1270.0.55.003 - Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 3 - Non ABS Structures, July 2017  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 31/07/2017   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

This document was added or updated on 06/11/2018.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS (LGA)
The 2017 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) edition of the Local Government Areas (LGAs) structure includes updates to the definitions of local government boundaries that have occurred prior to 1 July 2017 . This updates the 2016 edition of Local Government Areas released in the ASGS Volume 3 - Non ABS Structures, July 2016. It includes gazetted changes to local governments which have occurred in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.

The ASGS Local Government Areas are an ABS approximation of gazetted local government boundaries as defined by each State and Territory Local Government Department. Local Government Areas cover incorporated areas of Australia. Incorporated areas are legally designated parts of a State or Territory over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility. The major areas of Australia not administered by incorporated bodies are the northern parts of South Australia, and all of the Australian Capital Territory and the Other Territories. These regions are identified as ‘Unincorporated’ in the ASGS Local Government Areas structure.

More information on local governments can be found at the Australian Local Government Association.

METHODOLOGY
The boundaries produced for Local Government Areas are constructed from allocations of whole Mesh Blocks. The ABS will review the Local Government Areas annually and changes will be applied by inclusion or exclusion of whole Mesh Blocks.

For the 2017 ASGS, there are 562 ABS defined Local Government Areas, including Unincorporated areas.

UPDATED MESH BLOCK ALLOCATION, OCTOBER 2018
In October 2018 the allocation of three Mesh Blocks to 2017 Local Government Areas were updated to rectify a past misallocation that were caused by gaps in information provided to the ABS about Local Government Area changes. These changes impacted five Local Government Areas in two states:

        Two of these reallocation's came into effect for the 2016 edition of LGAs and have been carried through to the 2017 edition:
        • In Qld, Mesh Block 30564064500 was reallocated from Cook (S) to Hope Vale (S). The 2016 Census population of this Mesh Block is 53 people. The updated allocation increases the Hope Vale (S) Census population to 971 (an increase of 5.8%). It decreases the Census population of Cook (S) to 4,173 (a decrease of 1.3%).
        • In NSW, Mesh Block 10183030000 was reallocated from Canterbury-Bankstown (A) to Georges River (A). The 2016 Census population of this Mesh Block is 124 people. The updated allocation increases the Georges River (A) Census population to 146,965 (an increase of 0.08%). It decreases the Census population of Canterbury-Bankstown (A) to 346,178 (a decrease of 0.04%).
        One change has come into effect for the 2017 edition of LGAs:
        • In Qld, Mesh Block 30225042000 was reallocated from Cook (S) to Lockhart River (S). The 2016 Census population of this Mesh Block is 7 people. The updated allocation increases the Lockhart River (S) Census population to 719 (an increase of 1.0%). It decreased the Census population of Cook (S) to 4,166 (a decrease of 0.2%).
The downloads tab of this publication now includes updated:
        • Digital Boundary files in various formats
        • Mesh Block to LGA allocation table
        • Geographic correspondence file
        • TableBuilder recode file that allows users to access data for the updated LGA boundaries through Census Tablebuilder.

The ABS has updated Estimated Resident Population data for the 2017 Local Government Areas. This was updated in August 2018 in Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2016-17.

ABS has assessed the impact of this missallocation and there are no other significant statistical impacts on data published for these LGAs.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA NAMES

Local Government Area names are abbreviated in this structure. A suffix also indicates the Local Government Area status. Examples of these include:
        • City of Albury: Albury (C)
        • District Council of Copper Coast: Copper Coast (DC)

Where the same Local Government Area name appears in different States or Territories, the State or Territory abbreviation appears in parenthesis after the name. Local Government Area names are therefore unique.

In all States and the Northern Territory each incorporated area has an official status. In this ASGS edition, the various Local Government Area status types include:
        • New South Wales: Cities (C) and Areas (A)
        • Victoria: Cities (C), Rural Cities (RC), Boroughs (B) and Shires (S)
        • Queensland: Cities (C), Shires (S), Towns (T) and Regional Councils (R)
        • South Australia: Cities (C), Rural Cities (RC), Municipalities/Municipal Councils (M), District Councils (DC), Regional Councils (RegC), Towns (T) and Aboriginal Councils (AC)
        • Western Australia: Cities (C), Towns (T) and Shires (S)
        • Tasmania: Cities (C) and Municipalities (M)
        • Northern Territory: Cities (C), Towns (T), Municipalities (M) and Shires (S).


LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA CODING STRUCTURE

Local Government Areas are identified by four digit codes. Codes are unique only within a State or Territory. For unique Australia-wide Local Government Area code identification, the four digit code must be preceded by the State or Territory code. All Local Government Area codes end with the digit 0.

The codes used for the 2017 Local Government Areas may not match those used in 2016 in some instances. Changes to codes occur where a Local Government Area is abolished or has changed significantly. The previous code will be retired and the replacement Local Government Area will be given a new code. A geographic correspondences file enabling the translation of data from 2016 to 2017 LGAs is available in the downloads tab of this publication.

Non-spatial special purpose codes are included as balancing items. Mesh Blocks allocated to these codes are not part of Local Government Area.
        • LGA code 9799 is reserved for cases where people are coded to Migratory, Off-shore and Shipping Mesh Blocks.
        • LGA code 9499 is reserved for cases where people are coded to No usual address Mesh Blocks.

Example:

State NameState CodeLocal Government Area CodeLocal Government Area Name

Queensland331000 Brisbane (C)
Queensland331750 Bulloo (S)
Queensland331820 Bundaberg (R)
Queensland331900 Burdekin (S)
Queensland332080Cairns (R)
Queensland332250 Carpentaria (S)
Queensland332260 Cassowary Coast (R)
Queensland339799 Migratory - Offshore - Shipping (Qld)
Queensland339499 No usual address (Qld)