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CSOL caveats explained: the occupations that carry conditions, and what each kind excludes
An occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List can still be closed to a particular job. 34 occupations on the Department's list carry caveats: conditions that exclude positions which are low-skilled or clerical, sit in the wrong kind of setting, belong to a business below a size threshold, or pay below a set salary. For an employer the caveat is the first thing to check after the occupation itself, because a position inside the exclusion cannot be nominated in that occupation however the rest of the file reads. This page explains each kind and lists every occupation with the Department's own caveat text.
By Keshab Chapagain, registered migration agent (MARN 1576536) since 2015 · WIDEN, Sydney · Reviewed November 2026
Keshab Chapagain · MARN 1576536 · Registered since 2015 - Occupations with caveats
- 34, Department data read 6 November 2026
- Type of position
- 21 occupations
- Business size
- 6 occupations
- Clerical roles excluded
- 4 occupations
- Salary floor
- 1 occupations
- Trade obligation only
- 8 occupations
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About the CPD →MARN 1576536 · Caveat text from the Department of Home Affairs skilled occupation list, read 6 November 2026
What a caveat does
The Core Skills Occupation List says which occupations can be nominated in the Core Skills stream of the 482. For most of them the listing is the end of the question. For a minority, the listing comes with a caveat: a condition that carves certain positions out of the occupation. An accountant can be nominated, for example, but not into a clerical or bookkeeping position, and not by a business below the turnover and headcount thresholds the caveat sets.
A caveat does not remove the occupation from the list and does not add a requirement for the worker. It describes positions that cannot be nominated in that occupation at all. If the position falls inside the caveat, the nomination fails on that point regardless of the salary, the worker's experience or the labour market testing.
The kinds of caveat
- Type of position. The largest group. These exclude positions that are mainly low-skilled (the farming occupations give fruit picking, packing, feeding livestock and truck driving as examples), positions in a limited service restaurant or in factory mass production (chef, cook), mass or standardised food production (baker, pastrycook), front-line retail, transactional client work, course sales or a call centre (several sales and marketing occupations), and some specific settings, such as relaxation massage or retail phone repair.
- Clerical roles. The accounting occupations and Human Resource Adviser exclude clerical, bookkeeping and accounting clerk positions.
- Business size. Some professional and management occupations exclude positions in a business with an annual turnover below A$1,000,000, and several also exclude a business with fewer than five employees. For some occupations the size test does not apply where the worker is transferred within a company under an international trade obligation.
- Salary. A small number of occupations exclude positions paid below a set annual figure, which is higher than the Core Skills threshold that applies to every nomination.
- Trade obligation only. A few occupations are open only for positions that an international trade obligation provides for.
Every occupation with a caveat (34)
The conditions are the Department's own words for the 482 Core Skills stream, as published on its skilled occupation list on 6 November 2026. Each occupation links to its own page with the code, the assessing authority and the visas it is listed for.
| Occupation | Kind | Excluded positions (Department text, 482 Core Skills) | 186 Direct Entry caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accountant (General) 221111 | Clerical roles, Business size | Excludes clerical, bookkeeping or accounting clerk positions Excludes any position in a business that has an annual turnover of less than AUD1,000,000. Excludes any position in a business that has fewer than 5 employees. | Yes |
| Apiarist 121311 | Type of position | Excludes any position that predominantly involve responsibility for low‑skilled tasks. Example 1: Fruit picking or packing or feeding of livestock or animals. Example 2: Truck driving. | Yes |
| Aquaculture Farmer 121111 | Type of position | Excludes any position that predominantly involve responsibility for low‑skilled tasks. Example 1: Fruit picking or packing or feeding of livestock or animals. Example 2: Truck driving. | Yes |
| Baker 351111 | Type of position | Excludes any position relating to mass or standardised production (as opposed to specialist production), including the following: a position based in a franchise or factory a position that: involves full or partial production of food product for distribution to another location or predominantly involves the use of pre‑prepared food product from another location | Yes |
| Chef 351311 | Type of position | Excludes any position involved in mass production in a factory setting Excludes any position in a limited service restaurant. A limited service restaurant includes, but is not limited to: a fast food or takeaway food service a fast casual restaurant a drinking establishment that offers only a limited food service a limited service cafe, including a coffee shop or mall cafe a limited service pizza restaurant. | Yes |
| Chief Executive or Managing Director 111111 | Trade obligation | Excludes any position that: has nominated annual earnings of less than AUD180,001 and if the nominee is to be transferred to fill the position—the transfer is not an intra-corporate transfer to which an international trade obligation applies | Yes |
