Changing from ANZSCO to OSCA

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released a new standard for occupations, after announcing earlier this year that they and Statistics NZ would be developing new country specific standards.

The Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) will replace the Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), being introduced into labour market reporting and the Australian Census in 2026.

This change will modernise the occupational classification system, making it more flexible and better aligned with the current and future labour market in Australia. OSCA V1 includes 80 additional occupations compared with ANZSCO 2022, and changes to occupation titles, skill levels, and groupings.

Impacts for Australian Apprenticeships

In the Australian Apprenticeships sector, the move to OSCA will support better alignment with the labour market. However, there will be impacts on any system that uses this taxonomy, for example due to changes in occupations sitting with the ‘technicians and trade workers’ category, which is typically used to determine trade and non-trade roles.

Changes to ‘trade’ classifications

There have been a number of changes within the technicians and trades workers grouping (referred to here as ‘trades’). Three of the sub-groups have seen significant changes, with additional changes to occupations that have been moved into or out of the trade group.

Automotive and engineering

Under ANZSCO, automotive and engineering trades were grouped together. These have been separated into new sub-groups in OSCA: Engineering Trades Workers (sub-group 33) and Automotive Technicians and Trades Workers (sub-group 35).

There are 26 occupations in the engineering trades, including:

  • Metal fabricator
  • Welder
  • Sheetmetal worker
  • Aircraft maintenance technicians
  • Fitter and turner
  • Saw technician
  • Toolmaker.

There are 13 occupations in the automotive trades, including:

  • Automotive technician
  • Automotive electrician
  • Agricultural mechanic
  • EV technician
  • Panelbeater
  • Small engine technician
  • Vehicle painter.

Construction

The construction group has also been separated into two new groupings under OSCA, with Building Completion and Related Trades Workers (sub-group 36) and Building Structural Trades Workers (sub-group 37).

There are 17 occupations in the building completions trades, including:

  • Painter
  • Plasterer
  • Roof tiler
  • Gasfitter
  • Cabinet maker
  • Shopfitter
  • Waterproofer.

There are 6 occupations in the building structural trades, including:

  • Bricklayer
  • Stonemason
  • Carpenter
  • Joiner.

Occupations moving into trades

The grouping of marine transport roles that previously sat within Marine Transport Professionals has moved into the trades from the professional group, now sitting under the Building, Engineering, ICT and Scientific Technicians group (group 31). Photographers have also moved from the Professionals group into trades.

Three occupations that previously sat under the Machinery Operators and Drivers group have moved into trades: Drillers, Rail Network Controllers (previously1 Train Controller), and Civil Construction Leading Hands (previously Earthmoving Plant Operator).

Eight occupations from the Labourers group have also moved into trades: Floor Finisher (previously concreter), Waterproofer (previously Building Insulation Installer), Swimming Pool and Spa Builder (previously Home Improvement Installer), Earth Science Technician (previously Surveyor’s Assistant), Pest Control Technician, Printing Machinist (previously Printer’s Assistant), Print Finisher (previously Printing Table Worker), and Bicycle Technician (previously Bicycle Mechanic).

1 Previous occupation refer to the name of the occupation under ANZSCO, where it has changed under OSCA.

Occupations moving out of trades

There are nine occupations that are moving out of the trades grouping:

  • Senior chef (into the group Managers)
  • Building surveyor (into the group Professionals)
  • Cardiac physiologist (into the group Professionals)
  • Veterinary technologist (into the group Professionals)
  • Optical Dispenser (into the group Community and Personal Service Workers)
  • Make-up Artist (into the group Community and Personal Service Workers)
  • Domestic Animal Attendant (into the group Community and Personal Service Workers)
  • Pet Groomer (into the group Community and Personal Service Workers)
  • Photographer’s Assistant (into the group Community and Personal Service Workers).

Data time series

Australian Apprenticeship data is often split into trade vs non-trade, including in NCVER’s products such as their quarterly report, completion and attrition rates, and apprentice and trainee outcomes. These are currently derived from ANZSCO, with ‘trades’ being those occupations in the technicians and trades workers group, and non-trades being the other groups.

Figure 1: Trade and non-trade commencements in Australian Apprenticeships, by quarter, 2014-2024

A graph showing time series data of Australian Apprenticeship commencements by trade status. There are peaks in every March quarter, and troughs between. 2020 and 2021 were much higher than other years.

While NCVER hasn’t yet announced any change to these definitions, it is likely that there will be a future move to redefine trades and non-trades to align with OSCA. As we have seen, there have been movements of occupations in and out of the trades grouping. With any change there are minor discrepancies in data time series, but as users of the data we need to be mindful of these changes.

The broader changes to OSCA will impact VET and Australian Apprenticeships data, labour market information, and other occupation-related data sets. It will provide richer data due to the updated and expanded occupations but may also cause some challenges for data users.

Incentives

The Strategic Review into the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives System is due for release shortly. The review and subsequent changes may result in a move away from occupational taxonomies to determine incentives eligibility.

The current incentives system uses ANZSCO groups to determine parts of the eligibility for employer and apprentice incentives. Currently, technicians and trades workers (group 3) and community and personal service workers (group 4) are eligible for inclusion on the Priority List if they meet additional criteria related to demand.

If a similar system is maintained where occupational groupings are used to determine eligibility, the move to OSCA will see new occupations become eligible while others are removed, due to their change in groupings.

Summary

The move from ANZSCO to OSCA has provided the opportunity for the ABS to reinvigorate the occupational classification system. The introduction of new occupations, reclassification and renaming of existing occupations, and realignment of skill levels means that OSCA better reflects the Australian labour market.

As OSCA is rolled out, there will be some impacts for users of occupational classifications, particularly through data time series and for any systems that rely on occupational groupings.

The flexibility of OSCA with potential for more frequent and industry-aligned updates will result in a better classification system and better data for use in the VET and Australian Apprenticeship sectors.