Introduction
Overview
The Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) was jointly developed by the ABS, Stats NZ and the then Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. It provides a basis for the standardised collection, analysis and dissemination of occupation data for Australia and New Zealand. It was established in 2006 and has been partially revised in 2009, 2013 and 2019 jointly by the Australian and New Zealand statistical offices. In 2021, a targeted revision related to selected areas of the Australian labour market was undertaken by the ABS. Another revision related to different selected areas of the Australian labour market has been undertaken by the ABS in 2022. ANZSCO is intended to provide an integrated framework for storing, organising and reporting occupation-related information in both statistical and other analytical applications, such as matching job seekers to job vacancies and providing career information.
ANZSCO is used in ABS and Stats NZ censuses and surveys where occupation data are collected since it was established in 2006. ANZSCO is also used to measure and understand labour markets. Examples include the development of workforce strategies to support industry and establishing mechanisms to ensure the availability of skilled job holders via educational pathways.
Understanding ANZSCO
To assist users to understand the detailed structure and content of ANZSCO, and to assist in interpreting statistics classified to it, the following information has been provided:
- explanation of the conceptual basis of ANZSCO
- description of the comparability between ANZSCO and ISCO-08
- explanation of the classification structure and codes
- profile and summary of ANZSCO structure
- explanation of the format of the ANZSCO occupation and group definitions
- definitions for all major, sub-major, minor and unit groups and occupations
Revisions to ANZSCO
An important consideration when developing a classification is the need to build in sufficient robustness to allow for long-term usage. This robustness facilitates meaningful time series analysis. This must be balanced against the need for revisions which ensure the classification is contemporary.
Revisions to ANZSCO occur to identify emerging occupations and/or groups, aggregate declining occupations and/or groups, and change titles or descriptions of occupations and/or groups. There have been four revisions to ANZSCO since its establishment in 2006 as shown in the below table.
| Revision | Year of publication | Summary of revision |
|---|---|---|
| First Edition | 2006 | ANZSCO established. |
| First Edition, Revision 1 | 2009 | Minor changes to the classification structure and definitional changes for some occupations. |
| Version 1.2 | 2013 | Identifying newly emerging occupations, aggregating declining occupations, changing titles of occupations, amending alternative titles or specialisations for selected occupations. A small set of changes were made for unit groups. |
| Version 1.3 | 2019 | Revisions to skill level, registration and licensing requirements and example occupation titles for selected not elsewhere classified occupations. |
| 2021 Australian Update | 2021 | Revisions resulting from a review of selected occupations identified as emerging and/or related to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; cyber security; naval ship building. |
| 2022 Australian Update | 2022 | Revisions resulting from a review of selected occupations identified as emerging and/or related to construction-related trades occupations. |
Coding information to ANZSCO occupations
Care needs to be taken when assigning occupation information to ANZSCO occupations because the same job titles can be used in different industries to describe different occupations (e.g. business analyst). Also, the titles used in ANZSCO are not an exhaustive list of all titles used to describe an occupation (e.g. brickie).
The minimum information required for coding responses in statistical collections to ANZSCO occupations is the occupation’s title and its tasks. The quality can be improved via use of other data items, such as industry of employment and employer information.
Further information on ANZSCO can be obtained from the ABS National Information and Referral Service (1300 135 070) or client.services@abs.gov.au or Stats NZ Information Centre on 0508 525 525 or info@stats.govt.nz.
Coding queries should be directed to standards@abs.gov.au or standards@stats.govt.nz.