We monitor, research and analyse developments in the Australian labour market, including occupational, industry and regional labour market trends within industries and occupations, along with migration and international labour market issues.

Every month we release a range of important data including:

• Internet Vacancy Index (IVI) of online job ads
• Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey (REOS) which gauges employer recruitment difficulty and sentiment about hiring staff
• Nowcast of Employment by Region and Occupation (NERO) which tracks employment by occupations within regions.

Every quarter we release:

• Small Area Labour Markets (SALM) analysis on unemployment and the unemployment rate and
• Labour Market Quarterly Update.

Every year we develop the 5-year employment projections and Skills Priority List.

Australia’s current, emerging and future workforce skills needs rely on a high performing vocational education and training (VET) system.

The Pricing and Performance branch provides research and analysis on:

• the development of efficient prices for VET courses
• employment, income and further study outcomes from VET courses
• which VET courses are aligned with current and future skills demand
• the public and private return on government investment in VET courses
• the performance of Australia’s system for providing VET, and
• opportunities to improve access, skills development and choice for regional, rural and remote Australia in relation to VET.

We are working closely with states and territories to develop and maintain a set of efficient prices for VET courses. Our Average Price Benchmarking Report has informed this work. An efficient and effective price is not the lowest price, but one that promotes quality teaching and creates job-ready candidates. 

We provide data and intelligence about the current, emerging and future skills needs of the economy.

The Australian Skills Classification (ASC) enables the exploration of the connections and transferability within, and between, jobs and qualifications. The ASC is updated every six months.

So far, around 610 skills profiles have been developed for Australian occupations. For each of these jobs, the classification presents 10 core competencies, 1,943 specialised tasks and almost 90 technology tools.

Every year, we produce 5-year projections of the demand for skills based on the ASC . 

We use data science techniques to analyse the content of VET and Higher Education courses and match them to the requirements of Australian occupations.

We are also focused on making NSC data available and accessible through this website.