This is the 2026 VETASSESS skills assessment guide for ANZSCO 311411 — Chemistry Technician. For visa pathway selection see the 311411 pathway guide; for cost/timeline see the case study.
VETASSESS pathway
| Element | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Qualification | AQF Diploma / Bachelor in Chemistry / Applied Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry / Chemical Engineering |
| Employment (post-qualification) | At least 1 year highly relevant in the last 5 years |
| Skilled employment for points | Each year of additional skilled employment counts (max 20 pts) |
Standard turnaround 12-16 weeks.
Documents
- Certified copy of degree / diploma certificate(s).
- Academic transcripts.
- Detailed CV mapped to ANZSCO 311411 — list instrument platforms, methods run, sample volumes per shift, sectors covered (mining, environmental, food, pharma, petroleum).
- Employment reference letters on letterhead with role, dates, hours/week, salary, chemistry-technician-specific duties.
- Identity — passport bio page.
- Payslips / tax records.
- Method / SOP exposure — lists of methods you've routinely run.
- Instrument-platform training — Agilent, Waters, Shimadzu, Thermo Scientific, PerkinElmer, Bruker, Anton Paar.
- NATA / ISO 17025 quality systems awareness — most Australian commercial labs are NATA-accredited.
ANZSCO 311411 task focus
Reference letters must show at least 65% time on chemistry-technician work:
- Wet chemistry — titration (acid-base, redox, complexometric), gravimetric analysis, distillation.
- Sample preparation — dilution, digestion (acid digestion, microwave digestion, fusion), extraction (solvent extraction, SPE, SPME, QuEChERS), derivatisation.
- Chromatography — HPLC / UHPLC (Agilent 1100 / 1200 / 1260 / 1290, Waters Alliance / Acquity, Shimadzu Nexera), GC / GC-MS (Agilent 6890 / 7890 / 8890 / 7000 series, Shimadzu QP), LC-MS / LC-MS-MS (Sciex 4000 / 6500, Waters Xevo TQ, Thermo Quantiva).
- Spectroscopy — ICP-OES (Agilent 5100 / 5800, PerkinElmer Avio), ICP-MS (Agilent 7700 / 7900 / 8800, Thermo iCAP RQ / TQ), AAS (Agilent / PerkinElmer), FTIR, UV-Vis, XRF, XRD, NMR.
- Other instruments — IC (Metrohm, Thermo Dionex), Karl Fischer (Mettler Toledo / Metrohm), TOC (Shimadzu / GE Sievers), particle size (Malvern Mastersizer), microwave digesters (Milestone, CEM, Anton Paar Multiwave).
- Calibration — pipette calibration, balance calibration, instrument calibration / verification.
- QA / QC — control charts, blanks, duplicates, spikes, certified reference materials (CRMs), EQA / proficiency testing programs (NATA / AOAC).
- Reagent preparation — buffer / standard / mobile-phase preparation.
- LIMS data entry — Thermo SampleManager, LabWare LIMS, STARLIMS.
- ISO 17025 / NATA quality-system compliance — uncertainty, traceability, validation.
- Method validation support — linearity, accuracy, precision, LOD / LOQ, ruggedness.
Useful certifications
- RACI Member / Affiliate — professional credential.
- NATA / ISO 17025 awareness training — essential for commercial Australian labs.
- Vendor / instrument-specific training — Agilent, Waters, Shimadzu, Thermo Scientific, PerkinElmer certified user.
- Safe Work / WHS chemistry-specific training.
- Dangerous goods training — for sample transport / reagent handling roles.
English
VETASSESS doesn't directly require English. Home Affairs requires Competent English; for points-tested visas target Proficient or Superior.
Common pitfalls
- Research-lab-only experience. Pure academic / research lab work (post-doc style) may not satisfy 311411 if you haven't worked under formal QA / ISO 17025 quality systems.
- Master / PhD with interpretive responsibility. If your work is method development / scientific interpretation, 234211 Industrial Chemist may fit better.
- Diploma-only without robust experience. AQF 5 / 6 alone may not meet 311411 — combine with substantial post-qualification experience.
Tools
Authoritative sources
Next step
Want a personalised VETASSESS plan for 311411? Book a 30-minute free strategy call.
VETASSESS
Chemistry Technician
ANZSCO 311411
RACI
NATA
Skills Assessment
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