Answers by experts: Evidence for a VETASSESS skills assessment

1. Will a signed contract with an employer be accepted instead of a statement of service? My previous employer isn’t responding to my requests.

For professional occupations, applicants can provide a statutory declaration. However, this would be in addition to providing a range of other official documents, such as a contract and, wherever possible, a position description and any other evidence of the tasks performed.

We also require official evidence of salary/wage payments. Taxation evidence also provides receipt of official income. Statements of service are preferred, wherever possible, to provide evidence of tasks and employment duration.

2. The company I worked for has closed and stopped its activities. Is it acceptable if I prove that it closed and provide a statutory declaration, including the job description?

This would be acceptable if applying for assessment for a general professional occupation if you also accompany it with official evidence of pay and any additional official employment evidence you may have, such as a contract, letters of promotion and similar documents. Submitting official evidence that the company has since ceased business (such as registration information) would also be helpful.

For Trades applications, we do not accept statutory declarations. For trades occupations, when an employer has closed, you will still need to provide a reference or statement or service from either the employer or from a previous supervisor, who may be working elsewhere. The supervisor or employer must include evidence that they were in fact the owner/supervisor of the applicant during the employment period, e.g., an employment contract or reference letter, verifying themselves as supervisor/owner, is required. The supervisor reference of the applicant must include all relevant information, including duties, start and end dates and position title. It must also be signed and dated.

3. My previous employer, outside Australia, paid me cash, so I don’t have pay slips, but I do have reference letters. Is this acceptable?

We do require both references and financial evidence, which may include pay slips, taxation documents, bank statements or superannuation (pension) payment evidence. For cash payments to be acknowledged, you must provide evidence of this payment (Salary statements or receipts), as these documents commonly include the name of both the payee and the organisation.

4. I work for the Government in my home country. How do I provide a letter from my organisation, or does it have to be from the branch office?

You should ask whoever is responsible for providing letters of reference in your organisation. Sometimes this might be the HR office or division, but it may also be a superior, such as a Branch Head, direct supervisor or your department manager.

5. My work is project-based and I’m employed on a casual basis. I do have records of my hours worked on each project. If I can prove all my hours worked meet duration requirements, will that be accepted?

Yes. Generally, we require consolidated evidence supporting your paid employment, regardless of whether it was casual, part-time or full-time work (assuming it meets minimum requirements of 20 hours per week). In cases where applicants are self-employed in professional or general occupations, we require letters of testimony issued by their registered/chartered accountant, legal team or official authorities/bodies that can report on annual income for work performed.

6. People in occupations such as designers sometimes have issues with confidentiality when asked to provide details of their project work. Confidentiality clauses may be included in their employment contracts. Is there any other way to satisfy your evidence requirements?

People in design occupations can usually provide examples of work performed and maintain client confidentiality by blocking out any identifying or confidential client details. The aim is for you to demonstrate your design skills – not to breach client confidentiality.