Interpreter (ANZSCO 272412)
On the Short-term Skilled Occupation List
From the official Home Affairs skilled occupation lists, as at 2026-08-12. Lists change at each government update — always confirm on the official page before acting.
Which lists is Interpreter on?
STSOL — Short-term Skilled Occupation List. Occupations on the STSOL can access state-nominated and regional skilled visas (190/491), but not the Skilled Independent 189.
Visas this occupation can access
Being on a list makes the occupation nominatable for these visas — each visa still has its own requirements (points, age, English, a positive skills assessment, and for sponsored visas a willing employer or state).
- Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) — Permanent, state or territory nominated · all occupations for the 190
- Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491) — Provisional, regional, points-tested · all occupations for the 491
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa (subclass 494) — Provisional, regional employer sponsored · all occupations for the 494
- Training visa (subclass 407) — Temporary, workplace training · all occupations for the 407
Processing priority
Interpreter isn't in any of the ANZSCO groups that Directions 121 and 122 list for the priority sectors. Some of the first group is defined by the job rather than the code: a nominated position directly involved in agriculture, aquaculture or fishing, one that directly supports mining, oil and gas or coal production, or one related to defence. Otherwise the application is processed after the priority sectors. For the permanent and provisional skilled visas, applicants who were in Australia when they applied come next, then those who applied from outside Australia. For the 482, Specialist Skills stream applications come before both.
Priority changes the order in which lodged applications are looked at, not whether they are granted. Who is invited to apply through SkillSelect is decided separately. See all 202 occupations in the priority sectors.
Skills assessment
A positive skills assessment for Interpreter comes from:
- National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters Ltd (NAATI) (official site)
What the assessment actually involves
NAATI is the specified assessing authority for this code, but the eligibility gate sits earlier than the assessment itself: a NAATI skills assessment is generally only available to applicants already sponsored by an employer or nominated by a state or territory government, not to an independent points-tested applicant applying cold. Reaching that gate requires actual NAATI certification gained through sitting a test — a Recognised Practising credential, though a genuine and currently valid NAATI credential for interpreting work, is explicitly not eligible to be used for a skills assessment. Certification, and the assessment built on it, generally stays valid for three years, extended on successful recertification.
Where these applications come unstuck
The single biggest failure mode in this occupation is discovering only after starting that the sponsorship-or-nomination gate applies — an independent applicant with strong language skills and no employer or state nomination already in place may not be able to obtain a skills assessment for this code at all, regardless of how well they would perform on a NAATI test. A second trap is assuming any NAATI credential will do; only a tested certification satisfies the assessment, so a Recognised Practising credential earned through the lower non-test pathway needs to be upgraded first.
An honest read on this pathway
The pathway genuinely depends on already having a sponsor or state nomination lined up before the assessment step becomes reachable at all, which makes this one of the more gated occupations in this family for anyone without that arrangement in place. Separately, NAATI certification and the Credentialed Community Language test can earn migration points for qualifications or skilled employment outside this sponsorship-gated skills-assessment mechanism — a genuinely different, points-only use of the same credential that does not require a sponsor.
Whichever authority assesses you, the paperwork is the part applicants underestimate. The Document Vault keeps a single register of every document, what it was needed for, and what is still missing.
Talk it through with a registered agent
Whether nominating Interpreter is your best route depends on your points, experience evidence and timing — exactly what a MARA-registered agent works through in an initial consultation. Describe your situation once through Migratio and compare real consultation quotes from registered agents, free.
Related occupations
All skilled occupations · Points calculator · Skilled visa agents