tell you what they need. We have a lot of experience in document checking, so you can be sure you’ve done everything you need to do for the skills assessment application criteria and give yourself the best chance of getting a positive result.
If you need help with the skill assessments for the ANZSCO 311215 pharmacy technician occupation, we can help you. Click here to get in touch with us.
Disclaimer:
The following information is cited from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), the Department of Education Skills Employment and VETASSESS.
Even though Ozlinks Education and Career Services has made every attempt to offer thorough and accurate information about the ANZSCO 311215 Pharmacy Technician occupation, the Skills Assessment sections are not guaranteed to be accurate. This section may not reflect recent changes, despite our best efforts. “Skills Assessment” errors and omissions are not our responsibility. Please read our full Disclaimer Disclaimer
Hello. I read your article, and I am interested in apply. I am pharmacist with 8 year + experience and I would want to immigrate to Australia with my family. But I want to apply with pharmacy technician. Could you kindly give me more information?
Hi Claudia
The role of a pharmacy technician is different from that of a pharmacist; therefore, the skill assessment requirement for a pharmacy technician is different.
To meet the pharmacy technician requirements, you need to have a minimum of 12 months of work experience as a pharmacy technician.
If you need help with skill assessment support, please submit your information, click on the link below.
https://ozlinks.au/contact-us/
HI Claudia Paredes
A pharmacist’s role is different from that of a pharmacy technician. If you want to apply to be a pharmacy technician, you have to make sure that you have relevant qualifications and work experience.
A pharmacy technician normally works under the pharmacist’s supervision.
I hope this helps.
Hi, I am interested. I studied biochemistry as my degree but working as a pharmacy technician for about 6 years. Will I be assessed positively
Hi Oluchi
The purpose of the migration skills assessment is to ensure that the applicant has relevant qualifications and work experience in the chosen occupation. I hope this helps.