Prepared by Jennifer Byrne (Policy and Governance)
The Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians
There has been a lot of buzz in the beauty sector over the past few days regarding the release of the proposed ANZSCO comprehensive review that is now open for public consultation round four. The Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians has been working on behalf of our members and more broadly the representation of dermal therapists and dermal clinicians since 2021 to have our occupations recognised in government data
What is the comprehensive review of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupation Codes (ANZSCO)?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is undertaking a comprehensive review of the classification occupations to reflect the contemporary labour market, making emerging occupations more visible, and identifying those in decline. This review has included three rounds of public consultation from 2023-2024 with Round 4 - the final round of public consultation now open. The updated classification will be released in December 2024, in time for use by the 2026 Census.
Consultation rounds 1-3 targeted selected occupations grouped by focus areas. The comprehensive review received over 600 feedback submissions during the consultation with stakeholders across the three rounds (The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2024).
While ANZSCO has previously had some minor updates, it largely describes the original 2006 version, which was based on the 2001 labour market according to The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2024). The current comprehensive review has been extremely important for dermal clinicians and dermal therapists as this is the first time Australian occupations have been reviewed, refined and re-classified in such a holistic manner.
Most importantly this has provided visibility of the dermal clinician and therapist occupation titles. In 2006 these occupations were not represented as it was based on 2001 census data. No dermal therapists or dermal clinicians were practising at that time under those occupation titles. Although these professions have grown significantly over the past twenty years, this has happened with relative invisibility to government departments due to having no visibility in the Australian Bureau of Statistics Data until the 2021 census.
While there has been an increase in interest among the beauty, dermal and medical aesthetics sectors with the announcement of the preliminary categorisation in preparation for consultation four, this has been a long road for the Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians that started back in 2021 with the census. The census was identified by the Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians in 2021 as an opportunity to utiiise big data to get onto the government's radar.
Following will be information to clear up some of the misconceptions and provide information for Dermal Therapists and Dermal Clinicians about where we are now at consultation round four, what we are still working toward for 2026 and beyond as well as what the ANZSCO review means for you to investigate as next steps and provide your own feedback.
How does the ANZSCO Work?
ANZSCO is the skill-based classification used to categorise all occupations and jobs undertaken for profit in the Australian and New Zealand labour markets. It is used in the collection and dissemination of all official statistics on occupations and is a foundation of Australia’s statistical infrastructure. ANZSCO is a hierarchical classification system that categorises occupations according to one of eight major groups and then into increasingly smaller sub-categories: sub-major group; minor group; unit group, before resulting in the specific occupation (The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2024).
Each occupation in ANZSCO is defined by its primary tasks. Each occupation’s definition may also include alternate titles for the occupation as well as note specialisations.
Each occupation is also assigned a skill level (qualifications and expertise). The skill level reflects the range and complexity of the set of tasks undertaken in the occupation. The skill level and specialisation help determine the major group (and smaller sub-categories) to which the job should be classified (The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2024)
Skill Level Explained - Figure 2 Structure of the ANZSCO by skill level
Skill level is aligned with the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) but also provides a mechanism for recognising experience and expertise as outlined below which can provide support for times of transition.
Occupations or jobs don’t correlate to a “specific” qualification but there is a minimum level that is in recognition of the complexity of the role. There may be several avenues for education or qualifications that may provide the skills and knowledge to perform listed occupation. Or it could also be a combination of recognising training and experience as well.
Image from The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2024
What are ANZSCO codes used for?
Directly ANZSCO data collection is used for:
Workforce planning
Census Data Collection
Housing
Education Programs - development and funding
Skilled Migration Programs
Indirectly, employer groups may use ANZSCO codes for
Developing position descriptions with occupation titles and tasks
Determining appropriate qualifications and experience
Determining classification categories and the most appropriate modern awards for remuneration
Describing tasks, duties, clinical skills and knowledge
Are ANZSCO codes a form of regulation?
In themselves, no they are not. The Australian Bureau of Statistics is not a regulatory body and ANZSCO is not an education accreditation platform. An occupation code is not a regulated title and being listed as an occupation doesn’t make it a regulated profession. As seen above in times of transition there is a means to recognise that someone may be working in an occupation with training and experience that were developed before recognised formalised qualifications. However, it does assist to formalise the boundaries of one occupation and another. In moving forward employer groups may use ANZSCO information and descriptors to support recruitment and reviewing appropriate qualification levels and experience for employment positions. Education and training providers can use this information to benchmark the educational level and graduate outcomes required to be job-ready for these occupation classifications. Skills and Training and workforce gaps can also be identified for development and funding. Therefore it can be a positive mechanism to develop clearly defined educational pathways and scope of practice for professionals.
It's also important to note that the tasks and duties are not a definitive or exhaustive list. It’s immensely challenging to quantify an occupation in a few short sentences, a limitation of the ABS online directory system. Descriptors should be viewed as examples that outline the scope of practice in terms of their complexity, need for specific knowledge and skill sets. The Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians in the feedback we put forth on behalf of members outlined we were reluctant to name techniques or technologies as these change so rapidly over time, particularly when we reflect on the last five years and look forward to the next five years again. However, data collection is a binary process, not a crystal ball. What is currently included is what can be evidenced right now. This evidence for the ABS has been collected by reviewing job advertisements or current descriptions and references to these occupations from online sources. References to these occupations currently use the terminology, phrases and descriptors outlined. The Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians' recommendations and feedback in their submission for consultation three were to concentrate on differentiating occupations based on conditions and patient groups within the occupation's scope of practice including the complexity of client assessment, treatment planning, risk management and patient management required.
