Recognition file / Ten occupations

Find your occupation: who decides what.

Most occupations meet up to three separate decision makers after a move: the assessing authority for a migration skills assessment, a registration or licensing body, and sometimes a training organisation for gap training or recognition of prior learning. This finder names each one and links to its own pages.

Engineers in hard hats and hi-vis vests reviewing plans on a building site

File: Occupations

Covers10 occupations

SourcesEach body's own site

Checked22 October 2026

Ten occupations, three questions each.

Who assesses it for migration, who registers or licenses it, and what the usual steps are. Always check the authority listed against your exact occupation code on the Department's skilled occupation list. Which occupation to nominate for a visa is a question for a registered migration agent.

Instructor talking with a young machinist in an industrial workshop

Trade / Electrotechnology

Electrician

Skills assessment: Trades Recognition Australia (TRA). The Offshore Skills Assessment Program is compulsory for permanent migration in this occupation for applicants from listed countries.
Licence: Electrical licence from the state or territory regulator
State note: Each state and territory sets its own licence classes and conditions

TRA assessment, through the Offshore Skills Assessment Program where it applies.
A provisional licence on arrival where the regulator offers one.
Gap training and the regulator's final licensing requirements.

TRA: Offshore Skills Assessment Program Full electrician guide

Trade / Plumbing

Plumber

Skills assessment: Trades Recognition Australia (TRA). The Offshore Skills Assessment Program is compulsory for permanent migration as a Plumber (General) for applicants from listed countries.
Licence: Plumbing licence or registration from the state or territory regulator
State note: Scope of work and conditions differ by state

TRA assessment for migration where needed.
Apply to the state regulator as an overseas-trained applicant.
Complete any gap training the regulator sets.

TRA NSW overseas-trained applicants

Trade / Building

Carpenter

Skills assessment: Trade occupations are assessed by Trades Recognition Australia (TRA); check the authority listed for your code
Licence: Varies by state; some building work needs a licence or registration
State note: Check the building regulator in the state where you will work

TRA assessment for migration where needed.
Check whether the work you will do needs a licence in that state.
Gap training through a registered training organisation if required.

TRA NSW overseas-trained applicants

Trade / Hospitality

Chef

Skills assessment: Trade occupations are assessed by Trades Recognition Australia (TRA); check the authority listed for your code
Licence: Check any requirements for the role with the employer and the state
Evidence: Qualifications and detailed employment evidence

Check the occupation code and its listed authority.
Assessment for migration where needed, with employment evidence.

TRA

Diverse nursing students practising on a manikin in a bright simulation lab

Health / Registered nurse

Registered nurse

Skills assessment: ANMAC (Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council)
Registration: National registration through Ahpra and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
State note: Registration is national

Check the Board's requirements for internationally qualified nurses.
Apply for registration through Ahpra.
Apply to ANMAC if a migration skills assessment is needed.

ANMAC Nursing and Midwifery Board Ahpra

Support worker in blue scrubs helping an older man at home

Health and care / Aged care

Aged care worker

Skills assessment: The authority listed against the exact occupation code on the Department's list
Screening: Employers require screening and police checks; disability support work needs an NDIS Worker Screening Check
Training: A care qualification through a registered training organisation, if needed for the role

Check the occupation code and its listed authority.
Employer screening and checks.
Training where the role needs it.

Skilled occupation list NDIS worker screening

Smiling professional woman working at a computer in a bright office

Professional / Finance

Accountant

Skills assessment: CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, or the Institute of Public Accountants
Registration: Tax agents register with the Tax Practitioners Board
Note: Professional membership is separate from the migration assessment

Choose one of the three assessing bodies and read its requirements.
Gather qualification and employment evidence.

CPA Australia CA ANZ IPA Tax Practitioners Board

Diverse team chatting together in a bright open co-working space

Professional / ICT

Software engineer

Skills assessment: Australian Computer Society (ACS)
Evidence: Qualifications and ICT work experience compared with the occupation
Note: Employers may set their own technical tests

ACS migration skills assessment.
English and employment evidence for any visa, as the visa requires.

ACS migration skills assessment

Two young children seen from behind heading to a playground

Professional / Education

Early childhood teacher

Skills assessment: The authority listed against the exact occupation code on the Department's list
Registration: Teacher registration with the teacher regulator in the state or territory
Guide: AITSL explains teacher migration services and early childhood teacher registration in Australia

Check the occupation code and its listed authority.
Teacher registration in the state where you will work.

AITSL teacher migration services

Engineers in safety gear reviewing plans on a sunny construction site

Professional / Engineering

Civil engineer

Skills assessment: Engineers Australia
Registration: Professional engineering services in Queensland need registration as a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ)
State note: Check the registration rules in the state where you will work

Engineers Australia migration skills assessment.
State registration where professional engineering services require it.

Engineers Australia Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland

Video, no sound: Construction crew pouring concrete on a roof slab under a clear blue skyTrades at work on an Australian site

Video, no sound: Nurse listening to a senior woman with a stethoscope during a home health checkCare and health work

Who decides is never us. Assessing authorities decide assessments, regulators decide licences and registration, training organisations decide recognition within their scope, and the Department of Home Affairs decides visas. Which occupation to nominate for a visa is a question for a registered migration agent; we refer visa matters to Sukh Sandhu, Registered Migration Agent, MARN 1384130. See also the support finder and RPL with CAQA.