Locksmith (ANZSCO 323313)

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 Locksmith 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 Locksmith comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Locksmith runs through TRA's standard six-program structure like every code here, with the documentary Migration Skills Assessment the usual offshore route: qualification and transcripts, an Employer Template per job, matching pay evidence. ANZSCO's own entry states “Registration or licensing is required” for this occupation, the same firmer wording used only for Gunsmith among these eleven codes. TRA does not name a specific qualification level for Locksmith on any reachable page, but its general rule applies without exception: “TRA does not accept work experience as a substitute for a qualification”, and an occupational licence cannot substitute for one either.

Where these applications come unstuck

A real 2007 forum thread captures the exact wall this creates: a poster asked how a locksmith with no formal certification and eight years on-the-job could even apply, after TRA removed its no-qualification pathway. Under today's Migration Skills Assessment that concern is, if anything, sharper — a strong employment record with no matching formal qualification is not something MSA will accept in place of one. ANZSCO's registration-required wording is a separate signal again: this dossier could not verify the specific state-by-state locksmith licensing regime an applicant would face on arrival.

An honest read on this pathway

Locksmith is the only code in this eleven-occupation family on the MLTSSL, and the only one with the full eight-visa reach, including the points-tested independent 189 and the post-study 485 — a genuinely stronger pathway than any sibling in this family, and one that does not require an employer to sponsor the visa itself. It does not remove the qualification bar the 2007 thread ran into, and it does not resolve the open question of state licensing once the person is actually in Australia and locksmithing.

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 Locksmith 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.

Compare registered agents — free

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