Appendices, codes and tables

Higher education or VET provider codes and names are referenced in the description of several data elements. These elements are used variously in the Higher education Student, VET and University Applications and Offers data collections. These elements are:   

• Higher education provider code (element 306)
• Credit/status higher education provider code (element 566)

The following document lists all approved higher education, VET & PIR providers. It includes provider names, provider types and provider codes for current and retired providers.

Several data elements reference Australian postcodes and included in the Higher Education Student, VET and University Applications and Offers data collections. The elements are:

• Location code of term residence (element 319)
• Location code of permanent home residence (element 320)
• Postal address – postcode (element 409)
• Address of permanent home residence – postcode (element 413)
• Postcode or overseas country code location of Higher education / VET provider campus/delivery location (element 477)
• Course campus postcode (element 559)

The current list of Australian postcodes is available to download from the Australia Post website.

Alternatively you can search for Australian postcodes at Australia Post - Post Code Search.

The Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC) is published statistics classified by country. It is a classification based on a country’s geographical proximity and similarity in terms of social, cultural, economic and political characteristics. It is referenced by several data elements and one or more of these elements are used by all four data collections. The data elements are:

• Location code of term residence (element 319)
• Location code of permanent home residence (element 320)
• Country of birth code (element 346)
• Address of permanent home residence – postcode (element 413)
• Postcode or overseas country code location of Higher education / VET provider campus/delivery location (element 477)
• OS‑HELP country of study code – primary (element 553)
• OS‑HELP country of study code – secondary (element 554)
• Course campus postcode (element 559)
• Postal address – country code (element 728)
• Term address country code (element 661)

The SACC is available to download from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. If you use Internet Explorer you may get a security warning in the bar at the top of the browser window when you click the .XLS icon to download the file. If this happens, click the security warning bar and select Download File, allowing the page to reload. Then click the .XLS icon again for options to Save or Open the file.

Reference Table 1.3 Major Groups, Minor Groups and Countries for the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC) in the Excel document from the Data Downloads link below.

• Australian Standard Classification of Country Code
• Data Downloads

The Australian Standard Classification of Languages (ASCL) is used for statistical and administrative data relating to the languages spoken in Australia. It is referenced in the following data elements:

• Language spoken at home code (element 348)
• OS‑HELP Language code (element 582)

The ASCL is available to download from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. If you use Internet Explorer you may get a security warning in the bar at the top of the browser window when you click the .XLS icon to download the file. If this happens, click the security warning bar and select Download File, allowing the page to reload. Then click the .XLS icon again for options to Save or Open the file.

Reference Table 1.3 Broad groups, narrow groups and languages for the Australian Standard Classification of Languages (ASCL) in the Excel document from the Data Downloads link below.

• Australian Standard Classification of Languages
• Data Downloads

Appendix E - Field of education classification

The field of education classification is used to describe the principal subject matter of higher education and VET courses and units of study. This is also referred to as the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED).

Its main purpose is to ensure courses, specialisations and units of study with the same or similar vocational emphasis are reliably classified as belonging to the same "field of education". It is used nationally in all administrative and survey collections which incorporate data on education by field.

There are two main elements in the Higher Education Student, VET data collections and University Application and Offers data collections that use the Field of education classification. These are:

• Field of education code (element 461) to classify a course.
• Discipline code (element 464) to classify a unit of study.

This classification is also used for:

• Field of education supplementary code (element 462) for combined degrees.
• Specialisation code (element 463) for higher education course completions.
• Field details (element 562) for prior VET study.

How to code your field of education / discipline codes

This classification is available on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.

How to apply field of education / discipline codes

The Structure of the Field of Education Classification page provides information about the structure of field of education codes and how to apply them.

The descriptions are only indicative. You will need to make a judgement as to what field of education category is appropriate for courses, specialisations and units of study of study containing subject matter not specifically listed.

Through the Higher Education Data Committee and in response to the Review of Reporting Requirements for Universities the department has worked with the ABS to provide the following concordance table.

Concordance between Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED) and International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED)

The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) is used when supplying data to and interpreting data from the OECD and UNESCO. More information about ISCED is available at: http://uis.unesco.org/en/isced-mappings.

Australia uses the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED) for all national reporting.

A concordance has been developed in cooperation with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) and the Australian Government Department of Education and Training to allow the matching between OECD data and Australian data.

Concordance for Field of Education

The Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC) is referenced in the following data elements:

• Higher Degree by Research Primary Field of Research Code (element 594)
• Higher Degree by Research Secondary Field of Research Code (element 595)

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020

Labour Force Status (element 576) is included in the VET collection. Statistical Standards for Social, Labour and Demographic Variables have been developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for data relating to social and labour issues in Australia. The statistical variables to which these standards relate include labour force, demographic, family, household, income, education, cultural diversity and language variables.

• Standards for Social, Labour and Demographic Variables, 1999

Funding clusters and ACCVAL tables

Student contribution amounts are determined at the unit of study level. Units of study are allocated to funding clusters, or parts of funding clusters, according to their classification under the Australian Standard Classification of Education as per chapter 7 of the Commonwealth Grant Scheme guidelines. Units in the same CGS funding cluster may be subject to different maximum student contribution amounts. For more information see the Higher Education Administrative Information for Providers.

The student contribution bands, ranges & indexed rates are provided at:

• Funding Clusters and Indexed Rates

The Annual Course Contribution Value (ACCVAL) table provides information on how to code units of study in each discipline/field of education to the Maximum student contribution indicator (element 392).

Student contribution amounts are determined at the unit of study level. Units of study are allocated to funding clusters, or parts of funding clusters, according to their classification under the Australian Standard Classification of Education as per chapter 7 of the Commonwealth Grant Scheme guidelines. Units in the same CGS funding cluster may be subject to different maximum student contribution amounts. For more information see the Higher Education Administrative Information for Providers.

The student contribution bands, ranges & indexed rates are provided at:

• Funding Clusters and Indexed Rates

The Annual Course Contribution Value (ACCVAL) table provides information on how to code units of study in each discipline/field of education to the Maximum student contribution indicator (element 392).