Interior Decorator (ANZSCO 399912)

On the Regional 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 Interior Decorator on?

ROL — Regional Occupation List. Occupations on the ROL are limited to the regional provisional visas — mainly the Skilled Work Regional 491 and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional 494.

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).

Processing priority

Interior Decorator 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 Interior Decorator comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

VETASSESS assesses Interior Decorator as a Group C occupation, requiring a qualification comparable to an AQF Diploma or higher — one full tier below Interior Designer's Bachelor-level Group B bar, even though both occupations carry the same ANZSCO Skill Level 2 rating. The assessment covers planning interior design of commercial or residential premises and arranging for decorating work to be carried out, distinct from the fuller design-and-construction-supervision scope of Interior Designer.

Where these applications come unstuck

Interior Decorator excludes Interior Designer, Architectural Draftsperson, Visual Merchandiser and Furniture Designer by name. Because the job titles "interior designer" and "interior decorator" are used interchangeably across Australian industry, applicants routinely nominate on whichever title their business or recruiter happens to use, rather than checking which VETASSESS tier and evidence set their actual qualification level supports. Getting this wrong runs mostly in one direction: nominating the Decorator code when a Bachelor qualification would clear the higher Designer tier gives up reach for no gain.

An honest read on this pathway

Interior Decorator sits on the Regional Occupation List only, reaching just the 494 regional-provisional visa — no 190, no 407, and no employer-sponsored 186 or 482 at all. A Diploma-qualified decorator has a genuinely open pathway here; a Bachelor-qualified interior designer nominating this code instead of Interior Designer trades away STSOL, CSOL and 186/482 reach for a qualification bar they had already cleared at the higher tier.

VETASSESS assesses qualifications and employment separately. Both need documentation that agrees with itself. The Employment History Builder and Document Vault organise each trail before you lodge.

Talk it through with a registered agent

Whether nominating Interior Decorator 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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