Throughout 2023-24, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is undertaking a comprehensive review of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), a system that describes and categorises occupations within Australia and New Zealand.
As a Jobs and Skills Council (JSC) Skills Insight is dedicated to improving workforce, skills and training outcomes for the agribusiness, fibre, furnishing, food, animal and environment care industries. During each round of the review process, we have worked to support your input into the review of the ANZSCO so that it accurately reflects your workforce and enables solutions to workforce challenges.
Thank you to everyone who has engaged with us throughout the review process. Your contributions have helped inform four detailed and high quality submissions to the ANZSCO review.
It is important that the ANZSCO is accurate, so that it can be used to properly understand and support workforce needs. Occupations in the ANZSCO are included in the census to gather information about the workforce. This information is then used to inform decisions made by all levels of government in Australia, including about industry support, workforce strategies, taxation arrangements, apprenticeships and traineeships, skilled migration lists and more.
Skills Insight Submissions
Throughout 2023, the ABS held three rounds of feedback on the classification of occupations, divided by focus area.
In June 2024 they published details of the preliminary proposed changes to the ANZSCO based on rounds 1 to 3 of consultation. The ABS created a document for each of the 43 focus areas, outlining the proposed changes on the ABS Consultation Hub.
The fourth and final round of consultation collected feedback on the proposed changes to the classification structure.
During each round of consultations, Skills Insight worked to support our stakeholders to provide input either directly through the ABS website or by contributing to a submission being prepared by Skills Insight. This included work to help stakeholders understand the ANZSCO and how it impacts them.
Our submissions were based on our interactions with stakeholders and the way the qualifications framework interacts with ANZSCO classifications.
We are grateful to everyone who contributed to survey submissions made by Skills Insight on behalf of the industries we support.
For updates on Skills Insight activities related to the ANZSCO review and similar initiatives, you are welcome to subscribe to Skills Insight’s newsletter, Please select ‘General News’ as one of your subscriptions.
You can download the Skills Insight submissions below.
Consultation Round 4
During Round 4, stakeholders were invited to provide feedback on a set of preliminary proposed changes published by the ABS. Skills Insight provided a submission which included a rationale for why the reviewed ANZSCO occupation descriptions and skill levels should give greater credence to the relevance of VET qualification development and Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level identification. This is in line with industry intelligence collected by Skills Insight throughout rounds 1, 2 and 3 of the review process.
In addition to its four submissions throughout the ANZSCO review, Skills Insight provided the ABS with a statement as the ABS’s preliminary proposed changes are largely not reflective of the content contained in Skills Insight’s submissions. Skills Insight in its statement encouraged the ABS to consider more deeply the feedback from Skills Insight and its industry stakeholders as it moves to finalise its review.
For the latest developments, visit the Updating ANZSCO section of the ABS website.
From ANZSCO to OSCA
Since the completion of Round 4 consultation, the ABS has released a joint media statement with Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ) announcing that each country will introduce their own tailored occupational statistical classifications, which will maintain comparability to ensure jobs and skills portability across the two nations.
The new Australian classification will be called the Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) and will be released on Friday 6 December 2024. The ABS will continue to engage and consult on OSCA during 2025 and is developing a plan for ongoing feedback.
Learn more about OSCA and how it relates to ANZSCO on the ABS website.
Round 4
25 July to 6 Sept 2024
Response not yet available.
View our online information session
Round 3 of the comprehensive ANZSCO review featured occupations across most of the industries Skills Insight works with, including agriculture, horticulture, forestry, fishing, aquaculture, meat processing, racing and breeding, animal care and management, furnishing, textiles, clothing and footwear.
To help our stakeholders have their say on this round, Skills Insight hosted an online information session with input from the ABS.
The session included information about the ANZSCO, how it relates to you and how to provide feedback. There was also a Q&A section for stakeholders to ask questions of both Skills Insight and the ABS.
Although the session focused on round 3 occupations, it provides key insights into how the ANZSCO works that may be useful for providing feedback in the future.
A note on ANZSCO
skill levels
Each occupation within ANZSCO is assigned a skill level, reflecting the range and complexity of the set of tasks undertaken in the occupation. Each skill level provides an indication of the formal education and training, experience in a related occupation, and on-the-job training required to competently perform the set of tasks required for that occupation. The image below was developed to outline the five broad skill levels used in ANZSCO. For more information see the ANZSCO website.
What is ANZSCO and why is it important?
The Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) is a method of classifying occupations within the Australian and New Zealand labour markets.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) assigns each occupation a title, description and skill level. These occupations are then included in the census to collect information about the workforce.
This information is then used by all levels of government in Australia to inform which job roles receive government support and the kind of support they need.
The data collected in the ANZSCO provides guidance for decision making related to:
