The Department of Home Affairs has announced today that it is urgently reviewing the CSOL occupation list published late last week. A new list or clarification of the existing list is expected shortly.
The new list is not expected to place any caveat on the occupation of Chef or other occupations that appear to have been unintentionally included.
The Department has stated that the intention of the caveat was to include certain occupations on the CSOL because of Australia’s obligations under international trade agreements, even though the inclusion of those occupations was not supported by labour market or stakeholder feedback provided to Job Skills Australia over the past year.
The Department has said that occupations that will remain subject to the caveat include: Other Sports Coach or Instructor (Wushu Martial Arts Coach or Yoga Instructor Only), Private Tutors and Teachers nec, and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner. No details have been provided regarding any other occupations, but the entire list is being reviewed.
The Department has confirmed that it did not intend to remove the occupation of Chef from the CSOL or to limit that occupation to any specific nationalities.
At this time, we are advising clients not to lodge nominations for impacted occupations until we have further clarification, unless the application is urgent due to visa expiry. Our team will work with clients to provide advice on a case-by-case basis.
We are closely monitoring the situation and will send another alert as soon as the updated list or clarification is available.