What do dermal therapists and dermal clinicians need to know?
It is important and relevant for dermal clinicians and dermal therapists to understand that each job must belong exclusively to only one occupation. For example, Dermal Clinician, Dermal Therapist or Beauty Therapist must exist as mutually exclusive and differentiated occupations performing different jobs from one another or they can’t all co-exist. This is to maintain the stability of the classification for analysis across time.
Until now as there has been no ANZSCO code for dermal therapists and dermal clinicians, many practitioners have been using codes or titles that they feel are the best fit for their work. This has led to the fragmentation of our occupation data and the invisibility of our numbers. This flows on to cause a lack of recognition of the occupation and therefore workforce planning by the government. This poses challenges to peak bodies that this review and inclusion of these occupation codes will go some way to alleviate. If the occupation is defined and classified it can be monitored over time.
The ANZSCO occupations for the beauty and dermal sectors can be viewed not as a hierarchy but as a horizontal representation or framework with occupations working together side-by-side to assist with skin concerns each with their own skill sets and performing particular tasks as part of the client continuum of care.
Also interesting to note is that all emerging occupations sprout off another well-established occupation, usually through a need. As such occupations are nested together until they have differentiated sufficiently to move into a different classification category.
How does this relate to the classifications proposed in the ANZSCO review currently up for feedback?
This applies to the outcomes proposed in the classification system for Dermal Therapist and Dermal Clinician. The Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians provided extensive and detailed feedback in consultation rounds two and three including participating in stakeholder consultations. During this time it was explained by the Australian Bureau of Statics that the census data from 2021 supported the creation of a distinct occupation code for the Dermal Therapist as sufficient numbers of individuals could be identified in these occupations. This occupation was identified as related to, but had differentiated from beauty therapy in the personal services category. However, Dermal Clinicians, who originally emerged from Beauty Therapy twenty years ago, were identified for reclassification as an emerging health profession. This is due to substantial differentiation in skill level, work settings and tasks with greater similarity to allied and health professions. Unfortunately, due to insufficient numbers of “Dermal Clinicians” identifying themselves in the 2021 census, they did not reach the threshold numbers to receive a unique occupation code, The Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians provided aggregate membership data and statistics in an aim to demonstrate this threshold had been achieved but in the review process it did not successfully achieve the the outcome of unique occupation code. Dermal Clinicians have been included in the Health Professions (NEC) not elsewhere classified along with other small emerging health professions. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has provided information that Dermal Clinician as an occupation is being closely monitored for the 2026 Census due to being very close to the threshold of numbers required in 2021 for a unique code. This also provides a window of opportunity to still provide the ABS with our feedback in consultation four as well as a further opportunity to keep working toward the goal of a distinct occupation code and classification after the 2026 Census data is reviewed.
What codes are currently proposed for dermal clinicians and dermal therapists?
DERMAL CLINICIAN 266999 HEALTH PROFESSIONALS NEC
DERMAL THERAPIST 461132
What did the ASDC propose?
The Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians did not provide any feedback on existing occupations of beauticians or beauty therapists as we are not their representative peak body. Our feedback was specific to the dermal therapist and the dermal clinician occupations.
Table provided by ASDC from the consultation round 3.
Next Steps for Dermal Therapists and Dermal Clinicians
Participate in the 2026 Census
The ASDC stresses the importance of all dermal clinicians and all dermal therapists listing their title as their occupation in the 2026 census so that we can achieve and maintain this recognition of being a distinct occupation.
Have your Say in Consultation Round 4
We encourage all dermal therapists and clinicians to review the consultation information and for employers and groups who use ANZSCO codes to provide feedback. Specifically, they are looking for feedback on
How you intend to use the classification and data consumption tools
The proposed changes, draft structure and the implementation of the classification
The Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians is providing a final submission as part of consultation round four. We will be collating feedback that will reiterate supporting unique codes for both dermal clinicians and dermal therapists. You can contribute to the collection of data to support the need for this due to the increase in the size and impact of our occupations over the next 5 years
Contribute to the final submission for the Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians - Information Due August 31, 2024
Submit your feedback - HAVE YOUR SAY ASDC Survey
Become a Member
When the government evaluates these submissions they look to peak professional bodies to demonstrate the size of the profession and to also provide clarity of messaging. This is just one example of why it's important to be part of the change you want to see, and why you need to be visible by being a member to contribute to a better future for you and for all of us.
The ASDC has been here for you for over 20 years and we continue to be here for the long game for all of us.
This publication is not legal, financial or professional advice, should not be taken as a substitute for such advice and does not take into account your financial or investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs. Readers should not act or rely on any statement, view or opinion expressed in this publication and should make and rely on their own inquiries in making any decisions or giving any advice. In particular, Readers should carefully consider the terms and conditions of any financial product and/or financial services/advice in light of their personal circumstances (including financial and tax issues) and seek professional guidance from their relevant accountant, tax, legal or other professional adviser before deciding to proceed.
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