ABS Consultation Hub

From 1 February to 28 April 2023, the ABS opened public consultation seeking views on what changes should be made to selected occupations to inform the comprehensive review of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).

This first round of consultation was an opportunity for users of the classification to provide feedback on occupations that fell within the following focus areas:

Organisations and individuals were invited to make submissions about the accuracy of current occupation skill levels and descriptions and any occupations anticipated to emerge in the next 5 to 10 years.

The ABS received over 190 submissions, including valuable feedback from all levels of government, businesses, industry bodies/associations, academics, and individuals.

To inform the classification changes, collaborative workshops were organised for various occupation focus areas.  These workshops attracted a wide range of stakeholders eager to participate and contribute their expertise, ultimately enhancing the quality of occupation information within their respective fields.

Feedback received recommended improvements to occupation descriptions and classification structures. It also highlighted the evolution of certain occupations and the emergence of diverse fields and unique jobs that stakeholders would like to see included in the classification. An important topic that resonated with stakeholders was the evolving skill level requirements for different occupations and how these requirements have changed over time.

To keep stakeholders informed of how their input is influencing changes to the classification we have published our preliminary view of proposed change from Consultation round one. These are presented in the Publish Results section below for 12 of the 13 occupation focus areas. Release of proposed changes from Computer system design and related services occupations has been deferred to the end of the second round of consultation.

These changes reflect the collaborative efforts and insights provided by stakeholders, ensuring that the classification remains relevant and responsive to user requirements and accurately represents the evolving landscape of the Australian labour market.

A final consultation round in mid-2024 will allow users an opportunity to provide feedback on the complete set of proposed changes, before finalising the classification update for release by December 2024. This critical phase will also present proposed alterations to the classification structure that may involve reorganising or consolidating existing occupation groups, creating new groups for emerging occupations, or adapting the structure to better reflect the relationships between occupations.

Next Steps

Consultation round two of the ANZSCO comprehensive review is currently underway with consultation closing Friday 11 August 2023.  Learn more about the occupations that will be reviewed this round, how to participate and tips for preparing your submission.  

Keep up to date with all the latest developments on the review at Updating ANZSCO.

From 28 February to 28 April 2023, the ABS opened public consultation seeking views on what changes should be made to the 2026 Census topics.

Organisations and individuals were invited to make submissions about information needs not currently collected by the ABS and to provide evidence of:

• The topic being of current national importance.
• A need for data at the national level, and either the local level or for small population groups.
• A likely continuing need for data on the topic following the Census.

The ABS received 260 submissions. The submissions were received via the ABS Consultation Hub, email, mail, and meetings (where explicitly requested by the stakeholder for minutes to be included as a submission). 

The ABS also considered more than 500 other pieces of feedback as part of the consultation, including recent ABS standards and classification reviews, recommendations from parliamentary inquiries, letters to the Australian Statistician, Members of Parliament and other correspondence received by the ABS since June 2018, and 2021 Census submissions for six shortlisted topics.

Submissions and feedback were received from all levels of government, businesses, community groups, advocacy groups, industry bodies/associations, academics and individuals.

• During phase one of the consultation, the ABS identified strong public value for the inclusion of 12 new topics and to make changes to 16 existing topics.
• Four existing topics have been identified for potential removal from the 2026 Census.
• The ABS has published a shortlist of the topics being considered for the 2026 Census. The publication provides a summary of the feedback received during the first phase of consultation. It outlines new topics being considered for inclusion, existing topics where change is being considered and topics being considered for removal. The publication 2026 Census topic review: Phase one directions is available on the ABS website.

Where to from here?

Phase two of the 2026 Census Topic consultation is open from Thursday 27 July until Friday 8 September. This is the time to let us know if there will be impacts for you or your organisation if we changed or removed one of the shortlisted topics.

The ABS will further assess the shortlisted topics for feasibility and to determine if the Census is the most appropriate way to provide data on the topic. This will inform the decision on which topics proceed to testing.

In late 2023, the ABS will share the outcomes of phase two, including the topics recommended for removal and topics that have proceeded to testing.

In 2024, the ABS will make a recommendation to the Australian Government on the topics to be included on the 2026 Census. The final list of topics to be included in the Census will be published by the ABS in late 2025.

The ABS commenced public consultation on 14 October 2022 on the measurement of Digital Platform Work and Workers.

The public consultation ran for around 6 weeks and sought feedback on:

1. The conceptual framework – the conceptual understanding of digital platform work as applied to the Australian context; and
2. The measurement approach – the proposed survey topics to be incorporated in the digital platform work experimental survey module for 2023/24

This public consultation generated a small number of submissions from a variety of stakeholders, including government, business, and the public. This was in line with expectations, given this is a new measurement space where there aren’t many longstanding experts. We specifically sought feedback on the measurement approach the ABS was taking and the conceptual framework that had been developed. The feedback received is summarised below.

The Conceptual framework:
There was strong support for the framework the ABS developed, to better communicate and understand digital platform workers and work. The distinction the ABS made between labour services and other forms of digital platform work was considered appropriate, along with distinguishing between different types of tasks (e.g. personal transport and food delivery).

The Measurement Approach:
There was broad support for the current experimental measurement approach the ABS is using. The submissions noted that the priority information is being captured and also identified a range of additional data items that could be collected to broaden and enhance the data collected for the 2023/24 survey cycle.

The feedback provided has been summarised below:

• Reference period - expand the timeframe beyond the last four weeks, to ensure people who undertake digital platform work infrequently are included.
• Task type – include further specificity in task types (e.g. type of caring tasks).
• Industry – present an industry distribution of digital platform work.
• Digital platform hours worked – a variety of options were suggested for collecting information on digital platform work hours worked and whether more paid hours were preferred by workers.
• Reason for undertaking digital platform work – ability to select more than one reason.
• Working conditions and security - level of control or influence the respondent has over digital platform work arrangements.
• Platform use – Whether multiple platforms are used and how this is managed by the worker.
• Safety and risk – perception of safety at work, understanding of work health and safety obligations, measures available to reduce risk.
• Earnings - allowing respondents to report earnings in smaller increments (e.g. less than 10% of earnings, etc).
• Other data sources - exploration of other mechanisms for collecting data, such as administrative data.

The ABS is grateful for the submissions received through this consultation process and has taken these into consideration in determining the content for inclusion in the next stage of the experimental digital platform work survey module, for the 2023/24 financial year. As the module is part of a broader survey program, new content needs to be balanced with other competing priorities within the program and the need to ensure a reasonable experience for survey respondents.

The following changes will be incorporated into the digital platform work survey module, which will be progressively collected from July 2023:

Reference period/frequency

• the reference period has been expanded to include; any digital platform work tasks undertaken in the past 12 months, detailed questions are asked about work undertaken in the previous 4 weeks, and whether tasks have been undertaken within the Labour Force Survey Reference Week; and
• frequency that DPW tasks are undertaken (e.g. weekly, monthly etc) is requested to understand how regularly digital platform work is undertaken.

DPW task type

• further questions added to determine more task information, including-the type of delivery work undertaken (e.g. food, grocery or parcels) and the type of caring tasks performed (e.g. disability care, aged care, childcare etc).

Working conditions/hours

• whether the respondent has a preference for more hours of digital platform work; and
• how work is allocated and how hours and price are set.

Work safety

• whether a workplace accident has occurred undertaking digital platform work
• perception of safety at work; and
• whether covered for personal accident insurance in case of a work-related accident.

The ABS will continue to inform the evolutionary approach to measuring digital platform work and workers. Any additional feedback is welcome at measuring.employment.consultation@abs.gov.au.