OSCA Maintenance Strategy Questionnaire

From 11 March to 4 April 2025, the ABS gathered stakeholder input on the ongoing maintenance strategy for the Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA), including components underpinning maintenance, timing of updates, and the framework for prioritising proposed changes. We consulted on the usefulness of the proposed model for maintenance and any barriers you anticipate for implementation of future classification updates. 

OSCA is the new classification developed following the comprehensive review of the Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), which had not been reviewed in its entirety since the first edition in 2006 and was no longer reflective of the modern labour market. The main aim of the maintenance strategy for OSCA is to ensure the classification continues to reflect the evolution of the labour market.

The ABS received 123 responses from all levels of government, businesses, Jobs and Skills Councils, industry bodies/associations, academics and individuals.

We received support for the four proposed components of the OSCA maintenance strategy: statistical design, stakeholder engagement, comprehensive review and quality assurance. Stakeholder engagement received the strongest support, with requests for advance notice to gather data and prepare submissions to the ABS.

Many of you said you wanted a way to engage with us throughout the development process. You would like more time to work with your stakeholders to consult on proposed changes, including the opportunity to provide comment on final proposals before publication.

You suggested additional components that we will continue to take into consideration, such as:

• increasing the visibility of traditionally female-dominated occupations

• ensuring representation of occupations specific to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

• ensuring alignment with other occupation systems and international standards supporting labour mobility and policies, including trans-Tasman harmonisation by collaborating with Stats NZ to map occupation systems for comparability

• requesting the ABS to take on a greater leadership role in encouraging adoption of updates.

The overwhelming majority of you indicated you would implement the proposed updates to OSCA over the next 5 years. Over 80% of you told us that you plan to implement the next update in 2027, and 76% of you said you would implement all three. Those of you who would not implement all three updates either were not responsible for implementation or preferred to wait until completing initial transition to OSCA 2024 Version 1.0.

You told us that the time between updates to ANZSCO had been too long. Most of you indicated that the current proposed timing for OSCA strikes a fair balance between update frequency and what is realistically implementable.

However, there was no consensus on how often updates should occur. Some of you called for updates to be made immediately, especially those who rely on updates to reflect changes in specific occupations of concern.

Others expressed concerns about their ability to implement changes as frequently as we proposed. Those of you responsible for systems and reporting that require an overhaul of metadata for each classification update tended to prefer updates every 5 to 10 years.

Your responses to the barriers to implementation of OSCA question showed us that we have a good grasp of your key concerns. Almost one third of you reported no barriers to implementation. The most significant barrier identified was “Not having contemporary data at the time of the classification update”, followed closely by “Insufficient resources (such as time, money, or personnel required to implement)”.

You were very supportive of the proposed framework to determine how a submission will be prioritised. You predominantly agreed there needs to be a strong emphasis on national priorities and the broader societal impact.

One quarter of your responses to this consultation included occupation-specific feedback in addition to comments on the proposed maintenance model.

We thank those of you who participated for taking the time to provide feedback. Your feedback will help to shape the OSCA maintenance strategy which we will publish on 28 July 2025.

We heard that you have appreciated the opportunity to engage with us. Building on the strong stakeholder engagement we developed to deliver OSCA 2024 Version 1.0, we will incorporate your suggestions for advance notice of consultations and a continuous feedback loop. We are aware that some issues cannot be resolved without detailed discussions. We commit to having these discussions as required.

To further aid implementation, we will continue to strengthen our new partnerships with key government bodies whose lists, informed by OSCA, are essential for economic planning, workforce development and policy delivery. These partnerships will also help to ensure updates to OSCA are driven by issues of national importance – reflecting both your priorities and our shared commitment to focussing on what matters most for Australia’s workforce and economy.

We recognise that the proposed update model does not work for everyone, and we will review it after publishing OSCA 2030. We also recognise that you had additional occupation-specific feedback on the current classification. We have already begun to prepare the next round of updates, including some generated through this consultation, and will be providing more information on how to participate in the next update soon.

We are committed to providing data alongside classification updates and providing correspondence files and coding tools to support your use of the classification. We will discuss how data will be presented with classification updates in the maintenance strategy, in recognition that these data will support users’ analytical needs during the maintenance cycle. 

In addition to the maintenance strategy, reinforcing our ongoing commitment to stakeholder engagement, we will be maintaining the About OSCA page for information on the latest developments to OSCA. This will include timelines for future releases and consultations.