2970.0.55.018 - 2001 Census of Population and Housing - Fact Sheet: Census Miscellaneous Collection Districts, 2001  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 03/06/2002  First Issue
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

2001 Census Miscellaneous Collection Districts

There are a number of types of Collection Districts (CDs) that are atypical and require some explanation. Such CDs are generally referred to as Miscellaneous CDs and fall into 6 basic types: Point CDs, Water CDs, Off-Shore CDs, Shipping CDs, Migratory CDs and Nil CDs.

Point Collection Districts

Point CDs are special purpose CDs where a specific community has a central location but where the boundaries of the community are not discretely defined. Thus the geographic area of the community can not be defined on a map. Point CDs may include:

  • Indigenous Community CDs - these are defined where there is a significant central location for an Indigenous population;
  • Defence Establishment CDs - are defined where there is a clear grouping and special enumeration procedures are required;
  • Mining or Construction towns or camps CDs - are defined when the town or camp is expected to exist for at least two censuses.

However, the above special purpose CDs are not always Point CDs.

Point CDs are represented on CD maps and in the digital boundary files as a star-shaped boundary (see below).
Image - Star - Point CDs are represented on CD maps and in the digital boundary files as a star-shaped boundary
Point CDs are positioned approximately at the central location of the community. Apart from their distinctive shape, they can also be identified by their CD Type. The area assigned to each CD does not reflect the area occupied by the people enumerated in that CD and therefore point CDs are not representative of the population when used in choropleth (thematic or shaded) mapping. Similarly the area assigned to these CDs is not appropriate for population density analysis. Information on the actual area occupied by the populations in these CDs is not available due to either:
  • the limitations of available mapping;
  • cultural sensitivities ; or
  • a deliberate decision not to disclose the size, shape and exact location of some communities.

A single point CD may sometimes form a higher level area, for example, a Point CD boundary may also be a Postal Area (POA) boundary. Geographic classifications where this may occur include Urban Centre/Localities (UC/Ls), Postal Areas (POAs), Indigenous Areas (IAREs) and Indigenous Locations (ILOCs). Such boundaries are easily identified by their star shape. The same constraints that apply to the use of point CDs for thematic mapping and population density analysis apply also to these higher level areas.


Water Collection Districts

Water CDs cover bodies of water such as lakes and parts of rivers where people are likely to be counted on Census Night, for example, sections of Sydney Harbour where people are likely to be resident on vessels.

Water CDs have a default land-based CD to which they are linked. This CD is normally nominated because of a connection to the water CD, for example, it is the place where people are likely to come ashore. The census form for any person enumerated in a Water CD is transferred to the default land-based CD at the time that the census forms are processed. Water CDs therefore do not have any statistical data associated with them - they are nil CDs - and no digital boundaries have been made available for them.

Deliberate Nil Collection Districts

Deliberate Nil CDs are land based CDs that have been purposely designed to contain no dwellings or population. This could occur for example in industrial areas and national parks. The inclusion of these unpopulated areas into an adjoining urban area would distort the calculated population density. These CDs are still allocated to collectors who confirm their Nil CD status. The census form for any person enumerated in a Nil CD is transferred to the nominated alternative CD at the time that the census forms are processed. Deliberate Nil CDs can be identified by their CD Type.

Deliberate Nil CDs should not be confused with CDs where it was expected that people would be counted but for some reason none was present on Census Night.

In Western Australia there are 513 Deliberate Nil CDs. This number, much higher than for any other state or territory, results from the manner in which Indigenous outstation CDs were initially designed. Many of these CDs had a low population count and their counts have been transferred to their surrounding CD.

Off-Shore, Shipping and Migratory Collection Districts

Off-Shore, shipping and migratory CDs are not spatial units in the usual sense as they have no defined boundaries.

Off-Shore, shipping and migratory CDs are defined for all of the States of Australia and the Northern Territory. They are not defined for the Australian Capital Territory and the Other Territories.

Off-Shore Collection Districts

An Off-Shore CD covers all structures (such as oil and gas drilling rigs) in Australian waters or those structures outside Australian waters for which immigration formalities are not required to be completed.

For the 2001 Census, each state and territory (with the exception of the ACT) has a single Off-Shore CD. Australian residents temporarily in Antarctica have been included in a second Off-Shore CD for Tasmania. Australian residents at Macquarie Island on Census Night are also counted in the second Off-Shore CD for Tasmania.

Off-Shore CDs will not be represented in 2001digital boundary files as they have no defined geographic location.

Shipping Collection Districts

A Shipping CD covers an area of water, normally a port which is controlled by a Port Authority. The types of vessels in a Shipping CD that need to be enumerated include cargo vessels (with Australian crews or crew members), passenger liners, fishing vessels, dredges, pleasure craft, and yachts.

People enumerated on board vessels between Australian ports are also attributed to Shipping CDs.

