A national statistical framework for classifying criminal behaviour in the production and analysis of crime and justice statistics.
The Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC) has been developed for use within Australia and in New Zealand for the production and analysis of crime and justice statistics.
The objective of the ANZSOC is to provide a uniform national statistical framework for classifying criminal behaviour. The ANZSOC is used in statistical collections, and in data held by police, criminal courts, corrective services and related justice agencies in Australia and New Zealand. It is also designed to overcome differences in legal offence definitions across Australian states and territories and New Zealand.
The first edition of the Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC) was published in 1997. The content of the classification was reviewed and a second edition released in 2008. The third edition, published in 2011, revised the title of the classification to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC) to reflect the use and collaboration in developing and maintaining the standard between Australia and New Zealand.
This fourth edition of the ANZSOC is built on the same principles as the ANZSOC 2011 but has been updated to reflect the evolution of criminal offence legislation, language, and social change. The ANZSOC 2023 has also been informed by the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (v 1.0), published by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime.
The ABS consulted with data providers and users across Australia and New Zealand, seeking feedback on developments in legislation, new and emerging areas of criminology research, and opportunities to improve consistency or clarity.
Where possible, the structure of the classification and content of offence groups from the ANZSOC 2011 was retained in the ANZSOC 2023, to allow for continuity of time-series data.
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