OSCA occupation

121232 Defence Force Senior Officer

Plans, organises, directs, controls and reviews the strategic direction, day-to-day operations, and major functions of organisational units of the Australian Defence Force through subordinate officers.

Major group: 1 Managers
Unit group: 1212 General Managers and Defence Force Senior Officers
Edition: OSCA 2024
Skill level: Level 1

Should you use OSCA or ANZSCO?

OSCA 2024 is the current Australian occupation classification for storing, organising and reporting occupation information. Use this OSCA record for current Australian statistical and analytical classification work.

Some migration and administrative programs still specify ANZSCO 2022. Check the exact system named by the agency or form rather than replacing the code automatically.

Check the current ABS guidance on OSCA and ANZSCO use

Official ANZSCO correspondence

ANZSCO 111212 Defence Force Senior Officer Partial correspondence in the ABS table

Role overview

Use this page to confirm the official title, the parent unit group, the task list and the related ANZSIC industry context before using the occupation in classification, reporting or migration-adjacent workflows.

Occupation facts

Skill level: 1
Major group: 1 Managers
Sub-major group: 12 Chief Executives, General Managers and Legislators
Minor group: 121 Chief Executives, General Managers and Legislators
Unit group: 1212 General Managers and Defence Force Senior Officers

Tasks

Provides strategic direction and management, and develops operational plans for the Defence Force
Consults with other senior officers and directs subordinate officers to organise and coordinate the deployment of personnel and resources for Defence Force operations
Assesses situations, reviews recommendations and reports, and responds accordingly by issuing commands and directives to subordinate officers
Reviews and evaluates the performance of subordinate officers and Defence Force units, and directs and oversees the training and development of personnel
Decides or approves Defence Force appointments
Represents the Defence Force at negotiations and official events or engagements, and liaises with external stakeholders

Skill level guidance

Skill level helps place the occupation inside the ABS hierarchy. Use it as a classification cue, then check the actual task list and occupational context before making a decision for HR, visa or reporting work.

How to use this occupation page

Start with the official OSCA title and task list. Then confirm the parent unit group and compare the related occupations on this page if the job title is broad, overlapping or used differently across employers.

The ANZSIC links are there to help when the same occupation appears across several industries and you need the business-side classification as well.

Related occupations

121231 Corporate General Manager

Industry context

Alternative titles

No alternative titles are currently attached.

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Compare OSCA 121232 with related occupations

Compare roles in the same OSCA unit group by their official definition, skill level, tasks and recognised alternative titles.

Comparison point	Current code121232 Defence Force Senior Officer	121231 Corporate General Manager
Official role definition	Plans, organises, directs, controls and reviews the strategic direction, day-to-day operations, and major functions of organisational units of the Australian Defence Force through subordinate officers.	Plans, organises, directs, controls and reviews the day-to-day operations and major functions of a commercial, industrial, governmental or other organisation through departmental managers and subordinate executives.
Skill level	Skill Level 1	Skill Level 1
Key tasks	Provides strategic direction and management, and develops operational plans for the Defence Force Consults with other senior officers and directs subordinate officers to organise and coordinate the deployment of personnel and resources for Defence Force operations Assesses situations, reviews recommendations and reports, and responds accordingly by issuing commands and directives to subordinate officers Reviews and evaluates the performance of subordinate officers and Defence Force units, and directs and oversees the training and development of personnel	Plans policies and sets standards and objectives for organisations Provides day-to-day direction and management of organisations Directs and endorses policies to fulfil objectives, achieve specific goals, and maximise profit and/or efficiency Consults and liaises with departmental heads on matters such as finance, sales and human resources
Alternative titles	Not stated	Chief Operating Officer

Comparison uses occupation definitions, skill levels, tasks and title variants from the ABS OSCA data files.

In this section

121231Corporate General Manager
121232Defence Force Senior Officer

Official source

Official source: ABS OSCA 2024 release and correspondence tables
Last reviewed: 2026-04-17

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