ABS Occupational Standard Classification for Australia revised to include Pilates and Yoga Instructors       

AUSactive has welcomed the recent revision by the Australian Bureau of Statistics of the Occupational Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) to now include Pilates and Yoga Instructor’s occupations for the first time.                                                                                                                                                         

The inclusion of Pilates and Yoga Instructors as separate subcategories under the Sports and Fitness Workers OSCA (formerly ANZSCO) follows advocacy work by AUSactive to have further recognition of this growing modality within the active health and fitness industry.

AUSactive General Manager Industry Standards and Development, Chris Alexander said the inclusion was an important step forward for those who work as Pilates and Yoga Instructors and ensured accurate data for vital decision making.

Alexander noted “AUSactive has been working with the ABS during their latest review of the OSCA framework for occupation-related information to have Pilates and Yoga Instructors recognised individually. Previously instructors could only be classified under the Fitness Instructors (General).

“As a result of multiple submissions and consultation, this outcome ensures the impactful contributions of our professionals are accurately acknowledged. It also will ensure in the future we’ll have accurate workforce data for these modalities.

“We encourage all industry professionals to familiarise themselves with their occupation codes and to utilise them in the census to accurately capture the true impact of Pilates and yoga professions.”

Francses Cahill, Pilates Fitness Institute & Pilates ITC Chief Executive said the industry welcomed the inclusion given the growth of Pilates in the community.

Cahill added "this is a significant achievement for the Pilates industry, recognising the substantial growth of Pilates and identifying the valuable contribution to the community's health and wellbeing.

Meanwhile Ellen Nash, Principal Therapist for Yoga & Wellness For All said the Yoga inclusion emphasised the import role Yoga plays in overall health.

“Yoga professionals can be proud of this inclusion as a recognition of the significant benefits that yoga brings to the health and wellbeing of the participants,” shared Nash adding “it comes at a time when referrals to yoga by the medical profession and allied health sector increase readily and the evidence-based practice is acknowledged as effective as well as value for money.”

The 462 Sports and Fitness Workers classification now covers:

•462231 Pilates Instructor | Teacher

•462232 Yoga Instructor | Teacher

The Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) is a standardised framework for storing, organising and reporting occupation-related information.

It has been established by the ABS through a comprehensive review of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) conducted between July 2022 and December 2024. OSCA replaces ANZSCO in Australia.

OSCA informs Australia’s important decisions involving statistical outputs and labour market analysis. The ABS uses OSCA to describe occupations in its statistical output from collections such as the Census of Population and Housing and Labour Force Survey, and administrative data such as the Linked Employer-Employee Dataset.

OSCA can also be used to measure and understand the labour market. Examples include developing workforce strategies to support industry and establishing mechanisms to ensure the availability of skilled job holders via skilled migration and educational pathways.

For more information about the Pilates and Yoga Instructors OSCA 

For more information about AUSactive 

Image top: Studio Pilates; image below: Yoga Class.credit: pexels yankrukov