ACS ANZSCO Codes List for ICT Professionals: 2026

Two engineers with near-identical résumés can receive different ACS results because one nominated 261313 and the other nominated 261312. This ACS ANZSCO codes list for ICT professionals maps the current 6-digit codes to real job titles, so you pick the right lane before you pay a fee or gather a single reference letter. ACS decides your code by the majority of duties you actually perform, not by the title on your contract, and a mismatch can cost you recognised years of experience. Since 15 January 2025, ACS has assessed an expanded set that added ten new ICT-related codes, and it runs on the current ANZSCO release, not the 2013 list many older pages still reproduce.

Why your ANZSCO code decides more than a job label

Your ANZSCO code is the spine of the whole application. ACS assesses whether your qualifications and employment sit "at a professional ICT level and closely related to the nominated occupation," in its own words, and everything downstream, from your experience threshold to your visa options, hangs off that single choice.

How ACS maps your code to an outcome and pathway

ACS does not sort applicants into numbered categories. It assigns a qualification outcome, then reads your experience against the nominated code. The three outcome labels are ICT Major, ICT Minor, and Insufficient ICT content, and each sets a different experience bar under the General Skills pathway. A degree or diploma assessed as closely related to your nominated code needs a substantial background of skilled employment in the field, and the required depth rises as the qualification's ICT relevance falls. Applicants without a closely related qualification fall to the RPL pathway, which recognises extensive professional IT experience in place of formal tertiary study.

Trace a real role through it. A Senior Backend Engineer who designs and modifies system architecture, rather than only coding to someone else's spec, maps to 261313 Software Engineer. With a computer science degree assessed as an ICT Major closely related to 261313, that person sits in the outcome band that requires the least post-qualification experience for a positive result. Nominate 261312 Developer Programmer instead, and the duty description ACS checks against shifts toward building to specification, which can put well-architected senior work on the wrong side of the descriptor.

How your code links to visa subclass eligibility

The occupation ACS assesses is the one you nominate on the visa. For a points-tested 189, 190, or 491, your ANZSCO code must appear on the relevant skilled list, and it carries its own annual visa invitation cap. The newer Skills in Demand visa draws from the Core Skills Occupation List, which is exactly why ACS expanded its assessed codes in the first place. Pick a code that is not on your target visa's list, and a positive ACS result still leaves you unable to lodge.

Here the deduction mechanism bites. Where nominated duties do not match the code, ACS can push back the date your skilled employment is recognised as starting. Fewer recognised years mean fewer points, and on a 189 or 491 a two-year swing can be the difference between an invitation and silence.

What changed for ICT professionals under ANZSCO 2.0

"ANZSCO 2.0" is informal shorthand, not an official label. The Australian Bureau of Statistics calls its current release ANZSCO 2022, Australian Update, and "1.3" is an informal label for the older ANZSCO 2013 revision. The distinction matters because the 2022 release itself focused on construction trades and emerging occupations, not ICT. The ICT expansion arrived later, through a 2024 ABS update that ACS adopted on 15 January 2025.

Which ICT codes were added, split, or moved

For ICT applicants, the concrete change is ten new codes, several of which carve out duties that previously had no dedicated home. Five examples illustrate the shift:

• Duty previously absorbed by 261313 Software Engineer (system design and delivery) → split to also include 261316 DevOps Engineer (added January 2025), covering CI/CD ownership and release automation

• Duty previously absorbed by 261313 Software Engineer (security-focused delivery) → split to also include 261315 Cyber Security Engineer (added January 2025)

• Duty previously absorbed by 262112 ICT Security Specialist (offensive testing) → now maps to its own dedicated code: 261317 Penetration Tester (added January 2025)

• Duty previously absorbed by 262112 ICT Security Specialist (threat detection and analysis) → now maps to 262116 Cyber Security Analyst (added January 2025)

• Data analysis and science work previously distributed across analyst and programmer codes → now has dedicated codes: 224114 Data Analyst and 224115 Data Scientist (added January 2025)

None of these are ABS renames of a single old code. They are additions, so treat any competitor page that shows a neat one-to-one swap with suspicion.

How to check your code still exists under the current release

Cross-check two sources before you trust any code. The authoritative occupation list is on acs.org.au, and it is the only list that tells you which codes ACS actually assesses today. For the classification itself, the ABS publishes correspondence tables as data downloads that map how occupations moved between ANZSCO versions, which is the fastest way to confirm a legacy code has not been restructured out from under you.

The full ACS-assessed ANZSCO codes list, by unit group

ICT professional occupations sit in ANZSCO Sub-Major Group 26, across unit groups 2611 to 2632, with ICT management under 1351 and two new data roles under 2241. This ACS ANZSCO codes list for ICT professionals gives every 6-digit code and title below, with the ten roles added in January 2025 grouped separately so you can see the current set at a glance.

Unit groups 2611 to 2613: analysts, web, and software

• 261111 ICT Business Analyst

• 261112 Systems Analyst

• 261211 Multimedia Specialist

• 261212 Web Developer

• 261311 Analyst Programmer

• 261312 Developer Programmer

• 261313 Software Engineer

• 261314 Software Tester

• 261399 Software and Applications Programmers nec

Unit groups 2621 and 2631: databases, security, networks

• 262111 Database Administrator

• 262112 ICT Security Specialist

• 262113 Systems Administrator

• 263111 Computer Network and Systems Engineer

• 263112 Network Administrator

• 263113 Network Analyst

Unit groups 2632 and 1351: support engineers and managers

Unit group 2632 holds exactly four codes under the current classification: 263211 ICT Quality Assurance Engineer, 263212 ICT Support Engineer, 263213 ICT Systems Test Engineer, and 263299 ICT Support and Test Engineers nec. ICT management sits apart in 1351: 135111 Chief Information Officer, 135112 ICT Project Manager, and 135199 ICT Managers nec.

