ACS Reference Letter: Mandatory Requirements for ICT Skills Assessment

An ACS reference letter is one of the most critical documents in your ACSMigration Skills Assessment application. The Australian Computer Society uses it as the primary evidence to verify your ICT work history, including the roles you held, the duties you performed, the hours you worked, and the dates of each employment episode. Without a properly formatted letter, ACS cannot confirm your skilled employment, which means that period is excluded from your assessment entirely.

ACS Reference Letter – Mandatory Fields and Exact Format

ACS has published a specific list of required fields for every ACS reference letter. Missing even one field gives assessors grounds to exclude that employment period from your assessment. The letter must be on official company letterhead and signed by an authorised person, digital signatures are accepted but must come with a digital verification certificate that authenticates the signer’s identity.

Required Field	Specific Requirement
Company letterhead	Full company name, address, phone number, and official email, printed header, not typed
Applicant’s full name	Exactly as it appears on the passport, no nicknames or shortened versions
Position title	Exact job title for each role held, if multiple roles at same employer, list each separately
Employment dates	Start and end date in DD/MM/YYYY format, if current, write ‘current’ or ’till date’ for end date
Employment status	Clearly state: permanent full-time, part-time, or contractor, part-time must specify hours per week
Hours per week	Must confirm minimum 20 hours per week, ACS treats anything below 20 hours as unsuitable
Location of work	State ‘Australia’ or ‘Outside Australia’ for each position, each Australian period listed separately
ICT duties performed	Specific technical duties relevant to your ANZSCO occupation, not copied from ANZSCO descriptions
Authorised signatory	Full name, position title, phone number, and work email of the person signing the letter

One critical rule directly from ACS: duties copied from ANZSCO occupation descriptions or from another reference letter will not be accepted. ACS assessors recognise templated duty lists immediately. The duties must reflect the specific technical work you personally performed in that role.

Specific Employment Situations and How ACS Handles Them

TheACS reference letter requirements change depending on your employment situation. Each scenario has specific rules; using the wrong approach for your situation delays your assessment.

Multiple Roles with the Same Employer

Each role listed separately within the same letter
ACS requires table format: Position Title, Start Date, End Date, Location
Separate row for each role
Duties for each role must also be listed separately
Single paragraph covering all roles is not accepted

Recruitment Agency Employment

Reference letter must come from the host company, not the agency
Agency letters confirming placement dates are not sufficient
Host company must confirm actual duties, hours, and employment period

Overlapping Employment Periods

Both jobs can be submitted as separate employment episodes
Overlapping periods counted only once for total skilled employment duration
Example: Two 12-month jobs with 3-month overlap = 12 months recognised, not 24

Part-Time Employment

Accepted if letter confirms minimum 20 hours per week
If hours per week not stated, ACS treats employment as unsuitable
Work experience while studying not counted unless it was paid employment not required by qualification

Freelance and Self-Employed Experience

Requires formal statements from each client on their letterhead
Must confirm dates, hours per week, and duties performed
Payment evidence required: client invoices with matching bank statements or tax records
Self-declaration alone is not sufficient

What to Do When You Cannot Get an ACS Employment Reference Letter

If your employer cannot or will not provide an ACS reference letter that meets ACS requirements, you are not automatically excluded from claiming that employment period. ACS provides a specific alternative process.

ACS accepts aStatutory Declaration or Affidavit written by a work colleague, not by you, when a company letterhead reference cannot be obtained. This applies most commonly when a company has closed, when HR policies prevent detailed references, or when a supervisor has left the organisation.

The statutory declaration or affidavit must:

Describe the working relationship between the referee and the applicant
Confirm specific ICT duties performed with dates of employment
State clearly that it was ‘Sworn Before’, ‘Signed Before’, or ‘Witnessed Before’ an authorised witness
Include the date and location where the declaration was witnessed
Be accompanied by an explanation of why a standard company letterhead reference could not be obtained

A statutory declaration written by you about your own employment is not accepted. It must come from a colleague who can independently verify your work. Supporting evidence, such as tax records or payslips from that period, must also be submitted alongside the declaration.

What ACS Will Not Accept as Employment Evidence

ACS is explicit about documents that cannot substitute for or supplement an ACS reference letter. Submitting these delays your assessment and in some cases triggers a request for further information:

Employment contracts: confirm job offer terms, not duties performed
Offer letters and appointment letters: confirm hiring intention, not actual work history
Position descriptions: describe the role generally, not your individual performance
Reference letters from the recruitment agency (not the host employer)
Letters with duties copied directly fromANZSCO occupation code descriptions
Letters signed by HR only, without any engineering or technical manager confirmation of duties
Undated letters or letters without a signatory’s contact details

If dates or duties are unclear or open to interpretation, ACS assesses that work episode as not suitable. There is no partial credit, the entire employment period is either accepted or excluded.

Payment Evidence Required Alongside the Reference Letter

ACS requires at least two types of payment evidence for everyemploymentepisode to confirm the employment was genuine and paid at a market rate. Accepted payment evidence includes:

Official government tax records: income tax summaries, group certificates, or notices of assessment citing both company and applicant name
Payslips: must include your name and employer name clearly
Superannuation or employment-linked insurance documents: citing both employee and employer names
Bank statements: showing salary deposits from the employer, with both applicant and employer names visible

All documents not in English must be accompanied by certified English translations. ACS does not review any document that has not been translated no matter what the content may be.

Why Choose CDR Australia Writer for ACS Work Reference Letter and RPL Support?

Many ACS applications are delayed because the ACS reference letter does not meet the mandatory requirements, not because the applicant lacks genuine ICT experience. The duties are too generic. The dates are in the wrong format. The signatory’s details are missing. Or the letter contradicts information in theRPL project reports.

Reference letter review: We check every letter against ACS’s current InfoHub requirements before you submit, format, duty descriptions, date formats, signatory details, and consistency with your RPL content
Duty content guidance: We advise your employer or supervisor on what specific ICT duties to include, using language that meets ACS assessment standards without being copied from ANZSCO descriptions
Statutory declaration preparation: If a company letter cannot be obtained, we prepare the statutory declaration framework and advise on supporting evidence to maximise its chances of acceptance
Full ACS RPL service: Complete RPL report writing, KAoK statements, Project Report 1, Project Report 2, 100% original, plagiarism-tested, cross-checked against your reference letters before delivery
Payment evidence checklist: We confirm which payment documents you need for each employment period and flag gaps before submission

A correctly prepared ACS reference letter protects every employment period you want ACS to recognise. One missing field or one inconsistency between your letter and your RPL project reports can cost you years of skilled employment recognition, directly affecting the outcome of your assessment and your migration timeline.

One Missing Field Can Cost You Years

ACS does not give partial credit. A single missing field, generic duties, or unverified payment proof means that entire employment period is excluded from yourskills assessment.

Whether you are formatting a standard company letter or preparing a statutory declaration because a former employer has closed, your employment evidence must be flawless and perfectly consistent with your RPL report.

If you would like us to review your reference letters, align your ICT duties, or prepare a statutory declaration framework before you submit, you can contact us any time.

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