AVA follows up on OSCA changes affecting the veterinary profession

The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) has lodged a follow‑up submission to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) as part of the OSCA 2027 Update consultation, responding to recent changes in the Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) that directly affect the veterinary profession.

What is OSCA and why it matters

OSCA is Australia’s national framework for classifying occupations. It underpins how workforce data are collected, analysed and used in major policy areas such as education planning, skilled migration, workforce modelling and health system analysis. OSCA replaced ANZSCO in Australia with the release of OSCA 2024, Version 1.0, following a comprehensive review of how occupations are defined and described.

Because OSCA classifications flow through to government datasets including the Census and Labour Force Survey, the way veterinary roles are described has real‑world implications for visibility of the profession, workforce assessment, and future policy development.

Recent changes affecting veterinary roles

In OSCA 2024, veterinarians were moved into the Health Professionals major group, recognising their role as regulated health practitioners providing diagnosis, treatment and preventive care for animal health. At the same time, Veterinary Technologists were introduced as a distinct occupation.

This change was significant and broadly welcomed. It better aligns veterinary practice with other health professions and acknowledges the skilled contribution of veterinary technologists to animal health care teams. However, as with any major reclassification, the AVA identified areas where the wording and structure could benefit from further refinement.

Why the AVA made a follow‑up submission

The AVA’s follow‑up submission focuses on clarifying and refining the wording used in OSCA to describe veterinarians and veterinary technologists. Some elements of the original OSCA wording created ambiguity or unintended overlap between roles.

In particular, the AVA highlighted:

• The need to clearly distinguish professional scope and responsibilities of veterinarians versus veterinary technologists.
• Potential cross‑over in task descriptions that could confuse data users or misrepresent the regulated responsibilities of registered veterinarians.
• The importance of ensuring OSCA descriptions align with Australian regulatory frameworks, qualifications and contemporary veterinary practice.

These refinements are not about re‑opening the structural placement of the occupations within OSCA, but about ensuring the language used is precise, accurate and fit for purpose.

Why clarity in wording matters

Clear occupational definitions are essential for:

• Accurate workforce statistics, including counting and tracking veterinary professionals.
• Policy development, particularly in areas such as rural workforce supply, biosecurity and animal health preparedness.
• Migration and skills planning, where OSCA is used to inform skilled occupation lists and training pathways.
• Recognition of professional roles, ensuring veterinary professionals are appropriately described alongside other health practitioners.

Ambiguous or overlapping descriptions risk under‑ or mis‑representing parts of the veterinary workforce, which can have long‑term impacts on visibility and resourcing.

The OSCA 2027 consultation process

The ABS is currently reviewing submissions received during the OSCA 2027 Update consultation, which ran from 11 March to 24 April 2026. Feedback will inform a draft set of occupation changes to be released for further comment in August 2026, ahead of the planned publication of OSCA 2027 in March 2027.

The AVA’s submission forms part of this evidence base and ensures that the veterinary profession’s perspectives are clearly articulated during this process.

What happens next

AVA members can be assured that the Association will continue to:

• Engage with the ABS on OSCA development and maintenance.
• Advocate for accurate representation of veterinary roles in national classification systems.
• Keep members informed of outcomes that may affect workforce data, policy settings or professional recognition.