• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

COMPARISON BETWEEN ANZSCO, ASCO SECOND EDITION AND NZSCO 1999

This section provides a broad comparison between ANZSCO and ASCO Second Edition and NZSCO 1999.

Number of categories in classification structures

The following table indicates the number of categories at each level for the respective classifications.

ANZSCO	ASCO Second Edition	NZSCO 1999
1 Managers	1 Managers and Administrators	1 Legislators, Administrators and Managers
2 Professionals	2 Professionals	2 Professionals
3 Technicians and Trades Workers	3 Associate Professionals	3 Technicians and Associate Professionals
4 Community and Personal Service Workers	4 Tradespersons and Related Workers	4 Clerks
5 Clerical and Administrative Workers	5 Advanced Clerical and Service Workers	5 Service and Sales Workers
6 Sales Workers	6 Intermediate Clerical, Sales and Service Workers	6 Agriculture and Fishery Workers
7 Machinery Operators and Drivers	7 Intermediate Production and Transport Workers	7 Trades Workers
8 Labourers	8 Elementary Clerical, Sales and Service Workers	8 Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers
	9 Labourers and Related Workers	9 Elementary Occupations

The use of both skill level and skill specialisation to define the major groups in ANZSCO compared to just skill level in ASCO Second Edition has resulted in major groups which are more intuitively appealing and useful than their ASCO Second Edition predecessors. Accordingly, there have been changes to the way some occupations are classified in ANZSCO.

Associate Professionals

This ASCO Second Edition major group has been discontinued in ANZSCO. These occupations have been spread across a number of ANZSCO major groups. The major changes are:

Science, Engineering and Related Associate Professionals, ASCO Second Edition Sub-Major Group 31, are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 3 Technicians and Trades Workers, Sub-Major Group 31 Engineering, ICT and Science Technicians.

Finance Associate Professionals, ASCO Second Edition Minor Group 321, are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 2 Professionals, Minor Group 222 Financial Brokers and Dealers, and Investment Advisers.

Office Managers, ASCO Second Edition Unit Group 3291, and Project and Program Administrators, ASCO Second Edition Unit Group 3292, are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 5 Clerical and Administrative Workers, Sub-Major Group 511 Office Managers and Program Administrators.

Managing Supervisors (Sales and Service), ASCO Second Edition Sub-Major Group 33, are mainly classified to ANZSCO Major Group 1 Managers, Sub-Major Group 14 Hospitality, Retail and Service Managers.

Health and Welfare Associate Professionals, ASCO Second Edition Sub-Major Group 34, are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 4 Community and Personal Service Workers, Sub-Major Group 41 Health and Welfare Support Workers.

Clerical, sales and service occupations

ASCO Second Edition Major Group 5 Advanced Clerical and Service Workers, Major Group 6 Intermediate Clerical, Sales and Service Workers, and Major Group 8 Elementary Clerical, Sales and Service Workers have been disaggregated and reorganised in ANZSCO into three intuitively appealing major groups.

There is now one major group which covers all clerical occupations - Major Group 5 Clerical and Administrative Workers, one major group which covers all sales occupations - Major Group 6 Sales Workers, and one major group which covers all service workers - Major Group 4 Community and Personal Service Workers.

Information and communication technology (ICT) occupations

ANZSCO identifies a greater number of ICT unit groups and occupations compared to ASCO Second Edition.

In ANZSCO Version 1.2, there are 13 ICT unit groups and 37 ICT occupations. This compares to three unit groups and nine occupations in ASCO Second Edition.

Apprentices, trainees and supervisors

ASCO Second Edition identified a number of apprentice, trainee and supervisory occupations. ANZSCO does not separately identify such occupations.

In ANZSCO, apprentice and trainee occupations are classified together with their 'parent' or future occupation. Supervisory occupations are classified together with the occupations whose tasks they supervise.

MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ANZSCO AND NZSCO 1999

While the classification criteria for ANZSCO are essentially the same as those used for NZSCO 1999, ANZSCO provides a greater definition of skill level, and the application of the skill level criterion is more rigorous compared to NZSCO 1999. The structure and conceptual basis of NZSCO 1999 was closer to that of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) than ANZSCO.

The introduction of ANZSCO has resulted in there being more occupations than contained in NZSCO 1999. It has also meant major changes to the way some occupations were classified in NZSCO 1999. Some of the major changes are listed below.

Agriculture and Fishery Workers

This NZSCO 1999 major group has been discontinued in ANZSCO. These occupations have been spread across a number of ANZSCO major groups. The major changes are:

Farmers and farm managers are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 1 Managers, Sub-Major Group 12 Farmers and Farm Managers.

