New occupation classifications
The Australian Bureau of Statistics and Statistics New Zealand have announced that while maintaining
comparability, each country will introduce their own tailored occupational statistical classifications.
The Statistics New Zealand classification, the National Occupation List (NOL), has been released on their website.
For Australia, the new classification will be called the Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA),
2024, version 1.0 and will be released on Friday 6 December 2024.
Background – from ANZSCO to OSCA
The Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) has been jointly managed by
the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa (Stats NZ) since it was first published in
2006.
Careful consideration has been given to the shared custodianship of the classification between Australia and New
Zealand. It has been agreed by the ABS and Stats NZ that while maintaining comparability, each country will
introduce their own tailored occupational statistical classifications.
This will allow each agency to maintain separate but aligned classifications, with localised adaptations to better
reflect the contemporary labour market and meet stakeholder needs.
The ABS and Stats NZ will continue to work closely together through our commitment to providing high quality
insights and data to inform important decisions in our respective countries. We will continue to foster our
collaborative and cooperative relationship to ensure our international occupation data standards are aligned.
Comprehensive review and update of ANZSCO
In 2022, the Australian Government announced $23.7 million funding over four years for the ABS to undertake a
comprehensive update of ANZSCO and commence an ongoing maintenance program in 2025. This comprehensive
review follows two targeted reviews of ANZSCO in 2021 and 2022 which resulted in Australian updates to the
classification.
Occupation changes during the comprehensive review have been considered in respect of the Australian labour
market only.
Drivers for change
The decision by both Government Statisticians was made following discussions over several years noting the
following:
Impacts of no longer having a joint occupation classification
No longer having a joint occupation classification will have impacts on the understanding and use of OSCA
compared to ANZSCO.
a. Occupation names
b. Lead statements
c. Alternative titles and specialisations
5. Te Reo Māori terminology will be removed.
6. References to the New Zealand Qualifications Framework and the New Zealand labour market more generally will no longer be present.
7. Skill level will be determined solely with reference to the Australian labour market. ANZSCO 2022 considered the skill level in Australia and New Zealand, and noted instances where these were different.
Availability of ANZSCO versions will remain, along with comparability
ANZSCO will continue to be available on the ABS website.
Concordances between new occupation classifications and ANZSCO v1.3 will support labour market comparisons
between the two countries.
Impacts on other joint classifications
The future of comparable, but tailored industry classifications for each country (ie. Australian and New Zealand
Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)) is currently being considered.
Current arrangements for two other classifications which are jointly owned remain unchanged.
OSCA Maintenance Phase 2025
The ABS is committed to regular updates of OSCA and is developing a plan for ongoing feedback.
We will continue to engage and consult on the classification during 2025.