Treatment of specific cases

OSCA defines occupations in terms of skill level and skill specialisation. A solution is required to classify a job whose tasks relate to more than one OSCA occupation. The job should be classified according to the following order of precedence.

1. Where the tasks of the job relate to different OSCA skill levels, the job is classified to the occupation at the higher skill level. For example, a job involving driving a truck (Occupation 713131 Truck Driver (General) – OSCA Skill Level 4) and loading and unloading the truck (Occupation 891131 Freight Handler (Rail or Road) – OSCA Skill Level 5) is classified to Occupation 713131 Truck Driver (General).
2. Where the tasks of the job are at the same skill level, but relate to different stages of the production and distribution process, the tasks related to the production stage take priority. For example, a job involving assisting with propagating plants (Occupation 842231 Horticultural Nursery Assistant – OSCA Skill Level 5) and selling plants (Occupation 631131 Sales Assistant (General) – OSCA Skill Level 5) is classified to Occupation 842231 Horticultural Nursery Assistant.
3. Where the tasks are at the same skill level and at the same stage of production, the job is classified according to the amount of time spent on each set of tasks. For example, a job involving assembling and installing fire doors, door frames and fittings (Occupation 372131 Carpenter and Joiner – OSCA Skill Level 3), and installing and connecting electrical wiring to ensure that the door closes automatically when a fire alarm sounds (Occupation 381231 Electrician (General) – OSCA Skill Level 3) is classified to Occupation 372131 Carpenter and Joiner if the job requires the most amount of time spent on these tasks.

OSCA classifies occupations according to the requirements for competent performance of a set of tasks. Most apprentices or trainees perform the same tasks as those performed by an employed person who is not an apprentice or trainee, but under varying degrees of supervision and at varying levels of competence. The skill of an apprentice or trainee nearing completion of their training is, generally, significantly higher than on day one of their training.

OSCA does not include separate occupations for apprentices or trainees. For example, apprentice carpenters or trainee hairdressers are classified to Occupations 372132 Carpenter and 392132 Hairdresser, respectively.

Some professions require newly or overseas qualified employed persons, or those returning to the profession after a significant absence to work under an experienced supervisor to ensure competent performance. These arrangements, referred to as supervised practice or provisional registration, confirm that the occupant of a job has the required skills (level and specialisation) to competently perform the required set of tasks. They are common for professions such as law, medicine, nursing, psychology and teaching. For example, a newly graduated lawyer must be supervised for 18 months to 2 years by another lawyer who works at the same practice who holds a practising certificate. A new graduate from a psychology course needs provisional registration to undertake a supervised internship before achieving general registration as a psychologist.

Persons employed via such arrangements perform the same tasks as those performed by the person supervising them. Therefore, OSCA does not include separate occupations for jobs undertaken via supervised practice or provisional registration. For example, graduate architects or provisionally registered psychologists are classified to Occupations 241131 Architect and 261231 Psychologist, respectively.

Defence force roles which have a civilian equivalent are classified to the relevant civilian occupation. For example, the army role Recovery Mechanic is classified to Occupation 713132 Tow Truck Driver. Similarly, Nursing Officer is classified to Occupation 265499 Registered Nurses nec.

Defence force roles for which there is no civilian equivalent are classified to one of four specific defence force occupations: 121232 Defence Force Senior Officer, 149231 Commissioned Defence Force Officer, 149431 Senior Non-commissioned Defence Force Member, and 451131 Defence Force Member – Other Ranks. For example, the navy role Boatswain’s Mate is classified to Occupation 451131 Defence Force Member – Other Ranks.

Management occupations classified to Major Group 1 are distinguished from other occupations based on whether the predominant or most frequent tasks performed relate to planning, organising, directing, controlling and coordinating an organisation, or specific functions within the organisation. This includes not only specific functional roles but also high-level executive positions such as CEOs and General Managers who have overall control of the entire organisation. These roles require a comprehensive understanding of the organisation’s strategic goals and the ability to lead and manage diverse teams to achieve these objectives. The primary field of knowledge for these occupations is ‘management and leadership’ which includes strategic planning, high level decision-making, resource allocation, and performance management.

In many cases, management jobs will have a secondary field of knowledge that is required to perform the role competently, and which is not readily transferable to other management roles. If the occupation requires a secondary field of knowledge, that field of knowledge is used to classify the occupation to a ‘specialist’ management occupation in Sub-major Group 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17.

For example, the primary field of knowledge for the Occupation 131131 Construction Project Manager is ‘management and leadership’ as the main tasks performed are related to planning, organising, controlling and coordinating the construction functions of the organisation they work for. The secondary field of knowledge is ‘construction’ as the occupation also requires qualifications and/or extensive experience in construction related activities.

