Australia Skills Shortage List
Search the Occupation Shortage List

What Is the Occupation Shortage List?

The Occupation Shortage List is an annual assessment of which occupations are in shortage across the Australian labour market.

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Jobs and Skills Australia defines a shortage as a situation where employers cannot fill, or have considerable difficulty filling, vacancies for an occupation at current pay and conditions, in reasonably accessible locations.

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The list was previously called the Skills Priority List. Jobs and Skills Australia renamed it the Occupation Shortage List from the 2024 edition.

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Governments, employers, training providers and education providers use the list to plan training, workforce and policy decisions.

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How to Read the Shortage Ratings

Each occupation receives one rating nationally and one rating for each state and territory.

• Shortage (S): employers have difficulty filling roles in both capital cities and regional areas.

• Regional Shortage (R): the shortage applies only in regional areas.

• Metropolitan Shortage (M): the shortage applies only in capital cities.

• No Shortage (NS): employers can generally fill vacancies for this occupation.

An occupation can be in shortage in one state and not in another. Always check the rating for the state where you plan to work.

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Which Jobs Are in Demand in Australia?

The 2025 Occupation Shortage List shows that shortages are concentrated in three areas:

• Trades: nearly half of trade occupations are in shortage, particularly construction trades.

• Health and care: many health professions remain hard to fill.

• Education: teaching occupations continue to face shortages.

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Jobs and Skills Australia identifies different causes for different occupations:

• Not enough qualified applicants, especially in health, teaching and construction

• Gaps in skills and experience, especially in engineering, science and management

• Low pay, poor conditions and retention problems, especially in care and service roles

Use the search tool above to check the rating for your occupation.

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Occupation Shortage List vs Skilled Occupation List

The two lists are often confused, but they do different jobs.

Occupation Shortage List

• Published by Jobs and Skills Australia

• Measures labour market demand

• Rates occupations as Shortage, Regional, Metropolitan or No Shortage

• Does not decide visa eligibility

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Skilled occupation lists

• Set by the Australian Government in legislative instruments

• Decide which occupations can be nominated for a skilled visa

• Include the MLTSSL, STSOL and ROL for points-tested and regional visas, and the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) for the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) Core Skills stream

• Apply alongside separate state and territory nomination lists

Jobs and Skills Australia also advises the Government on the CSOL, and its labour market analysis is one of the inputs. However, a shortage rating alone does not add an occupation to a visa list.

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Does a Shortage Occupation Mean I Can Get a Visa?

No. A shortage rating does not give you a visa or a pathway on its own.

To apply for a skilled visa, your occupation must be on the list that applies to that visa, and you must meet all other criteria, such as a skills assessment, English and age.

Common pathways where shortage occupations often appear:

• Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482): employer-sponsored, uses the CSOL for the Core Skills stream

• Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186): permanent employer-sponsored visa

• Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa (subclass 494): regional employer-sponsored visa

• General skilled migration visas (189, 190 and 491): points-tested visas that use the skilled occupation lists

• State and territory nomination (190 and 491): each state sets its own occupation list

Planning a points-tested visa? Check your score with our PR points calculator.

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How Is the Occupation Shortage List Made?

Jobs and Skills Australia combines several data sources to rate each occupation:

• Employer surveys, including how many advertised vacancies employers manage to fill

• A vacancy fill rate below 67%, which signals a possible shortage

• Labour market data and machine learning analysis

• Feedback from industry, unions, state and territory governments and other stakeholders

The result is a point-in-time assessment. Ratings can change from one year to the next.

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When Is the Occupation Shortage List Updated?

Jobs and Skills Australia updates the Occupation Shortage List once a year. The 2025 edition was released in October 2025.

Visa occupation lists and state nomination lists follow their own update schedules, so check each list separately before you apply.