| Cook 351411 | Type of position | Excludes any position involved in mass production in a factory setting Excludes any position in a limited service restaurant. A limited service restaurant includes, but is not limited to: a fast food or takeaway food service a fast casual restaurant a drinking establishment that offers only a limited food service a limited service cafe, including a coffee shop or mall cafe a limited service pizza restaurant. | Yes |
| Corporate General Manager 111211 | Trade obligation | Excludes any position that: has nominated annual earnings of less than AUD180,001 and if the nominee is to be transferred to fill the position—the transfer is not an intra-corporate transfer to which an international trade obligation applies | Yes |
| Corporate Services Manager 132111 | Trade obligation | Excludes any position where: the position is in a business that has an annual turnover of less than AUD1,000,000 and if the nominee is to be transferred to fill the position—the transfer is not an intra‑corporate transfer to which an international trade obligation applies. the position is in a business that has fewer than 5 employees and if the nominee is to be transferred to fill the position—the transfer is not an intra‑corporate transfer to which an international trade obligation applies. | Yes |
| Dairy Cattle Farmer 121313 | Type of position | Excludes any position that predominantly involve responsibility for low‑skilled tasks. Example 1: Fruit picking or packing or feeding of livestock or animals. Example 2: Truck driving. | Yes |
| Flower Grower 121611 | Type of position | Excludes any position that predominantly involve responsibility for low‑skilled tasks. Example 1: Fruit picking or packing or feeding of livestock or animals. Example 2: Truck driving. | Yes |
| Gas or Petroleum Operator 399212 | Salary | Excludes any position with nominated annual earnings of less than AUD120,000. | Yes |
| Goat Farmer 121315 | Type of position | Excludes any position that predominantly involve responsibility for low‑skilled tasks. Example 1: Fruit picking or packing or feeding of livestock or animals. Example 2: Truck driving. | Yes |
| Hospitality, Retail and Service Managers nec 149999 | Type of position | Excludes any position as a Brothel Keeper | Yes |
| Hotel or Motel Manager 141311 | Type of position | Excludes any position that predominantly involve responsibility for low‑skilled tasks. Example 1: Fruit picking or packing or feeding of livestock or animals. Example 2: Truck driving. | Yes |
| Human Resource Adviser 223111 | Clerical roles | Excludes clerical, bookkeeping or accounting clerk positions | Yes |
| Management Accountant 221112 | Clerical roles, Business size | Excludes clerical, bookkeeping or accounting clerk positions Excludes any position in a business that has an annual turnover of less than AUD1,000,000. Excludes any position in a business that has fewer than 5 employees. | Yes |
| Management Consultant 224713 | Business size | Excludes any position in a business that has an annual turnover of less than AUD1,000,000. Excludes any position in a business that has fewer than 5 employees. | Yes |
| Marketing Specialist 225113 | Type of position, Business size | Excludes any position that: is based in a front‑line retail setting or predominantly involves direct client transactional interaction on a regular basis or predominantly involves selling educational courses to individual students or is based in a call centre and does not require a significant technical knowledge of products. Excludes any position in a business that has an annual turnover of less than AUD1,000,000. | Yes |
| Massage Therapist 411611 | Type of position | Excludes any position that: is not a full‑time position or is not based in a therapeutic setting or involves the provision of non‑medical relaxation massage or is in a retail setting. | Yes |
| Mechanical Engineering Technician 312512 | Type of position | Excludes any position that relates to retail mobile phone repairs or other small consumer mobile devices including tablets, smart watches, handheld gaming devices, portable media players etc. | Yes |
| Other Sports Coach or Instructor 452317 | Trade obligation | Excludes any position that is not provided for under an International Trade Obligation | Yes |
| Pastrycook 351112 | Type of position | Excludes any position relating to mass or standardised production (as opposed to specialist production), including the following: a position based in a franchise or factory a position that: involves full or partial production of food product for distribution to another location or predominantly involves the use of pre‑prepared food product from another location | Yes |
| Pig Farmer 121318 | Type of position | Excludes any position that predominantly involve responsibility for low‑skilled tasks. Example 1: Fruit picking or packing or feeding of livestock or animals. Example 2: Truck driving. | Yes |
| Poultry Farmer 121321 | Type of position | Excludes any position that predominantly involve responsibility for low‑skilled tasks. Example 1: Fruit picking or packing or feeding of livestock or animals. Example 2: Truck driving. | Yes |
| Private Tutors and Teachers nec 249299 | Trade obligation | Excludes any position that is not provided for under an International Trade Obligation | Yes |
| Recruitment Consultant 223112 | Business size | Excludes any position in a business that has an annual turnover of less than AUD1,000,000. Excludes any position in a business that has fewer than 5 employees. | Yes |
| Retail Buyer 639211 | Type of position | Excludes any position that: is based in a front‑line retail setting or predominantly involves direct client transactional interaction on a regular basis or predominantly involves selling educational courses to individual students or is based in a call centre and does not require a significant technical knowledge of products. | Yes |