Occupations classified in Sub-major Group 12 Chief Executives, General Managers and Legislators are usually senior managers in organisations that are large enough to have a hierarchy of managers. The main characteristics of chief executives and general managers is that they coordinate and direct the activities of other managers who have a range of specialised functions, and that they report to a board of directors. This is a result of the management and governance arrangements of organisations and reflects the complexity of the organisation’s functions as much as its size.

Most occupations classified in Sub-major Group 16 Hospitality and Retail Managers are in relatively small organisations that do not usually have hierarchies of managers. Although many shop managers are responsible for running relatively small establishments, the managers of large supermarkets and department stores are still shop managers. They are classified with other shop managers in Unit Group 1621 Retail Managers.

Jobs classified in Sub-major Groups 11 Business Administration and Promotion, and ICT Managers, 13 Construction, Production and Distribution Managers, 14 Education, Health, Welfare and Other Specialist Managers, 15 Farmers and Farm Managers and 17 Office Administration and Service Managers may be employed in large hierarchical organisations or in relatively small organisations that provide specialist services to other organisations.

The size of the organisation where a manager is employed is irrelevant when determining the most appropriate occupation. This is because Major Group 1 is organised by skill specialisation, not by the size of the organisation managed. To classify a job to Major Group 1, both the job title and the main tasks or duties performed need to be considered.

Where an occupation’s primary field of knowledge is management, and the skill level is 1 or 2, the occupation will be classified to Major Group 1.

Middle management occupations are regarded as the level of management immediately below senior managers.

Where the predominant tasks of a middle management occupation are related to management and the skill level is 1 or 2, the occupation is included in Major Group 1, with their secondary field of knowledge determining the appropriate ‘specialist’ management occupation in Sub-major Group 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17.

Where the primary tasks of a middle management occupation are related to another field of knowledge and the skill level is 1, the occupation is included in Major Group 2 Professionals. For example, the primary task of the Occupation 211131 Accountant (General) is undertaking accountancy work, even though the occupation usually includes some management responsibilities. Accordingly, the occupation is included in Major Group 2 Professionals.

Where the primary tasks of a middle-management occupation are not management related, and the skill level is not 1, the occupation is classified to the major group that best reflects its primary skill specialisation and skill level. For example, an Automotive Technician (General) whose primary role is repairing motor vehicles but also has management responsibility for organising and coordinating the functions of the business, will be classified to 351131 Automotive Technician (General).

Managers have responsibility for the operations of an organisation or specific functions within an organisation. Supervisors and team leaders are only responsible for supervising staff, and often undertake the same main tasks as those they are supervising.

Supervisors and team leaders are generally classified to the same occupation as the most-skilled workers they supervise. The main tasks of supervisors and team leaders are generally the same as those they supervise, with supervision of staff being a minor part of their job. In some cases, these supervisory or team leader roles have been created as a specialisation of the occupation.

For example, Cabin Supervisor (Aircraft) is a specialisation of the Occupation 461731 Flight Attendant. The skill level and main tasks of a cabin supervisor are largely the same as a Flight Attendant, with some additional supervisory responsibility.

There are exceptions to this convention. Where the supervisor or team leader role requires a higher level of skill than those they are supervising, or where the main tasks of the supervisory role are different to those they supervise, a separate occupation has been created.

Supervisory occupations have been created for sectors such as:

• aged and disability services (for example Aged Care Team Leader)
• agriculture and horticulture (for example Aquaculture Supervisor, Senior Beef Cattle Station Worker, Senior Broadacre Crop Farm Worker, Vineyard Supervisor)
• construction (for example Civil Construction Leading Hand)
• early childhood services (for example Early Childhood Education Room Leader), and
• hospitality (for example Bar Supervisor, Cafe or Restaurant Supervisor, Gaming Supervisor)

Where the size of the supervisory occupation meets the minimum ideal threshold, it has been included in a separate unit group to the occupations supervised to ensure the unit group is at a single skill level. However, where it does not meet the minimum threshold, the supervisory occupation was included in the same unit group as the occupations supervised.

Self-employed workers who operate their own business either independently or with the assistance of a small number of other workers will often undertake some management and administrative tasks. Such jobs are only classified to Major Group 1 Managers if the main component of the job is management of the business and supervision of staff.

For example, a hairdresser who owns and operates their own salon and employs a small number of other hairdressers and a receptionist but spends most of their time cutting and styling hair is classified to Occupation 392132 Hairdresser. If, on the other hand, most of their time is spent running the salon and hiring and supervising employees then that job is classified to Occupation 172431 Hair or Beauty Salon Manager.