Metal Machinist (First Class) (ANZSCO 323214)

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 Metal Machinist (First Class) 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 Metal Machinist (First Class) comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Metal Machinist (First Class) sits in unit group 3232 Metal Fitters and Machinists alongside Fitter (General), Fitter and Turner and Fitter-Welder, sharing the same full MLTSSL/CSOL, eight-visa spread — machinist work centres on operating machine tools to produce precision metal parts, a distinct skill set from the fitting-and-assembly base duties defined for the Fitter codes in the same unit group, even though all four sit on identical visa lists. TRA's own criteria distinguishing machinist evidence from fitter evidence could not be checked in this research, since the authority's website did not resolve.

Where these applications come unstuck

The specific risk here is the same one that runs through the whole 3232 unit group: nominating this code on a job title alone rather than on documented machine-operating duties, or the reverse — someone who genuinely ran precision machining work under a generic "fitter" title risking under-claiming by defaulting to Fitter (General) instead. Because this code shares no ANZSCO exclusion note with any code outside its own unit group in the sources checked, the confusable-code risk sits entirely within the fitting-and-machining family, not against an outside occupation.

An honest read on this pathway

Metal Machinist (First Class) reaches the full eight-visa spread shared across unit group 3232, so the visa list itself does not disadvantage this code against the fitting codes it sits alongside. As with the rest of the fitting and machining trades, this research did not confirm state-specific licensing requirements for machinist work, and sponsorship for this occupation runs through standard 482, 186 or 494 employer sponsorship, or a regional DAMA, rather than any dedicated Construction or Trades industry labour agreement — none was found in this research.

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 Metal Machinist (First Class) 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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