About OSCA

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.

The decision by both Government Statisticians was made following discussions over several years noting the following:

• The difference between Australia’s and New Zealand’s labour markets is greater than when a joint classification began in 2006. Where this is most visible is when ANZSCO was first published in 2006, all ANZSCO occupations had a common skill level between Australia and New Zealand.  Now, 56 of the current 1,076 occupations in ANZSCO have a different skill level in Australia and New Zealand.
• Stats NZ has been unable to participate in the targeted 2021 and 2022 Australian updates, and the comprehensive review of the classification undertaken by the ABS over the past four years. As a result, the updated classification to be released on 6 December 2024 will reflect the contemporary Australian labour market and not the New Zealand labour market.
• ABS and Stats NZ have identified different solutions to meet stakeholder demand. 
• A joint media release announced the decision to introduce country specific occupation classifications.

No longer having a joint occupation classification will have impacts on the understanding and use of OSCA compared to ANZSCO. 

1. The classification will have a new name. The name of the (Australian managed) classification will be Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA). 
2. All New Zealand specific occupations will no longer have visibility as Australia does not have jurisdiction. There are seven New Zealand specific occupations in ANZSCO 2022.
3. Occupations prominent in New Zealand only, will be aggregated according to skill level and main tasks. 
4. All references to New Zealand will be removed from: 
   1. Occupation names
   2. Lead statements
   3. 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. 

Currently, the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) is used as the tool to define the occupations that feature on The Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) for skilled migration. This will not be impacted after OSCA’s release on 6 December.

CSOL is benchmarked to the November 2022 release of ANZSCO. This was the most up to date version of ANZSCO at the time of Jobs and Skills Australia’s (JSA’s) analysis for the CSOL.

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.

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.

• Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC)
• Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

Stats NZ and the ABS agree that while maintaining comparability, each country will introduce their own tailored occupational statistical classifications.

Stats NZ conducted a consultation on ‘The future of Aotearoa New Zealand’s occupation classification’ from the 15 July and 9 August 2024. This consultation sought feedback on a proposal to ensure Aotearoa New Zealand has statistical classifications that are flexible and responsive. 

Findings from the consultation are available for information. This has led to the implementation of the New Zealand replacement for ANZSCO being the National Occupation List (NOL) which was released on 20 November 2024.

Find out more about NOL and how to propose changes via the online form. For any enquiries on NOL, please email occupations@stats.govt.nz

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.