Caveats on occupations

The below visa programs:

can no longer be used for the occupations listed below where the nominee’s position does not meet the ‘caveat’ requirements as specified in the relevant legislative instrument.

A summary of the caveats that apply to particular occupations is provided below.

The most recent update to the lists of eligible skilled occupations occurred – see:  the lists of eligible skilled occupations.

A list of the Eligible Postcodes in Regional Australia is available.

Caveats per occupation

While the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) contains a broader range of occupations, only the occupations listed below are subject to occupational caveats.

The caveat number(s) shown against each occupation refer to the relevant caveat provisions contained in the applicable legislative instrument for the Subclass 186 ENS (Direct Entry) visa and theSubclass 482 SID visa (Core Skills stream).

Item Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 (Note for Caveats)
Occupation Title ANZSCO Code Applicable circumstance (see below caveats description)
1 Chief Executive or Managing Director 111111 1
2 Corporate General Manager 111211 1
3 Aquaculture Farmer 121111 5
4 Apiarist 121311 5
5 Dairy Cattle Farmer 121313 5
6 Goat Farmer 121315 5
7 Pig Farmer 121318 5
8 Poultry Farmer 121321 5
9 Flower Grower 121611 5
10 Sales and Marketing Manager 131112 6, 12
11 Corporate Services Manager 132111 12
12 Supply and Distribution Manager 133611 6, 12
13 Hotel or Motel Manager 141311 5
14 Hospitality, Retail and Service Managers nec 149999 16
15 Accountant (General) 221111 2, 11, 13
16 Management Accountant 221112 2, 11, 13
17 Taxation Accountant 221113 2, 11, 13
18 Human Resource Adviser 223111 2
19 Recruitment Consultant 223112 11, 13
20 Workplace Relations Adviser 223113 5
21 Management Consultant 224713 11, 13
22 Marketing Specialist 225113 6, 11
23 Technical Sales Representatives nec 225499 6
24 Private Tutors and Teachers nec 249299 14
25 Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner 252214 14
26 Mechanical Engineering Technician 312512 9
27 Baker 351111 10
28 Pastrycook 351112 10
29 Chef 351311 3, 4
30 Cook 351411 3, 4
31 Gas or Petroleum Operator 399212 15
32 Massage Therapist 411611 7
33 Other Sports Coach or Instructor (Wushu Martial Arts Coach or Yoga Instructor Only) 452317 14
34 Retail Buyer 639211 6

Caveats description

The legislative instrument note(s) listed below provide a description of the excluded positions which apply to particular occupations (as listed in table immediately above). For the specific wording of each caveat – see the legislative instrument section for the relevant visa program in the List of eligible skilled occupations.

Determining whether certain occupations apply to an identified person

The following table sets out the circumstances for determining whether certain occupations listed in column 1 of an item of the Core Skills Occupation List apply to an identified person.

Item Column 1

Applicable Circumstance

1 (a) the position has nominated annual earnings of less than AUD180,001; and

(b) if the nominee is to be transferred to fill the position—the transfer is not an intra‑corporate transfer to which an international trade obligation applies.

2 The position is a clerical, bookkeeper or accounting clerk position.
3 The position is involved in mass production in a factory setting.
4 The position is in a limited service restaurant.
5 The position predominantly involves responsibility for low‑skilled tasks.

Example 1:              Fruit picking or packing or feeding of livestock or animals.

Example 2:              Truck driving.

6 The position:

(a) is based in a front‑line retail setting; or

(b) predominantly involves direct client transactional interaction on a regular basis; or

(c) predominantly involves selling educational courses to individual students; or

(d) is based in a call centre and does not require a significant technical knowledge of products.

7 The position:

(a) is not a full‑time position; or

(b) is not based in a therapeutic setting; or

(c) involves the provision of non‑medical relaxation massage; or

(d) is in a retail setting.

8 The position:

(a) is not located in a commercial building or shopping centre environment; or

(b) predominantly involves managing the provision of only one particular service to a facility or managing one particular relationship.

Example:   Managing the cleaning contract for a facility but not other contracts relevant to the facility.

9 The position relates to retail mobile phone repairs or other small consumer mobile devices including tablets, smart watches, handheld gaming devices, portable media players, etc
10 The position relates to mass or standardised production (as opposed to specialist production), including the following:

(a) a position based in a franchise or factory;

(b) a position that:

(i) involves full or partial production of food product for distribution to another location; or

(ii) predominantly involves the use of pre‑prepared food product from another location.

11 The position is in a business that has an annual turnover of less than AUD1,000,000.
12 (a) the position is in a business that has an annual turnover of less than AUD1,000,000; and

(b) if the nominee is to be transferred to fill the position—the transfer is not an intra‑corporate transfer to which an international trade obligation applies.

(c) the position is in a business that has fewer than 5 employees; and

(i) if the nominee is to be transferred to fill the position—the transfer is not an intra‑corporate transfer to which an international trade obligation applies.

13 The position is in a business that has fewer than 5 employees.
14 The position is not provided for under an International Trade Obligation.
15 The position has nominated annual earnings of less than AUD120,000.
16 The position is a brothel keeper.