Community Worker (ANZSCO 411711)

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 Community Worker 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 Community Worker comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Community Work Australia assesses Community Worker under Criterion 1's AQF Level 5 diploma bar, met one of three ways: its own accredited diploma, a recognised bachelor's degree or higher assessed as equivalent, or a relevant, non-accredited diploma covering community and human services subject matter. Unlike four of its 4117 siblings, Community Worker carries no specialised-versus-non-specialised employment split — every qualification pathway sits under the same Criterion 1, and the authority instead draws the occupation's boundary functionally, against lower-skilled direct-care work, rather than by how specific your qualification's field was. Graduates of an accredited qualification satisfy the employment test through their course's field placement; everyone else needs genuine paid employment.

Where these applications come unstuck

Community Worker's own DAMA-pathway page names its lower boundary directly: roles that mean providing supervision in a residential setting, or help with mobility, housekeeping, personal care and hygiene, and meal preparation, are not considered relevant, and the authority states plainly that Aged Care, Residential Care and Disability Support Workers — including Lead Support Worker, Team Leader or House Leader titles — generally operate at a lower skill level than Community Worker, however senior the job title reads. That direct-care work is assessed instead under Aged or Disabled Carer, a different code with a Certificate III (or 12 months' experience) floor two AQF levels below Community Worker's diploma. Nominating on title rather than actual task content is the recurring trap here.

An honest read on this pathway

Community Worker sits on both STSOL and CSOL and reaches employer sponsorship (186, 482) alongside the points-tested and DAMA routes — the widest visa reach of any code in this family bar Welfare Centre Manager's independent pathway. Because it has no specialised-qualification shortcut, the employment bar doesn't reward a narrow field focus the way its 4117 siblings do; a generalist community-services diploma with genuine paid casework experience stands on its own terms. The trade-off is that its lower boundary is drawn on task content, not title, so a job history with heavy supervision or personal-care duties needs to be evidenced as casework, not asserted by a job title alone.

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 Community Worker 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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