Automotive Electrician (ANZSCO 321111)

On the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List and Core Skills 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 Automotive Electrician on?

MLTSSL — Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List. The widest list — occupations on the MLTSSL can access the points-tested permanent skilled visas including the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189), which needs no state nomination or employer.

CSOL — Core Skills Occupation List. The employer-sponsorship list — occupations on the CSOL can be nominated for the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) and the Employer Nomination Scheme 186.

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).

Skills assessment

A positive skills assessment for Automotive Electrician comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Automotive Electrician sits in ANZSCO unit group 3211, entirely separate from both Electrician (3411) and Motor Mechanic (3212) — a distinction ABS states explicitly from the electricians' side: "Automotive Electricians are excluded from this unit group. Automotive Electricians are included in Unit Group 3211 Automotive Electricians." It carries the full MLTSSL/CSOL, eight-visa spread. TRA's own assessment criteria for this occupation could not be verified in this research, and whether general Energy Safe-style electrical licensing regimes apply to vehicle-electrical work, or a separate motor-trades licensing framework applies instead, was not confirmed by this research either.

Where these applications come unstuck

The trap is exactly the one ABS's own classification calls out: applying under the general Electrician code (3411) because the work is electrical, or under Motor Mechanic (3212) because the work is on vehicles, when ANZSCO places automotive electrical work in a third, separate unit group from both. The exclusion note appears on the general-electrician page specifically, which suggests it is a common enough error that ABS felt the need to state it directly rather than leave it implied.

An honest read on this pathway

Automotive Electrician carries the same full eight-visa reach as general electrical trades, so the code choice is about accuracy, not visa strategy. This research could not confirm whether vehicle-electrical work in Australia sits under the state electrical-licensing regimes documented for general electricians in Victoria, NSW and WA, or under a separate motor-trades licensing or registration framework — that is a genuine open question this dossier flags rather than resolves, and it is worth checking directly with the relevant state regulator before assuming either answer.

Going through Trades Recognition Australia? TRA pathways lean heavily on documented work history and evidence of on-the-job experience. The Employment History Builder reconstructs it with gap detection, so the record you submit holds together.

Talk it through with a registered agent

Whether nominating Automotive Electrician 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.

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