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Designers, ride-share drivers and play therapists are some of the dozens of occupations to be listed and categorised for the first time in Tuesday night’s census.
Influencers (categorised as “content creators”), outdoor adventure leaders and cybersecurity analysts have also been added as specific new job classifications to the 2026 census to better capture contemporary roles.
The five-yearly exercise to count every person and household in the country includes about 300 new occupations added to the census.
About 250 occupations have been “retired” including print journalists – now subsumed under the broader category of journalists – along with immigration officers and kennel hands.
Design Institute of Australia chief executive Simone LeAmon said getting design formally recognised in the census as its own distinct professional group was a seminal moment that had taken many years of lobbying.
“For practitioners who work in the creative industries, you’re just so used to no box for you to tick on any official government form,” she said. “You often feel very invisible when it comes to professions and the recognition of formal occupations.”
LeAmon said design contributed an estimated $67.5 billion to the Australian economy annually, but until now, there was no accurate picture of how many design professionals were among the Australian workforce.
“This is an opportunity to make yourself visible through your participation in filling out the form,” she said.
LeAmon said design had previously been “kind of buried” and listed under artists or architecture in the census, but its inclusion as its own occupation category was recognition of its importance in Australia.
“You’ve only got to look all around you and realise that everything in our environment has been designed,” she said. “When we talk about design, we’re talking about objects and products, systems and services, places and spaces, and I think it’s that ubiquity sometimes that renders design a little bit invisible because it’s just all around us. This is an opportunity to capture that enormous breadth.”
The design category in the census divides into different design-based occupations, including graphic designers, industrial designers, interior designers, jewellery designers, fashion designers, multimedia designers, UI/UX (user interface and user experience) designers, web designers, textile designers, animators, VFX (visual effects) artists and illustrators.
LeAmon said census occupation data was important as it helped drive government decisions on funding, training investment, skills lists and workforce planning.
This year’s census is the first to use the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ updated Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, which is the first major update to Australia’s occupation classification in 20 years.
The classification update is the result of a $23.7 million review by the ABS, which had a consultation period of over 200 days and involved more than 2000 groups and 800 submissions.
Dr David Gruen, the chief statistician at the ABS, said the updated occupation classifications included new and emerging occupations, better incorporated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander occupations, and removed gendered language such as “man” and “woman” from titles and job descriptions.
“Having an occupation classification that reflects the modern labour market supports efficient, accurate and informed decision-making by governments, industry and businesses,” Gruen said.
Australia’s first official census was held in 1828 and was called a “muster”. It was held in NSW to help align the number of people in the colony with its food supplies.
The first national census conducted by the ABS was held on April 2, 1911.
The people busy at work back then as a “paid companion” or “inspector of nuisances” may be surprised by the ways the Australian workforce has changed since then.
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