If you have been told to download the MSA Booklet, you will not find it. Engineers Australia stopped publishing a document by that name.
The guidance still exists. The requirements still exist. They simply live in a differently named document now, and the version currently in force is v1.1, January 2026. Most of the pages telling you to get “the MSA Booklet” are pointing at something that was last published years ago, which is why so many applicants arrive at their application with out-of-date expectations.
Here is what the document is called now, where to get it, what changed in the January 2026 update, and what it requires of you.
Already have a draft? Send it to us for a free CDR evaluation. We read it against the sixteen competency elements and tell you where the gaps are, at no cost.
What replaced the MSA Booklet
The current document is called Prepare your Migration Skills Assessment application. The version in force as this is written is v1.1, January 2026.
It is linked from Engineers Australia’s migration skills assessment page, alongside two companion documents:
- Migration skills assessment online: applicant guide, which covers the mechanics of the online portal rather than the requirements
- Engineers Australia accredited programs, the list that determines whether you need a CDR at all
That last point is worth pausing on. If your qualification appears on the accredited programs list, or falls under the Washington, Sydney or Dublin Accord, you do not write a CDR. You apply through the accredited pathway with your qualification instead. The CDR pathway exists for applicants whose qualifications are not accredited.
For reference, the previous version was Prepare your Migration Skills Assessment application, September 2025 v1.1. Comparing the two is how the changes below were identified.
Why the old name persists
The name “MSA Booklet” comes from a genuine document. Engineers Australia published an MSA Booklet in October 2016 and another in March 2020. Both are still sitting on Engineers Australia’s servers, which is part of the confusion: you can still download a file called MSA Booklet, and it is years out of date.
If you have downloaded something called the MSA Booklet recently, check its date before you rely on a word of it.
What changed in the January 2026 version
The substantive change is in the English language requirements, and it is a change in how the requirement is dated, not in the scores themselves.
The English test tables were re-cut around 7 August 2025
The September 2025 version presented two score tables split by when you submitted your application: one for applications submitted by 31 December 2025, and a second for applications from 1 January 2026.
The January 2026 version replaces that with two tables split by when you sat the test: one for tests taken before 7 August 2025, and one for tests taken on or after that date.
That is not a cosmetic edit. It moves the trigger from a date you control at the end of the process to a date already fixed in your past. If you sat your test in mid-2025 and have been working from the older guidance, check which table now applies to you.
The 7 August 2025 date aligns Engineers Australia with the Australian Government’s changes to accepted English language tests for visa purposes, which took effect on that date.
The minimum scores in the current version
| Test | Minimum |
|---|---|
| IELTS | 6 in each band |
| TOEFL iBT | 12 to 19 depending on band |
| PTE Academic | 47 to 54 depending on band |
| Other accepted tests | 7 |
Check the current PDF for the full band-by-band table before relying on these. Scores are the single most common reason an otherwise sound application stalls. If you are also working out your visa points, our PR points calculator covers how English scores feed into the points test.
Test validity
The document is explicit: your English test must be taken within three years before lodging, and it must still be valid for verification while your assessment is in progress.
That second half catches people. A test that is valid on the day you lodge but expires during a fifteen week queue is a problem you create for yourself. Count forward, not just backward.
A note on ANZSCO and OSCA
The January 2026 document still directs applicants to the ANZSCO website to identify their occupation. It does not mention OSCA.
This matters because the Australian Bureau of Statistics has been transitioning from ANZSCO to OSCA, and a good deal of migration commentary has already switched to OSCA codes. For your Engineers Australia application, follow the document: it says ANZSCO, so use ANZSCO. Our OSCA and ANZSCO occupation guide sets out both codes side by side for each engineering occupation, so you can quote the right one in the right place.
What did not change
The CDR requirements themselves are unchanged between September 2025 and January 2026. If you were preparing against the previous version, that work stands.
Three career episodes, sixteen elements
You write three career episodes, each showing how you applied engineering knowledge and skill in a specific project or period of work.
The requirement that governs their content is this: you must demonstrate all sixteen elements of competency at least once across your three episodes. Not in each episode. Across all three, collectively.
That single sentence is the most useful planning tool in the document, and it is the one most often ignored. Before writing anything, map which episode will carry which elements. An applicant who writes three episodes about similar work, then discovers four elements have nowhere to live, has to start again.
We have written about this at length in preparing career episodes for Engineers Australia and in our step by step guide to writing a career episode. If you would rather see what a finished one looks like, we publish CDR examples approved by Engineers Australia.
The elements themselves come from the Stage 1 competency standard for your occupational category:
- Stage 1 competency standard for professional engineers
- Stage 1 competency standard for engineering technologists
Read the standard for your category before you write. Not after. If you are unsure which category applies to you, start with professional engineer versus engineering technologist, because choosing the wrong one invalidates the whole application.
The summary statement
The summary statement is a mapping document, and the document is specific about what mapping means: each competency element should be mapped to a specific paragraph in your career episodes.
