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Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO)
Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO)
ANZSCO replaces the existing Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition and the New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (NZSCO) 1999 used in Australia and New Zealand, respectively.
The structure of ANZSCO has five hierarchical levels - major group, sub-major group, minor group, unit group and occupation. These are the same hierarchical levels as are used in ASCO Second Edition. The classification as used by the Census can be see in the Classifications section of this Dictionary listed under the mnemonic OCCP Occupation.
The categories at the most detailed level of the ANZSCO structure are called 'occupations'. An 'occupation' is defined as a set of jobs that require the performance of similar or identical sets of tasks. As it is rare for two actual jobs to have identical sets of tasks, in practical terms, an 'occupation' is a set of jobs whose main tasks are characterised by a high degree of similarity.
A 'job' is defined as a set of tasks designed to be performed by one person for an employer (including self-employment) in return for payment or profit.
For more information see the Information Paper: ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations 2005 (cat. no. 1221.0), which provides an overview of the conceptual basis of ANZSCO and details of the final classification structure. The complete classification will be published in
ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (cat. no. 1220.0) which is expected to be released mid 2006.
Alternative ANZSCO views
Alternative views are ways of looking at subsets of occupations on the basis of the primary goods and services produced or provided by the employee. For instance, payroll clerks working in hospitals are not included in a view of health occupations even though they work in the health 'industry', as the goods and services produced by payroll clerks are not health-related.
Alternative views are a means of outputting data on a range of related occupations which span different parts of ANZSCO.
It is proposed to develop a standard set of alternative views to facilitate meaningful and consistent comparison of employment in various 'industry' sectors between different data sources and across time. To date, it is proposed to develop alternative views for agricultural, health, culture and leisure, hospitality and tourism, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) occupations.
See also Occupation.
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