Definition
The ASCCEG is the Australian statistical standard for classifying cultural and ethnic groups. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) endorses the use of this classification for collecting, aggregating and disseminating data relating to the cultural and ethnic diversity of the Australian population. Use of the ASCCEG by statistical, administrative and service delivery agencies improves the comparability and compatibility of data about ethnicity collected from different sources.
The ABS published the first edition of the ASCCEG in October 2000. A second edition was published in 2005 and revisions to the second edition were published in 2011, 2016 and 2019.
The identification of cultural and ethnic groups in the classification, and the way in which they are grouped, does not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the ABS regarding the recognition of any group by governments, organisations or individuals, or the status accorded them. Nor does it imply the expression of any opinion concerning the relative merit or importance of particular cultural and ethnic groups or the peoples who belong to them.
Classification Structure
The ASCCEG has a three level hierarchical structure that consists of broad groups, narrow groups, and cultural and ethnic groups.
Broad group
- This is the highest level of the classification.
- There are nine broad groups.
- Each one contains between two and five narrow groups.
Narrow group
- This is the second or middle level of the classification.
- There are 28 narrow groups.
- Each one contains between one and 33 cultural and ethnic groups.
Cultural and ethnic group
- This is the base and most detailed level of the classification.
- There are 278 cultural and ethnic groups, including 24 residual (‘not elsewhere classified’) categories. Residual categories are explained in ‘About codes’.
Classification Levels
| Name | Description | Code structure | # | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cultural and ethnic group | Cultural and ethnic groups are represented by four-digit codes. The first two digits represent the parent narrow group code and the final two digits represent the sequence of cultural and ethnic groups within a narrow group. The sequence is alphabetical order with the exception of residual 'not elsewhere classified' (nec) categories or where new groups have been added following reviews of the classification. |
Coding structure example for 1 Oceanian Cultural and ethnic group
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| Narrow group | Narrow groups are represented by two-digit codes. The first digit represents the parent broad group code and the second digit represents the sequence of narrow groups within the parent broad group. |
Coding structure example for 1 Oceanian Narrow group
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| Broad group | Broad groups are represented by one-digit codes. |
Coding structure example for 1 Oceanian broad group
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Origin
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups (ASCCEG), ABS Website, accessed 9 October 2025. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/classifications/australian-standard-classification-cultural-and-ethnic-groups-ascceg
Related content
| Relation | Count |
|---|---|
| Value Domains referencing this Classification | 1 |