The 10 codes ACS added in January 2025

• 224114 Data Analyst

• 224115 Data Scientist

• 261315 Cyber Security Engineer

• 261316 DevOps Engineer

• 261317 Penetration Tester

• 262114 Cyber Governance Risk and Compliance Specialist

• 262115 Cyber Security Advice and Assessment Specialist

• 262116 Cyber Security Analyst

• 262117 Cyber Security Architect

• 262118 Cyber Security Operations Coordinator

The five cybersecurity specialist codes, 262114 through 262118, break security work into distinct functions that older classifications folded into one catch-all. Weighing legacy 262112 ICT Security Specialist against the new 262116 Cyber Security Analyst? The deciding factor is which descriptor your duties match and which one your supporting evidence actually backs.

Where telecoms codes go instead: Engineers Australia

One boundary trips up applicants every intake. Unit group 2633, covering 263311 Telecommunications Engineer and 263312 Telecommunications Network Engineer, is not assessed by ACS at all. Engineers Australia handles those two through a Competency Demonstration Report, which carries its own assessment fee and evidence requirements. If your work is core telecoms engineering rather than ICT networking, your assessing body is Engineers Australia, and no ACS ANZSCO code will fit.

Matching your job title to the right 6-digit code

Modern job titles rarely map cleanly to an older occupation descriptor, which is why so many applicants stall here. The table below resolves sixteen common titles to their best-fit code by majority of duties. Where a title genuinely splits between two codes, the rationale names the deciding factor.

Role-to-code mapping for 16 common ICT job titles

What to do when your duties span two codes

Genuine overlap is common, and ACS now gives you a lever for it. Since the January 2025 portal update, you can nominate up to three ANZSCO codes in a single application at one fee, which is built for exactly this situation. Someone whose role is half 261313 Software Engineer and half 261316 DevOps Engineer no longer has to gamble on one label or pay twice; both can be assessed together. Use it deliberately, though. Nominating codes your duties cannot support does not strengthen a case; it gives ACS more descriptors to find you short against.

Three checks before you commit your ANZSCO code to ACS

Cross-check against the ACS list and ANZSCO index

Run every candidate code past the official occupation list on acs.org.au first, then read the full ANZSCO duty statement for that code and compare it, line by line, against what you actually did day to day. If more than half your work matches the descriptor, the code holds. If it does not, you have found a problem cheaply, before lodgement rather than after a negative result.

The ICT code pairs applicants most often get wrong

Three software codes cause the most confusion. 261311 Analyst Programmer centres on analysing requirements and maintaining code; 261312 Developer Programmer centres on writing and testing code to a given design; 261313 Software Engineer centres on designing the system itself. Seniority does not decide it, duty split does.

Security produces two recurring mix-ups. First, 262112 ICT Security Specialist versus 262113 Systems Administrator: both involve server and system access, but 262112 is focused on ICT security controls, vulnerability assessment, and policy, while 262113 centres on administering and maintaining operating systems, servers, and user accounts. An applicant whose majority work is access management and patch deployment belongs under 262113, not the security code. Second, 262112 ICT Security Specialist versus 262116 Cyber Security Analyst: 262112 is the legacy catch-all for security work broadly, while 262116 targets threat monitoring, detection, and analysis specifically. Choosing 262112 when your duties are predominantly detection and analysis nominates a broad code where a precise one fits your evidence better.

DevOps adds a fresh mix-up: pipeline-heavy work that would have gone to 261313 Software Engineer before 2025 may now belong under 261316 DevOps Engineer, so anyone with CI/CD ownership as a majority duty should check the newer code before defaulting to the old one. For a breakdown of what evidence each pathway asks for once your code is confirmed, see our ACS eligibility and documents guide.

Questions ICT professionals ask about ACS codes

Which ANZSCO version does ACS use for assessments now?

ACS assesses against the current ANZSCO release, officially named ANZSCO 2022, Australian Update by the ABS and often called "2.0" informally. The "1.3" you see on older pages refers to the superseded ANZSCO 2013 revision. Working from a 2013 list risks nominating a code that has since been restructured, or a role that now has its own dedicated code.

Can I nominate a different ANZSCO code if my duties span two roles?

Yes. Since January 2025, ACS lets you nominate up to three ANZSCO codes in one application at a single fee, which is built for exactly this situation. Choose the codes your majority duties support, and let the assessment confirm which fits best rather than guessing upfront.

Must my ACS ANZSCO code match my visa nomination code?

In practice, yes. The occupation you nominate for your visa must be one ACS has assessed positively, and it must appear on the skilled list your visa subclass draws from. A positive assessment for a code that is not on your target list cannot support that visa application.

Which ANZSCO codes qualify for the ACS RPL pathway?

RPL eligibility is defined by your qualifications, not by a special code subset. Any ICT occupation can be pursued through RPL if you lack a closely related tertiary qualification but hold extensive relevant professional IT experience in its place. Applicants with a closely related ICT-major degree or diploma use the General Skills pathway instead.

What happens if ACS disagrees with my chosen ANZSCO code?

ACS assesses your evidence strictly against the code you nominated, so a poor match can produce an unsuitable result or a deduction of recognised experience rather than a helpful reassignment. Correcting it usually means a fresh assessment against the right code, which costs more time and money than getting the nomination right the first time.

Once you have confirmed your ANZSCO code, read our ACS skills assessment pathways guide to see exactly which documents and experience evidence your pathway requires before you submit.