Has OSCA replaced ANZSCO? What Australian migration actually uses in 2026

Short answer: no — not for migration. OSCA replaced ANZSCO as the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ standard occupation classification in December 2024. But skilled migration — the occupation lists, the skills assessments, the visa nomination forms — still runs on ANZSCO in 2026. If you are lodging a visa now, you use your ANZSCO code.

What OSCA is

OSCA stands for the Occupation Standard Classification for Australia. It is the ABS’s successor to ANZSCO, released in December 2024. ANZSCO — the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations — had been the statistical standard for occupation data since 2006, with a major revision in 2022. OSCA modernises that structure: refreshed occupation definitions, new and merged codes, and a coding frame built for current labour-market reporting.

OSCA is a statistical classification. Its job is to make occupation data comparable across surveys, the Census, and labour-market series. That is what the ABS builds it for, and that is the lane it sits in. See the ABS OSCA page for the official scope.

What migration still uses

Skilled migration eligibility in Australia is built on ANZSCO, not OSCA. As of 2026, every part of the migration machinery that touches an occupation code reads ANZSCO:

• The occupation lists. The Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL), the MLTSSL, the STSOL and the ROL all identify occupations by ANZSCO code. The CSOL that opens the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) Core Skills stream is an ANZSCO list. The Home Affairs skill occupation list page shows the lists in force.
• The Specialist Skills stream test. Whether your occupation falls in ANZSCO Major Group 1, 2, 4, 5 or 6 — the gate for the SID Specialist Skills stream — is read off your ANZSCO code’s first digit.
• Skills assessments. Assessing authorities — ACS, Engineers Australia, VETASSESS, TRA, ANMAC, AHPRA and the rest — assess against the ANZSCO occupation you nominate.
• Points-tested GSM visas. The 189, 190 and 491 all reference ANZSCO occupations and the MLTSSL or state lists.

In short: the classification the statisticians moved on from is still the one the visa system runs on.

What OSCA changes, and what it doesn’t

What OSCA changes: statistics. Census tables, labour-force series, Jobs and Skills Australia analysis and other ABS outputs progressively move to OSCA codes. Over time, the data that informs policy — including the shortage analysis behind occupation lists — will be reported in OSCA terms.

What OSCA does not change, today: your visa eligibility. OSCA does not decide whether your occupation is on the CSOL, which stream you qualify for, or which authority assesses you. Those answers come from your ANZSCO code. A move to OSCA in the migration program would be a separate policy decision by Home Affairs, announced through its own channels — and it has not happened.

For a visa applicant right now

Use your ANZSCO code. When you check a list, identify your assessing authority, or fill in a nomination, the code that matters is the 6-digit ANZSCO code — under migration the 2022 version. An OSCA code is the right answer for a statistical return; it is not what a visa form is asking for.

If you have seen an OSCA code for your occupation and are unsure how it maps back to ANZSCO, do not assume a one-to-one match — OSCA merged, split and renamed some occupations. Work from your ANZSCO code for anything migration-related.

Check before you rely on it

Classifications and lists both move. OSCA will keep rolling through ABS outputs, and Home Affairs reviews its occupation lists. Confirm what is current on the Home Affairs skill occupation list page and, for the classification itself, the ABS OSCA page, before acting on anything here.

To find your ANZSCO 2022 code, browse the occupation index. If you are unsure which code fits your background, the CV matcher at app.anzscofinder.com matches your CV to the closest codes and shows its working.

For advice on whether a pathway is right for your situation, speak to a registered migration agent. We find codes and show sources. We do not give migration advice.