A paragraph. Not a page, not an episode, not “see CE2”. If your career episodes are not numbered by paragraph, the summary statement cannot do its job, and the assessor cannot verify your claim without hunting. Our walkthrough of how to fill in your summary statement works through it element by element.
CPD
You submit a written statement listing evidence of your continuing professional development. The January 2026 document does not prescribe hours or categories in this section, so treat the requirement as evidence-led: what you did, when, and what it consisted of. See our guide to continuing professional development for your CDR for what counts and how to present it.
The 2024 change that still catches people out
This one predates the January 2026 document but is still routinely missed, because the guidance that mentions it sits on a separate page.
From 1 September 2024, Engineers Australia changed how advanced diplomas and associate degrees are assessed. The change is documented here.
What changed:
- Only qualifications accredited under the Dublin Accord are eligible for the accredited pathway
- Applicants without an accredited qualification must apply through the CDR pathway instead
In practice this affects holders of advanced diplomas and associate degrees from Registered Training Organisations, and it lands hardest on applicants targeting Engineering Associate roles who assumed their qualification would be assessed on its own.
There is an interim arrangement, and it has an end date. It applies only to students who enrolled before 1 September 2024 and are seeking assessment as a Civil Engineering Draftsperson for migration purposes, and Engineers Australia states it will not be available after December 2026.
If that describes you, the deadline is real and it is close.
Fees and timing, 2026 to 2027
Fees are published separately from the application guidance, on Engineers Australia’s assessment fees and additional services page. These are the 2026 to 2027 figures, in Australian dollars, including GST.
| Assessment | Fee |
|---|---|
| CDR pathway, standard | $1,034 |
| CDR pathway with employment assessment | $1,512.50 |
| CDR pathway with PhD assessment | $1,336.50 |
| CDR pathway with both | $1,815 |
| Accords qualification, standard | $555.50 |
| Australian accredited qualification, standard | $346.50 |
Additional services:
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Fast track | $396 |
| Employment assessment on its own | $533.50 |
| PhD assessment on its own | $357.50 |
| Review | $368.50 |
| Appeal | $704 |
Note the gap between pathways. A CDR assessment costs roughly three times an Australian accredited qualification assessment. Confirming whether your qualification is accredited before you start is worth doing properly.
How long it takes
Engineers Australia states that standard applications generally take 15 weeks to be assigned to an assessor.
Read that carefully. Fifteen weeks is the wait before an assessor picks your application up, not the time to an outcome. Plan your visa timeline from that, and remember the English test validity point above: your test needs to still be valid while all of this is happening.
The fast track fee of $396 exists precisely because that queue is long. A rejected application means joining it again, which is the real cost of getting the CDR wrong. Our article on why AI-written CDRs are being rejected covers the failure mode we see most often.
Where to look everything up
Every link here goes to Engineers Australia directly. Bookmark these rather than any third-party summary, this one included. Guidance changes, and the official page is the one that changes first.
| What you need | Where |
|---|---|
| The current application guidance | Prepare your Migration Skills Assessment application, Jan 2026 |
| The overview page and its linked documents | Migration skills assessment |
| Competency elements, professional engineer | Stage 1 competency standard |
| Competency elements, engineering technologist | Stage 1 competency standard |
| Current fees | Assessment fees and additional services |
| The 2024 associate degree change | Changes to MSA for advanced diploma and associate degree qualifications |
| Everything for migrants | For migrants |
Before you start writing
Three things, in order:
- Check whether you need a CDR at all. If your qualification is accredited or falls under an Accord, you do not, and you will save over $600.
- Read the Stage 1 competency standard for your category. Then plan which of your three episodes will carry which of the sixteen elements.
- Check your English test date against the 7 August 2025 split, and check it will still be valid at the far end of a fifteen week queue.
More background is in our CDR writing tips and guidance, our full guide to CDR writing for migration skills assessment in 2026, and our frequently asked questions.
Get your draft checked, free
If you already have draft career episodes, the fastest way to find out whether they hold up is to have them read against the sixteen elements before Engineers Australia does it for you.
Send them through our free CDR evaluation form and we will come back within 48 hours with a written evaluation report: which elements are demonstrated, which are missing, and what needs to change. There is no charge and no obligation.
Our CDR writing prices
CDRsample has been preparing skills assessment documentation since 2009. Our prices are the lowest on the market, and we publish them openly rather than quoting on request.
| Package | Price | Includes | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | AU $395 | 3 career episodes, summary statement, CPD | 4 weeks |
| Gold | AU $595 | Silver, plus CV and unlimited edits | 2 weeks |
| Platinum | AU $745 | Gold, plus two technical writers on your case and priority communication | 1 week |
For comparison, the same work is commonly advertised elsewhere at AU $550 to AU $799.
See the full breakdown on our CDR writing prices page, or read what is included on our CDR writing services page.
Last checked against Engineers Australia’s published guidance on 21 September 2026, using Prepare your Migration Skills Assessment application v1.1, January 2026. Engineers Australia updates its guidance without notice. Verify against the links above before you apply.
