TRA's construction trades shortcut closed 30 June 2026 — what's still true

Seven building trades share one assessor, Trades Recognition Australia — but a concession that let three of them skip the Offshore Skills Assessment Program ran from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2026 and has now closed. What it covered while it ran, and the occupation-list facts that haven't changed. Figures as at September 2026.

Read the full guide, with official sources →

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Chapters

  1. 0:00 This shortcut closed
  2. 0:12 One assessor: Trades Recognition Australia
  3. 0:26 Five programs.
  4. 0:38 1 July 2024 → 30 June 2026
  5. 0:49 All seven: automatic faster processing
  6. 1:02 Streamlined — only Bricklayer, Carpenter and Joiner
  7. 1:17 Bricklayer's extra passport didn't extend
  8. 1:33 This concession has closed.
  9. 1:45 Carpenter (331212) and Joiner (331213):
  10. 2:02 Roof Tiler: no 189, no 485
  11. 2:13 Roof Tiler ≠ Roof Plumber (334115)
  12. 2:27 A TRA pass isn't a trade licence.
  13. 2:41 Where to read more

Transcript

A shortcut that let some construction trades skip a mandatory offshore skills assessment closed on 30 June 2026.

Seven building trades share one assessor in Australia's migration system: Trades Recognition Australia. Bricklayer, Stonemason, Carpenter, Joiner, Glazier, Roof Tiler, and Wall and Floor Tiler.

TRA runs five separate assessment programs, and which one an applicant needs depends on their passport, where they trained, and the visa they want — not on which of the seven trades they practise.

From 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2026, TRA ran a construction occupations concession on top of those five programs.

While it ran, all seven trades were Prioritised: automatic faster processing, at no extra fee. TRA stated there were no additional application requirements beyond the ordinary process.

Only three also got Streamlined — the concession that actually changed which program you used. Bricklayer, Carpenter and Joiner could use the simpler, document-only Migration Skills Assessment instead of the Offshore Skills Assessment Program.

Bricklayer alone got an eighth eligible passport on top of the other seven: Papua New Guinea. That extra country never extended to Carpenter, Joiner, or the combined Carpenter and Joiner trade, occupation 331211.

That window has closed, on TRA's own published dates. Check TRA's live site directly before assuming any of the prioritising or streamlining above still applies.

What hasn't changed: Carpenter, occupation 331212, and Joiner, occupation 331213, sit on the same occupation lists, reaching the same visas — including the points-tested subclass 189 and the post-study subclass 485.

Roof Tiler is the outlier of the seven. It sits one list down from its six family members, with no subclass 189 and no subclass 485 at all.

Confuse Roof Tiler with Roof Plumber, occupation 334115, and you risk the wrong assessment entirely. Roof Plumber sits on the full list, including subclass 189 and 485.

And a positive TRA assessment was never a trade licence. TRA doesn't award registrations, and none of these seven trades goes through its own licensing pathway — check your state's licensing authority directly.

The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description.

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