Baker (ANZSCO 351111)

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 Baker 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).

Skills assessment

A positive skills assessment for Baker comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

CORRECTED 2026-09-04. The 2026-08-29 entry here stated a specific Certificate qualification and an experience-instead-of-a-qualification fallback. A verified pass across TRA's whole captured site found neither: TRA publishes no per-occupation qualification requirement, and its own FAQ says the opposite of the fallback — "TRA does not accept work experience as a substitute for a qualification." TRA does not run one process for every applicant. Which of its five programs applies depends on your occupation, passport country, where you studied and the visa you are seeking, and TRA says an application lodged into the wrong one "cannot be processed." Most Baker applicants use the documentary Migration Skills Assessment: a passport identity page, your qualification and transcripts, an Employer Template for each job claimed, and matching pay evidence. No English test is required. TRA is explicit that a qualification is not optional here — "TRA does not accept work experience as a substitute for a qualification" — so strong kitchen experience without the paper does not clear this bar. Baker sits on both STSOL and CSOL, sharing ANZSCO's Skill Level 3 with its direct unit-group sibling, Pastrycook.

Where these applications come unstuck

ANZSCO's occupation description says three years' relevant experience can substitute for the formal qualification. That is ANZSCO's general skill-level description, not TRA's assessment rule, and TRA's own FAQ says the opposite in plain words. An experienced baker with no formal trade qualification, reasoning from the ANZSCO line, may believe an assessment will succeed when it will not. Separately, no industry labour agreement naming baking or Baker specifically turned up in what was checked, unlike the named Restaurant and Meat Industry agreements covering other food trades — a Baker chasing sponsorship should not assume an equivalent industry lane exists for this trade without confirming it directly with Home Affairs.

An honest read on this pathway

Baker sits on STSOL and CSOL, reaching the 186, 190, 407, 482, 491 and 494 visas — the same six as Butcher or Smallgoods Maker and Cook — but not the 189 or 485, because Baker is not on the MLTSSL. That ceiling is set by ANZSCO's skill-level classification, not by anything TRA decides case by case. With no dedicated baking industry agreement found, the practical sponsorship route is a standard 482 or 186 with an employer directly, built on the same documentary evidence TRA asks every MSA applicant for.

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 Baker 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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