The Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) was developed by the Australian Government for use in the collection, analysis and dissemination of occupation statistics in Australia and New Zealand. ANZSCO is a skills-based classification used to classify all occupations and jobs in the Australian and New Zealand labour markets that will result in improved comparability of occupation statistics produced by the two countries.

ANZSCO is the classification framework used by Government to make decisions, with those decisions impacting on the agrifood industry in the following areas:

• Immigration – 457 visas are linked to a skill levels and some agrifood occupations have been classified lower than the accepted skills level
• Skills in demand – Under the Productivity Placement Program eligible qualifications for funding are at an AQF level 3 and above, whereby many of the agrifood classifications are classified at a lower level and could therefore be argued as not eligible for funding
• Research indicators – ANZSCO is a standard classification used by researchers, governments etc when quoting research reports.