Toolmaker (ANZSCO 323412)
On the Short-term Skilled Occupation 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 Toolmaker 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.
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).
- 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
- Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) — Temporary, employer sponsored · all occupations for the 482
- Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186) — Permanent, employer sponsored · all occupations for the 186
- 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
Toolmaker 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 Toolmaker comes from:
- Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) (official site) · our guide to the TRA process
What the assessment actually involves
Toolmaker is assessed through the same TRA six-program structure as the rest of the family, with the documentary Migration Skills Assessment the usual offshore route. ANZSCO's description centres this code on making and repairing tools, dies, jigs, fixtures and precision parts and equipment to fine tolerances for machine tools and production machinery. TRA publishes no occupation-specific qualification page for Toolmaker, and applies its general rule that a formal qualification is required and cannot be replaced by work experience or by holding an occupational licence.
Where these applications come unstuck
The reverse of Engineering Patternmaker's trap applies here: someone whose actual background is pattern and mould making, largely in timber, who nominates Toolmaker because the trades feel adjacent, risks supplying evidence that doesn't match Toolmaker's precision-metal-tooling description. The list consequence is real too — Toolmaker's broader reach depends on the work genuinely being precision metal tooling, not the pattern-making Patternmaker actually covers.
An honest read on this pathway
Toolmaker sits on the STSOL and CSOL, reaching six visas — 186, 190, 407, 482, 491 and 494 — the strongest reach of any code in the Toolmakers and Engineering Patternmakers unit group, including the 190 and 407 routes its sibling Patternmaker cannot use. It still falls short of Locksmith's full eight-visa spread elsewhere in this family, since Toolmaker carries no MLTSSL membership and therefore no 189 or 485.
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 Toolmaker 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