TRA Skills Assessment for Trades and Hospitality: 2026 Guide

TRA Pathway Types

TRA offers three programs most relevant to trade and hospitality applicants, chosen by whether you're onshore or offshore, your occupation and your passport — not one form for the whole group. The Offshore Skills Assessment Program (OSAP) is for applicants offshore whose occupation and passport sit on TRA's own OSAP occupation and country lists, run through an approved Registered Training Organisation (RTO) rather than TRA directly; it has two pathways — Pathway 1 for applicants without a relevant Australian VET qualification, Pathway 2 for those who already hold one or a current, unrestricted Australian occupation licence — and TRA states outcomes are emailed roughly 15 weeks after complete documentary evidence is submitted. OSAP is compulsory, for permanent migration, in only four licensed occupations: Electrician (General), Electrician (Special Class), Plumber (General), and Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Mechanic. The Job Ready Program (JRP) is different in kind: an onshore, employment-based program for international graduates of an Australian VET course who are already working in Australia in the nominated occupation. It runs through four stages — Provisional Skills Assessment (PSA), Job Ready Employment (JRE), Job Ready Workplace Assessment (JRWA) and Job Ready Final Assessment (JRFA) — and TRA states the JRP "cannot be completed in less than twelve (12) calendar months" from the JRE start date, with all qualifying employment undertaken inside Australia. The Migration Skills Assessment (MSA) is TRA's own document-only assessment and, in TRA's own words, is "a pathway for people applying for a skilled migration visa in occupations and countries that are not required to be assessed in any of our other programs" — the general-purpose route most offshore applicants outside the OSAP lists will use. TRA does not advise which program or occupation fits an individual case; its own FAQ states applicants must nominate their own occupation.

Eligible Occupations

TRA is the assessing authority for 137 occupations on Australia's skilled occupation lists (Home Affairs skilled occupation list, as published September 2026), spanning trades, hospitality and a number of other technical occupations. The hospitality and common-trade codes include Chef (351311), Cook (351411), Baker (351111) and Pastrycook (351112), Motor Mechanic (General) (321211), Hairdresser (391111), Carpenter (331212), Cabinetmaker (394111), Bricklayer (331111), Painting Trades Worker (332211), and Plumber (General) (334116). Chef sits on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List plus the Core Skills Occupation List, reaching all eight visa subclasses a TRA-assessed trade can access, including the points-tested 189 and the post-study 485. Cook, Baker, Pastrycook and Hairdresser instead sit on the Short-term Skilled Occupation List plus the Core Skills Occupation List, reaching the employer-sponsored 186 and 482 and the regional 491/494 routes, but not 189 or 485 — the structural difference between Chef and the rest of the hospitality group. Some trades in this list, Electrician among them, carry additional state-level licensing requirements that sit outside TRA's own assessment.

Job Ready Program: How It Works

The JRP is the onshore pathway for international graduates already working in the trade or hospitality occupation in Australia, and it runs in four stages. (1) Provisional Skills Assessment (PSA) — for recent international graduates applying for a Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485), TRA assesses whether the Australian qualification meets the required AQF level for the nominated occupation and the JRP's prerequisites; a successful outcome can be used both for the 485 application and to register for the JRP, and is valid for 3 years from the date of the outcome letter. (2) Job Ready Employment (JRE) — TRA requires at least 12 months of full-time (or equivalent part-time) paid employment in the nominated occupation, averaging 38 hours a week and including up to four weeks of paid leave, with a Skills Progress Report kept for each employer; TRA states the JRP "cannot be completed in less than twelve (12) calendar months" from the JRE start date. (3) Job Ready Workplace Assessment (JRWA) — an onsite assessment by a TRA-approved RTO assessor, which can be applied for once 6 months of full-time-equivalent employment is complete and TRA has issued an invitation. (4) Job Ready Final Assessment (JRFA) — available once a successful JRWA is achieved and the 12-month employment minimum is met; the JRP isn't complete until the JRFA outcome letter arrives, so employment needs to continue until then. TRA's fees change without notice and a verified source pass in September 2026 could find no TRA-published figure supporting the totals this page previously quoted, so check the current fee for your program on TRA's own site before budgeting.

Qualifications Recognized for TRA

TRA compares an applicant's training — transcripts, syllabus and content — against the AQF-level qualification it lists for each nominated occupation, published in TRA's own Australian Qualifications by Occupation document; the required level and content vary by occupation rather than following one rule for the whole trades-and-hospitality group. Whether an overseas qualification is accepted comes down to that same syllabus comparison against TRA's own list. TRA's material states plainly that neither work experience nor an occupational licence can substitute for a formal qualification: "TRA does not accept work experience as a substitute for a qualification," and separately, "an occupational licence cannot substitute a formal qualification." Employment evidence has to be documentary — verifiable payslips, tax records and reference letters for each period claimed — and TRA states that being paid in cash means "you will not be eligible to apply as you will not have the documentary evidence required."

Strategy for International Chefs and Cooks

A common route into this pathway starts with an Australian VET qualification, which can support a Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) application once TRA's Provisional Skills Assessment issues a successful outcome. The Job Ready Program stages then run in sequence — Job Ready Employment (minimum 12 months, per TRA's own guidance), Job Ready Workplace Assessment and Job Ready Final Assessment — before a skilled visa application. Which visa is available afterwards depends on the occupation's own list membership: Chef, on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, reaches the independent points-tested 189 and the post-study 485 as well as the employer-sponsored and regional routes; Cook, Baker, Pastrycook and Hairdresser sit on the Short-term Skilled Occupation List and reach the employer-sponsored (186, 482) and regional (491, 494) routes but not 189 or 485. TRA's own JRFA outcome letter "is not a qualification, nor does it represent formal accreditation" of skills or experience — it's one document a subsequent skilled or employer-sponsored visa application will still need alongside everything else that application requires. Migratio is Australia's marketplace for finding and comparing MARA-registered migration agents. Migratio matches applicants with MARA-registered agents who specialise in chef and hospitality migration, including end-to-end TRA and visa pathway planning. Submit your brief describing your current qualifications, country of origin, and timeline.

Can I do the JRP outside major cities?

TRA doesn't restrict where JRE employment happens — it needs a TRA-approved employer and supervisor in the nominated occupation, which can be anywhere in Australia.

Do I need an Australian qualification, or can my overseas qualification be enough?

It depends on the program. The Job Ready Program is specifically for graduates of an Australian VET course. The Offshore Skills Assessment Program and the Migration Skills Assessment can work with an overseas qualification through TRA's own syllabus comparison, but TRA states an occupational licence and work experience cannot substitute for a formal qualification either way.

How long does the workplace assessment take?

TRA doesn't publish a fixed duration for the Job Ready Workplace Assessment itself. What is fixed is the timing: TRA states a JRWA can occur once you've completed 6 months of full-time-equivalent paid employment and TRA has invited you to apply.

Is the JRP fee tax-deductible in Australia?

That's a tax question rather than a migration one, and depends on individual circumstances — the ATO's own guidance on work-related and self-education expense deductions is the place to check.

What if my JRE employment ends with an employer before the 12-month minimum is reached?

TRA lets you accumulate hours across multiple TRA-approved employers, and its guidance also allows up to three months of unbroken paid employment completed immediately before you apply for the JRE step to count, provided it wasn't already used for a PSA assessment. Someone averaging fewer than the full-time 38 hours a week simply takes longer to reach the 12-month full-time-equivalent minimum.