Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) Skills Assessment

1. To register for TSS, you must have:

• the required amount of employment experience in your occupation. You can check the TSS Applicant Guidelines.
• your country of passport listed next to your occupation in the table below.

If your occupation or country of passport is not listed in the table below, you are not eligible for a skills assessment under the TSS Program. However, you may still be eligible for an assessment under other TRA programs.

TSS Nominated Occupations, Countries and SARs

Before you register, you need to check:

• with the Department of Home Affairs if you need a skills assessment for your visa
• TRA is the right assessing authority for your occupation.
• that you have sufficient evidence to meet the application requirements

There are two skills assessment pathways available.

• Pathway 1 is if you do not have an Australian qualification in your trade.
• Pathway 2 is if you have:
  • a relevant Australian qualification, or
  • a current identified Australian occupational licence*.

*A current, identified Australian occupational licence is a registration certificate or other form of authorisation required under law to perform work that has been issued by the appropriate Australian licensing authority and is relevant to the occupation.

If you get a successful skills assessment outcome through Pathway 1, you will also receive:

• an Offshore Technical Skills Record (OTSR) if it is a licensed occupation, or
• a relevant Australian Quality Framework (AQF) qualification if it is a non-licensed occupation.

Read Our Guidelines

Before you register, you must first read the TSS Applicant Guidelines.

Fees

The fees for this program can be found in Section 1.5 of the TSS Applicant Guidelines.

Fees may change. TRA will give reasonable notice of any proposed fee increases. Notices will be on the TRA website and in the relevant program guidelines.

How to pay:

• Please refer to the Applicant Payment User Guide
• Payments are online by Visa or MasterCard through the Online Portal
• All fees are payable in Australian dollars ($AUD)
• We will email you a receipt. It is important to keep the email receipt as proof of payment.

Refunds are not given if you:

• do not meet program eligibility requirements
• choose to withdraw your registration after assessment had started
• do not provide the registration documents in the specified timeframes.

The only time we will refund a payment is in the TRA Fees, Payment and Refund Policy

Choose an RTO from the RTO finder and contact them

TRA approved registered training organisations (RTOs) conduct TSS skills assessments.

You will need to choose an RTO from the RTO Finder.

Once you have chosen an RTO, contact them to confirm:

• you are eligible for an assessment
• the country/region the skills assessment will take place
• discuss the program requirements

You must accept the location of the assessment before it can start.

If you are eligible, and decide to proceed with a skills assessment, the RTO will provide you with a payment code.

Keep a record of your payment code, as you will need it when you register and complete your TSS registration.

Your RTO can also help you with questions about:

• registering for a skills assessment
• program fees
• documentary evidence requirements
• assessment arrangements.

Register through our online portal

Only register if you have confirmed with your RTO that you wish to proceed with an assessment.

You can then register for the TSS skills assessment using our Online Portal. 

You or your agent will need to register and create a password.

Once you register, your username displays at the top of the screen. Your username is also emailed to you. Make sure you keep a record of your username and password, as you will need it to login.

Complete your registration and payment/s

You will need your:

• RTO assessment payment code/s (issued to you by your RTO)
• country of passport, personal details, occupation, country of residence
• agent/representative details (if applicable).

Please ensure that you refer to the Applicant Payment User Guide. You will need your password and username to make subsequent payment/s under the same TRA reference number to progress and complete your registration.

NOTE: You cannot change or view your registration once it you have submitted it. TRA does not accept registrations sent by email.

Outcome

Your RTO will email you the outcome of your TSS application.

The RTO can tell you how long the process will take. TSS assessments usually take nine (9) weeks from the date you submit your decision-ready documentary evidence.