| Sales and Marketing Manager 131112 | Type of position, Trade obligation | Excludes any position that: is based in a front‑line retail setting or predominantly involves direct client transactional interaction on a regular basis or predominantly involves selling educational courses to individual students or is based in a call centre and does not require a significant technical knowledge of products. Excludes any position where: the position is in a business that has an annual turnover of less than AUD1,000,000 and if the nominee is to be transferred to fill the position—the transfer is not an intra‑corporate transfer to which an international trade obligation applies. the position is in a business that has fewer than 5 employees and if the nominee is to be transferred to fill the position—the transfer is not an intra‑corporate transfer to which an international trade obligation applies. | Yes |
| Supply and Distribution Manager 133611 | Type of position, Trade obligation | Excludes any position that: is based in a front‑line retail setting or predominantly involves direct client transactional interaction on a regular basis or predominantly involves selling educational courses to individual students or is based in a call centre and does not require a significant technical knowledge of products. Excludes any position where: the position is in a business that has an annual turnover of less than AUD1,000,000 and if the nominee is to be transferred to fill the position—the transfer is not an intra‑corporate transfer to which an international trade obligation applies. the position is in a business that has fewer than 5 employees and if the nominee is to be transferred to fill the position—the transfer is not an intra‑corporate transfer to which an international trade obligation applies. | Yes |
| Taxation Accountant 221113 | Clerical roles, Business size | Excludes clerical, bookkeeping or accounting clerk positions Excludes any position in a business that has an annual turnover of less than AUD1,000,000. Excludes any position in a business that has fewer than 5 employees. | Yes |
| Technical Sales Representatives nec 225499 | Type of position | Excludes any position that: is based in a front‑line retail setting or predominantly involves direct client transactional interaction on a regular basis or predominantly involves selling educational courses to individual students or is based in a call centre and does not require a significant technical knowledge of products. | Yes |
| Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner 252214 | Trade obligation | Excludes any position that is not provided for under an International Trade Obligation | Yes |
| Workplace Relations Adviser 223113 | Type of position | Excludes any position that predominantly involve responsibility for low‑skilled tasks. Example 1: Fruit picking or packing or feeding of livestock or animals. Example 2: Truck driving. | Yes |
How a caveat is read against a nomination
The Department applies the caveat when it assesses the nomination, and it looks at the position as it really is: the duties, the business's turnover and staff numbers, the salary, and where the work is done. A position description that avoids the words in a caveat does not move the job outside it. For an employer, the useful order is to check the occupation, then the caveat, then the salary, before the position is advertised for labour market testing, so that the advertisement, the position description and the nomination all describe the same job.
Caveats change when the Department amends the occupation instruments, and this page follows the Department's list each time the site's data is refreshed. The full Core Skills Occupation List shows every listed occupation, with or without a caveat.
Check a position against its caveat
A consultation reads the actual position, business and salary against the caveat for the occupation, before anything is advertised or lodged.
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General information only; not advice on your own case. Caveat text is reproduced from the Department of Home Affairs skilled occupation list as read on 6 November 2026; the occupation instruments in force at the time of the nomination govern. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.
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Questions we get asked first
What is a caveat on the Core Skills Occupation List?
A caveat is a condition attached to an occupation that excludes certain positions from being nominated in it. The occupation stays on the list, but a position that falls within the exclusion cannot be nominated under that occupation. The caveat is part of the occupation's specification, not a guideline.
Which kinds of caveat are there?
On the Department's list the caveats fall into a handful of kinds: positions that are mainly low-skilled or clerical, positions in a particular kind of setting (a limited service restaurant, front-line retail, a call centre, mass production), positions in small businesses measured by turnover or headcount, positions paid below a set salary, and a few occupations open only where an international trade obligation provides for them.
Do caveats also apply to the 186?
On the Department's list, the occupations with a Core Skills caveat also show a caveat for the 186 Direct Entry pathway. The table on this page flags each one.
Who decides whether a caveat applies to a position?
The Department, when it assesses the nomination. It reads the position description, the business, the salary and the setting against the caveat. A position description written to avoid the words in a caveat does not change what the job is.
What does the consultation cost?
A$330 inc. GST for 30 minutes by video with Keshab Chapagain (MARN 1576536), credited in full if you engage WIDEN. For an occupation with a caveat the session reads the actual position, business and salary against the caveat before anything is advertised or lodged.
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