How to Prepare CDR for Australia Migration?

By James Anderson October 31, 2025 Skilled Migration

An engineer without an internationally benchmarked qualification can only obtain a skilled migration visa to Australia by completing their skills assessment. They are required to produce a competency demonstration report (CDR) for migration skills assessment. The peak professional body, Engineers Australia, is authorised to evaluate applicants’ engineering competence to determine their eligibility for Australian immigration. 

To prepare a CDR report for Australia migration, one must follow all the norms and procedures set by Engineers Australia. A CDR must be impressive and aligned with the guidelines to have a positive skills assessment. It is an extensive and technical document that demonstrates one’s engineering knowledge and competence for the nominated occupation. 

With expertise and years of experience, we help candidates craft excellent reports that better demonstrate their technical knowledge and competency. AustraliaCDRHelp is the group of professionals and veteran engineers well-acquainted with the procedures for creating compelling competency reports for Engineers Australia. We offer a one-stop CDR service tailored to individual requirements. Avail of our CDR report writing services and conquer skills assessment. Moreover, we help candidates craft an excellent report by following the tips below. 

Steps To Prepare A Compelling CDR For Migration Skills Assessment

Nominate Preferred Occupational Category: Choose one of the four occupational categories outlined by Engineers Australia that best aligns with their engineering qualification and experience:

  1. Professional Engineer 
  2. Engineering Technologist 
  3. Engineering Associate 
  4. Engineering Manager 

Gather required documents: Collect all necessary documents, including:

  1. A prime identification containing a page of a passport with the name and photo
  2. Recent passport-sized colour photograph
  3. Educational degree certificates and official academic transcripts
  4. A professional and up-to-date Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  5. Proof of English language proficiency (IELTS, TOEFL iBT, or PTE Academic results)
  6. Documentary evidence of employment (if claiming work experience)
  7. English translations for non-English documents, if applicable 

How To Prepare Core Elements Of CDR For Australian PR?

A competency demonstration report consists of three key components: the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) record, three Career Episodes, and one Summary Statement. 

Three Career Episodes (CEs) For Australia Migration CDR

A career episode presents the applicant’s engineering education and work experience in their practice area relevant to their nominated occupation. Each career episode must demonstrate different aspects of their engineering activities. In addition, it is a personal, first-person narrative of a specific engineering project or work experience. Each should be 1,000–2,500 words and follow a structured format including the sections below. 

  1. Introduction (approx.100 words): Specifying the project’s dates, location, and applicants’ job position and role.
  2. Background (200–500 words): Describing the overall project objectives,  their specific work area, and showing their position in the organisational hierarchy with a chart.
  3. Personal Engineering Activity (600–1,000 words): A main body and key assessable section explaining the tasks applicants performed, the technical problems or issues they solved, and how they applied their engineering knowledge. Use the first-person (“I designed,” “I devised”, “I calculated”) to define personal contribution in the project.
  4. Summary (50–100 words): Summarising personal view of the project and their personal role in achieving the goals. 

Summary Statement (SS) In CDR For Australia Immigration

A summary statement links career episodes to the competencies required by Engineers Australia. 

  1. Applicants should download and complete a proper summary statement and use the official Summary Statement template for their occupational category.
  2. To frame a summary statement, they need to analyse their CEs and cross-reference specific numbered paragraphs with the corresponding competency elements. They are not required to cover all indicators within each competency element, but every aspect must be addressed across the three episodes. 

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) For Australia Migration Skills Assessment

A  CPD is a means by which candidates keep themselves up-to-date with recent developments in the field of their engineering since completing their undergraduate qualification. 

  1. Present a CPD as a one A4 page in a chronological table listing all formal and informal training and professional development since your undergraduate degree.
  2. Include the title, dates, duration, venue, and organiser of each activity. 
  3. Provide the details of the conferences, seminars, workshops, technical meetings, group discussions, short courses, and private study. 

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

  1. Candidates must format their CVs clearly on A4 pages, listing their employment history in reverse-chronological order.
  2. Provide details for each position, including the organisation’s name and location, dates of employment, and job title. 

How To Submit CDR For Successful Assessment At Engineers Australia Portal

  1. Avoid plagiarism: All documents must be original. EA is very strict about this and uses plagiarism detection tools. Using sample CDRs for reference is acceptable, but copying is not.
  2. Use Australian English. Ensure grammar, spelling, and phrasing are consistent with Australian English standards.
  3. Number each paragraph. Numbering career episodes and paragraphs within is crucial for easy referencing in the Summary Statement (e.g., CE1.1, CE1.2, etc.). 
  4. Review and proofread: Check the entire application for spelling, grammatical, and formatting errors, and thoroughly review it for clarity, accuracy, and readability.
  5. Submit online: Upload all documents through the Engineers Australia MyPortal.
  6. Be honest and detailed: Provide honest and verifiable information. Assessors may contact applicants for additional questions.
  7. Wait for the outcome: Standard assessment can take several weeks or more, so be patient and wait for the assessment outcome. However, a Fast Track option is available with an additional fee.