Thank you very much for your reply Westly. I've read the Form 1195 instructions several times now and couldn't see this mentioned anywhere. It is clear that the person making the identity declaration can be a citizen from your country of residence (if you are applying from outside Australia and do not know an Australian citizen). However, I cannot see anywhere that mentions that the occupation of the person can be the 'equivalent' in your country of residence. All I see is "is currently working in a profession or occupation listed on pages 1–2", where several of these professions are very specific to Australia (eg: Chartered Accountants in Australia, employee of the Australian Postal Corporation etc). It's quite likely that I have missed this point in the instructions; could you please quote the text in the instructions that suggests an equivalent occupation is acceptable?