Hairdresser (ANZSCO 391111)

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 Hairdresser 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 Hairdresser comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Hairdresser is the only code in ANZSCO unit group 3911, sitting on STSOL and CSOL with a six-visa reach — 186, 190, 407, 482, 491, 494 — missing both 189 (Skilled Independent) and 485 (Temporary Graduate), the same narrower pattern several other STSOL-tier trades in this family carry. TRA's own assessment criteria for this occupation could not be verified in this research, since its website did not resolve, and whether Australian states require a personal licence or registration to practise hairdressing, commonly understood as unlicensed in most states from general knowledge, could not be sourced to any state regulator in the research behind this family and should be treated as unconfirmed rather than assumed either way.

Where these applications come unstuck

The trap worth naming here is exactly that unverified assumption: an applicant might reasonably expect hairdressing to be licence-free the way general knowledge suggests, and plan their move accordingly, when this research genuinely could not confirm that against a state regulator's own page — unlike electrical and plumbing, where the licensing requirement is stated explicitly and in detail. Treating an unconfirmed assumption as a settled fact, in either direction, is the risk, not a specific documented licensing requirement.

An honest read on this pathway

Hairdresser's STSOL position closes off the same two pathways — 189 and 485 — that limit several other trades in this family, leaving employer sponsorship, state nomination or a regional visa as the realistic routes. Whether any Australian state actually requires personal licensing or registration to work as a hairdresser was not confirmed in this research and should be checked directly with the relevant state fair-trading or consumer-affairs regulator rather than assumed from general impressions before planning around it either way.

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.

We've also written a full pathway guide for this occupation: read the Hairdresser pathway guide.

Talk it through with a registered agent

Whether nominating Hairdresser 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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