Occupation ceilings is the maximum number of invitations that are sent for any occupation group. The occupation ceilings announced by the Department of Home Affairs for 2018-2019 has not changed in numbers compared to 2017-2018.
However, it seem to have hit Accountants. The reason behind that is that the quota or occupational ceiling for Accountants (4785) does not only reflect subclass 189 and 489 but includes all other skilled visa categories (482, 186, 187, 190). This does not apply for other occupations as occupation ceilings do not apply to Employer Sponsored Visas, Business Innovation and Investment Visas or State or Territory Nominated Visas.
In the first invitation round on 11 July 2018 (all invitation rounds are not held monthly on the 11th of each month) Accountants only received 35 invitations compared to almost 717 in the first three invitations rounds of last year.
The cut off points score for accounts is also anything but rosy at 85 points.
Occupation Ceilings for the 2018 – 2019 program year
| Occupation ID | Description | Occupation Ceiling Value 2018-19 | Invitations to 11/07/2018 |
| 1213 | Livestock Farmers | 4196 | 0 |
| 1331 | Construction Managers | 5400 | 3 |
| 1332 | Engineering Managers | 1155 | 2 |
| 1341 | Child Care Centre Managers | 1000 | 0 |
| 1342 | Health and Welfare Services Managers | 1374 | 0 |
| 2211 | Accountants* | 4785 | 36 |
| 2212 | Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers* | 1327 | 13 |
| 2241 | Actuaries, Mathematicians and Statisticians | 1000 | 4 |
| 2245 | Land Economists and Valuers | 1000 | 3 |
| 2247 | Management consultant | 3285 | 19 |
| 2321 | Architects and Landscape Architects | 1474 | 22 |
| 2322 | Cartographers and Surveyors | 1000 | 4 |
| 2331 | Chemical and Materials Engineers | 1000 | 42 |
| 2332 | Civil Engineering Professionals | 3296 | 105 |
| 2333 | Electrical Engineers | 1042 | 48 |
| 2334 | Electronics Engineers* | 1000 | 3 |
| 2335 | Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers* | 2178 | 17 |
| 2339 | Other Engineering Professionals* | 1000 | 7 |
| 2341 | Agricultural and Forestry Scientists | 1000 | 15 |
| 2346 | Medical Laboratory Scientists | 1487 | 9 |
| 2347 | Veterinarians | 1000 | 12 |
| 2349 | Other Natural and Physical Science Professionals | 1000 | 3 |
| 2411 | Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teachers | 2639 | 26 |
| 2414 | Secondary School Teachers | 7910 | 34 |
| 2415 | Special Education Teachers | 1000 | 0 |
| 2512 | Medical Imaging Professionals | 1113 | 1 |
| 2514 | Optometrists and Orthoptists | 1000 | 0 |
| 2519 | Other Health Diagnostic and Promotion Professionals | 1000 | 0 |
| 2521 | Chiropractors and Osteopaths | 1000 | 4 |
| 2524 | Occupational Therapists | 1109 | 5 |
| 2525 | Physiotherapists | 1464 | 12 |
| 2526 | Podiatrists | 1000 | 0 |
| 2527 | Speech Professionals and Audiologists | 1000 | 10 |
| 2531 | General Practitioners and Resident Medical officers | 3495 | 34 |
| 2533 | Internal Medicine Specialists | 1000 | 2 |
| 2534 | Psychiatrists | 1000 | 0 |
| 2535 | Surgeons | 1000 | 2 |
| 2539 | Other Medical Practitioners | 1000 | 68 |
| 2541 | Midwives | 1090 | 3 |
| 2544 | Registered Nurses | 16741 | 105 |
| 2611 | ICT Business and Systems Analysts* | 1574 | 14 |
| 2613 | Software and Applications Programmers* | 6202 | 69 |
| 2621 | Database and Systems Administrators and ICT Security Specialists | 2391 | 72 |
| 2631 | Computer Network Professionals* | 1318 | 21 |
| 2633 | Telecommunications Engineering Professionals | 1000 | 88 |
| 2711 | Barristers | 1000 | 0 |
| 2713 | Solicitors | 4161 | 18 |
| 2723 | Psychologists | 1750 | 6 |
| 2725 | Social Workers | 1562 | 18 |
| 3122 | Civil Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians | 1000 | 1 |
| 3123 | Electrical Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians | 1000 | 0 |
| 3132 | Telecommunications Technical Specialists | 1000 | 2 |
| 3211 | Automotive Electricians | 1000 | 0 |
| 3212 | Motor Mechanics | 5980 | 5 |
| 3222 | Sheetmetal Trades Workers | 1000 | 0 |
| 3223 | Structural Steel and Welding Trades Workers | 4426 | 2 |
| 3232 | Metal Fitters and Machinists | 5330 | 1 |
| 3233 | Precision Metal Trades Workers | 1000 | 0 |
| 3241 | Panelbeaters | 1344 | 0 |
| 3311 | Bricklayers and Stonemasons | 1271 | 0 |
| 3312 | Carpenters and Joiners | 6968 | 3 |
| 3322 | Painting Trades Workers | 2780 | 1 |
| 3331 | Glaziers | 1000 | 0 |
| 3332 | Plasterers | 2103 | 0 |
| 3334 | Wall and Floor Tilers | 1407 | 0 |
| 3341 | Plumbers | 5507 | 1 |
| 3411 | Electricians | 9354 | 7 |
| 3421 | Airconditioning and Refrigeration Mechanics | 1427 | 0 |
| 3422 | Electrical Distribution Trades Workers | 1000 | 0 |
| 3423 | Electronics Trades Workers | 1878 | 2 |
| 3513 | Chefs | 2675 | 6 |
| 3941 | Cabinetmakers | 1905 | 0 |
| 3991 | Boat Builders and Shipwrights | 1000 | 0 |