Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC)

The ANZSOC provides a uniform national statistical framework for classifying criminal behaviour in the production and analysis of crime and justice statistics. This 2011 edition incorporates a title change from ASOC to ANZSOC. The classification content and structure remains unchanged from the 2008 edition.

The Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC) has been developed for use in the compilation and analysis of crime and justice statistics in Australia and New Zealand to improve crime and justice statistics within Australian jurisdictions and in New Zealand.

This 2011 edition, re-titled to ANZSOC, supercedes the second edition of the Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC), released in 2008. While the 2011 edition ANZSOC incorporates a title change and corrections to some minor typographic errors only, the classification content and structure remains unchanged from the 2008 edition. The revised title reflects the international use of the framework to classify criminal behaviour and highlights the collaborative work occurring between Australia and New Zealand. The title change from ASOC to ANZSOC is also in accordance with the agreed policy between the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Statistics New Zealand to harmonise classifications where possible.

The 2008 edition of the ASOC replaced the first edition, released in 1997. The second edition of ASOC reflected the outcomes of a substantial review of the Classification, which included extensive consultation; predominantly with government agencies responsible for policy formation and administration, and non-government analysts of crime and justice issues.