Arborist (ANZSCO 362511)

On the Short-term Skilled Occupation List and Core Skills Occupation List · ANZSCO codes 362511, 362212

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 Arborist 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 Arborist comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Arborist is one of two codes in this family with genuinely open sponsorship routes, but the occupation description behind that code changed materially in 2022. Where the retired 2013 code described lopping limbs and general tree care at Skill Level 3, the current code describes specialist risk assessment, species selection and site planning done alongside Landscape Architects and planners, at Skill Level 2. TRA has no dedicated Arborist page and no published evidence checklist reflecting that shift; MSA remains a documentary, qualification-based check, and TRA states plainly that work experience or an occupational licence cannot substitute for the underlying qualification.

Where these applications come unstuck

Nominating Arborist purely on hands-on climbing-and-pruning experience, without accounting for the 2022 skill-level move toward specialist assessment and planning work, is the central risk here: the hands-on climbing trade is now more precisely described elsewhere in ANZSCO's classification, and TRA has not published occupation-specific guidance clarifying the boundary. A second, state-specific pitfall: in Victoria, pruning trees near powerlines is restricted to authorised powerline contractors, not open to any arborist with a positive skills assessment, a completely separate authorisation from anything TRA or a migration outcome checks.

An honest read on this pathway

Arborist carries both STSOL and CSOL, so it reaches 190, 407, 491 and 494 from the Short-Term list plus 186 and 482 from the CSOL, genuinely the widest visa reach in this family alongside Landscape Gardener. Neither reaches 189 or 485, so a points-tested independent or post-study route is not available under this code regardless of the sponsorship options. Home Affairs' published occupation data bundles both the 2013 and 2022 codes into one entry with identical visa reach, so the naming shift does not currently cost a visa route, only the strength of evidence an assessor would expect.

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 Arborist 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

Related occupations

All skilled occupations · Points calculator · Skilled visa agents