Farm and forestry workers are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 8 Labourers, Sub-Major Group 84 Farm, Forestry and Garden Workers.

Gardeners, greenkeepers and nurserypersons are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 3 Technicians and Trades Workers, Minor Group 362 Horticultural Trades Workers.

Gardening and nursery labourers are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 8 Labourers, Sub-Major Group 84 Farm, Forestry and Garden Workers.

Associate Professionals

This NZSCO 1999 major group has been discontinued in ANZSCO. These occupations have been spread across a number of ANZSCO major groups. The major changes are:

Physical Science and Engineering Associate Professionals, NZSCO 1999 Sub-Major Group 31, are mostly classified to ANZSCO Major Group 3 Technicians and Trades Workers, Sub-Major Group 31 Engineering, ICT and Science Technicians.

Ship and Aircraft Controllers and Technicians, NZSCO 1999 Minor Group 314, are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 2 Professionals, Minor Group 231 Air and Marine Transport Professionals.

Life Science Technicians and Related Workers, NZSCO 1999 Minor Group 321, are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 3 Technicians and Trades Workers, Sub-Major Group 31 Engineering, ICT and Science Technicians.

Health Associate Professionals, NZSCO 1999 Minor Group 322, and Nursing Associate Professionals, NZSCO 1999 Minor Group 323, are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 2 Professionals, Sub-Major Group 25 Health Professionals, and Major Group 4 Community and Personal Service Workers, Sub-Major Group 41 Health and Welfare Support Workers.

Writers, Artists, Entertainment and Sports Associate Professionals, NZSCO 1999 Minor Group 336, are classified to ANZSCO Major Group 2 Professionals, Sub-Major Group 21 Arts and Media Professionals, and Major Group 4 Community and Personal Service Workers, Sub-Major Group 45 Sports and Personal Service Workers.

Sales and service occupations

NZSCO 1999 Major Group 5 Service and Sales Workers has been disaggregated and reorganised in ANZSCO into two major groups.

There is now one major group which covers all sales occupations - Major Group 6 Sales Workers, and one major group which covers all service workers - Major Group 4 Community and Personal Service Workers.

Information and communication technology (ICT) occupations

ANZSCO identifies a greater number of ICT unit groups and occupations compared to NZSCO 1999.

In ANZSCO Version 1.2, there are 13 ICT unit groups and 37 ICT occupations. This compares to two minor groups, three unit groups and seven occupations in NZSCO 1999.

COMPARABILITY WITH ISCO

ISCO was developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO). ISCO was first issued in 1958 and revised versions were produced in 1968, 1988 and 2008. The main aims of ISCO are to provide a basis for international comparisons of occupation statistics between member countries and to provide a conceptual model for the development of national occupation classifications.

The current edition, ISCO-08, uses skill level and skill specialisation as criteria in the conceptual framework for the classification. Four broad skill levels are used, defined in terms of the educational categories and levels that appear in the International Standard Classification of Education 1976, published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Comparison between ANZSCO and ISCO

The following table indicates the number of categories at each level of ANZSCO and ISCO

The following table compares the major group titles for ANZSCO and ISCO-08. Note that this table does not provide a correspondence between the two classifications.

ANZSCO	ISCO-08
1 Managers	1 Managers
2 Professionals	2 Professionals
3 Technicians and Trades Workers	3 Technicians and Associate Professionals
4 Community and Personal Service Workers	4 Clerical Support Workers
5 Clerical and Administrative Workers	5 Services and Sales Workers
6 Sales Workers	6 Skilled Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Workers
7 Machinery Operators and Drivers	7 Craft and Related Trades Workers
8 Labourers	8 Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers
	9 Elementary Occupations
	0 Armed Forces Occupations

The ten major groups in ISCO-08 are broadly similar to the eight ANZSCO major groups. The most significant differences at major group level are:

ISCO-08 identifies Skilled Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Workers as a separate major group (Major Group 6), whereas ANZSCO includes Farmers and Farm Managers as a sub-major group in Major Group 1 Managers; Skilled Animal and Horticultural Workers as a sub-major group in Major Group 3 Technicians and Trades Workers; and Farm, Forestry and Garden Workers as a sub-major group in Major Group 8 Labourers.

ISCO-08 Major Group 3 Technicians and Associate Professionals (and equivalent major groups in ASCO Second Edition and NZSCO 1999) has no equivalent in ANZSCO.

A major group of Community and Personal Service Workers has been introduced for ANZSCO and has no equivalent in ISCO-08.

In ISCO-08, jobs held by members of the armed forces are included in Major Group 0 Armed Forces. In ANZSCO, jobs held by members of the armed forces are classified with their civilian equivalents, where these exist, or to a number of defence force specific occupations.