ICT Business Analyst 261111 or Business Analyst 224711: Telling Them Apart
The most common issue among migrating BAs
A great many people hold the title “Business Analyst” — and most of them are actually working as ICT Business Analysts (business analysis tied to IT systems), not as pure Business Analysts (advising on organisational processes and business strategy). These two roles have different ANZSCO codes, different assessing authorities, and different migration routes.
Lodging under the wrong code not only wastes the fee — it can also lead to a refused assessment, or to having to redo the entire application with a different authority.
ANZSCO 261111 — ICT Business Analyst
ANZSCO 261111 is the code for “ICT Business Analyst” (sometimes also called Systems Business Analyst or IT Business Analyst). The ANZSCO definition describes the occupation as: analysing and defining business requirements, designing and documenting information-system solutions, and bridging the business side and the IT technical side.
A person working as 261111 mainly:
- Gathers and analyses requirements from stakeholders to translate them into technical documentation (user stories, functional specs, BRDs)
- Works with developers, software architects and QA on system-development projects
- Analyses and designs processes tied to IT systems
- Tests and validates solutions (UAT) as systems are deployed
Assessing authority: ACS (Australian Computer Society). This is the only authority designated for 261111.
ANZSCO 224711 — Business Analyst (non-ICT)
ANZSCO 224711 is the code for “Management Consultant” or “Business Analyst” in the field of organisational and management consulting. The work focuses on:
- Analysing business performance, processes and organisational structure
- Advising on strategy, restructuring and process improvement (not necessarily IT-related)
- Producing reports and recommendations for senior management
- Not necessarily having to deploy or design IT systems
Assessing authority: VETASSESS. VETASSESS assesses based on qualifications (usually requiring a business or management discipline) and experience — but not necessarily ICT expertise.
Signs to tell them apart: which one is your work?
Your work points toward 261111 if:
- You spend most of your time on software-system development or deployment projects
- Your main output is technical requirements documentation, user stories, wireframes, use cases, sequence diagrams
- You regularly work directly with developers, testers or DBAs to deliver solutions
- The company you work for is a software company, an IT company, the IT department of a large organisation, or a digital-transformation project
Your work points toward 224711 if:
- You advise leadership on strategy, processes and organisational structure without designing IT systems
- Your main output is PowerPoint decks, business reports, organisational roadmaps
- You rarely write technical documentation or work within a sprint/backlog
- You could do the job well even without knowing how to program or design systems
A grey area to watch: Many BAs do both: analysing organisational processes and delivering software. In this case, look at where most of your time goes — and which projects you can demonstrate most clearly when writing your ACS application.
Why does this matter for migration?
Different assessing authorities: 261111 goes to the ACS; 224711 goes to VETASSESS. The fees, processes and required documentation are completely different.
Different qualification requirements: The ACS accepts ICT or related qualifications, and has an RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) route for people without a suitable degree. VETASSESS usually requires a qualification matching the field.
Visa conditions can differ: The two codes sit on different parts of the CSOL with different visa conditions — check directly at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au (https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skill-occupation-list) for the current status of each code.
Common mistakes when choosing a code
Mistake 1: Relying on the job title rather than the work content. The ACS (like VETASSESS) assesses based on the actual content of the work, not the title on the contract. “Business Analyst” can be either 261111 or 224711 — it depends on what you actually do.
Mistake 2: Lodging 224711 because the name “Business Analyst” sounds closer. A great many people do not realise that their role — analysing software systems, writing BRDs, bridging IT — actually fits 261111 better, and the ACS route is often less difficult than VETASSESS for their files.
Mistake 3: Lodging both at once “to be safe”. This is not a valid approach. You must choose one code and lodge with the correct assessing authority.
Mistake 4: Not reading the ANZSCO definition carefully before lodging. Download the official version from the ABS (Catalogue 1220.0) and read the detailed descriptions of 261111 and 224711 before deciding.
How to present your file if you choose 261111
When lodging an ACS application for 261111, focus on:
- Describing each IT project you took part in: what system, what you did within it, what the output was
- Stating clearly the tools you used: JIRA, Confluence, Enterprise Architect, UML, SQL (if applicable) — these are signs of ICT
- Emphasising your involvement across the software development life cycle (SDLC): from requirements gathering to UAT
- Avoiding overly generic descriptions such as “analysing business processes” with no IT element — the ACS will not be able to identify this as 261111