In general, people on board vessels departing for an overseas port are considered out of scope for the Census as they have departed from the country.


Shipping CDs will be represented in digital CD boundary files for CDATA 2001 as boundaries in the shape of a boat (see below). Polygons have been used instead of point symbols because in MapInfo, point symbols stay at a constant display size irrespective of map scale. Symbols would therefore dominate maps of larger areas.

Image - Boat - Shipping CDs will be represented in digital CD boundary files for CDATA 2001 as boundaries in the shape of a boat

Migratory Collection Districts
The Migratory CD is used to record all people who are in transit on long distance trains, buses and aircraft on Census Night. The crew and staff of both passenger and other commercial land and air transport are also attributed to the Migratory CD. However, people enumerated on board vessels travelling between Australian sea ports are allocated to a Shipping CD.

Migratory CDs will not be represented in 2001 digital boundary files as they have no defined geographic location.

Dwellings in Off-Shore Shipping and Migratory Collection Districts

Ships and other commercial transport can include dwellings. These dwellings are classified into two types: "Migratory dwellings" and "Off-Shore dwellings". Dwellings in ships either in port or between Australian ports are counted in the Off-Shore CD for the respective state or territory. Dwellings in the Antarctica and Macquarie Island are counted in the second Off-Shore CD for Tasmania.

Off-Shore, Shipping and Migratory is a separate class in each level of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) for those structures which cover all of Geographical Australia. POAs and Electoral Divisions (SED and CED) also have a separate class for Off-Shore, Shipping and Migratory. For more information please refer to the publications: Statistical Geography: Volume 1 Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) 2001 (Cat. no. 1216.0) and Statistical Geography: Volume 2 Census Geographic Areas, Australia 2001 (Cat. no. 2905.0).



List of 2001 Census Off-Shore, Shipping and Migratory Collection Districts:

New South Wales
1450101Migratory
1450102Off-Shore
1450201Clarence River (Shipping)
1450202Eden (Shipping)
1450203Newcastle (Shipping)
1450204Rozelle, Sydney (Shipping)
1450205Johnstons Bay area, Sydney (Shipping)
1450206Darling Harbour, Balmain, McMahon's Point area (Shipping)
1450207Kirribilli, Garden Island area (Shipping)
1450208Port Jackson Area (Inc. Middle Harbour) (Shipping)
1450209Botany Bay (Shipping)
1450210Port Kembla (Shipping)

Victoria
2390101Migratory
2390102Off-Shore
2390201Port of Melbourne (Shipping)
2390202Port of Geelong (Shipping)
2390203Port of Hastings (Shipping)
2390204Port of Portland (Shipping)
2390205Port of Corner Inlet (Shipping)
2390206Port of Apollo Bay (Shipping)
2390207Port of Port Fairy and Port of Warrnambool (Shipping)
2390208Port of San Remo (Shipping)

Queensland
3270101Migratory
3270102Off-Shore
3270201Karumba (Shipping)
3270202Weipa (Shipping)
3270203Thursday Island (Shipping)
3270204Cairns (Shipping)
3270205Mourilyan (Shipping)
3270206Lucinda Point (Shipping)
3270207Townsville (Shipping)
3270208Cape Flattery Area (Shipping)
3270209Abbot Point (Shipping)
3270210Mackay (Shipping)
3270211Hay Point (Shipping)
3270212Rockhampton (Shipping)
3270213Gladstone (Shipping)
3270214Bundaberg (Shipping)
3270215Innisfail (Shipping)
3270216Brisbane (Shipping)

South Australia
4150101Migratory
4150102Off-Shore
4150201Thevenard (Shipping)
4150202Port Lincoln (Shipping)
4150203Whyalla and Port Bonython (Shipping)
4150204Port Pirie (Shipping)
4150205Wallaroo (Shipping)
4150206Port Bonython (Shipping)
4150207Edithburgh & Port Giles (Shipping)
4150208Androssan (Shipping)
4150209Outer Harbour (Shipping)
4150210Port Adelaide (Shipping)
4150211Port Stanvac (Shipping)

Western Australia
5140101Migratory
5140102Off-Shore
5140201Wyndham (Shipping)
5140202Kalbarri (Shipping)
5140203Derby (Shipping)
5140204Broome (Shipping)
5140205Port Hedland (Shipping)
5140206Port Walcott (Shipping)
5140207Dampier (Shipping)
5140208Barrow Island (Shipping)
5140209Onslow (Shipping)
5140210Exmouth Gulf (Shipping)
5140211Carnarvon (Shipping)
5140212Geraldton (Shipping)
5140213Fremantle (Shipping)
5140214Kwinana (Shipping)
5140215Bunbury (Shipping)
5140216Albany (Shipping)
5140217Esperance (Shipping)
5140218Busselton (Shipping)
5140219Mandurah Port (Shipping)
5140220Lancelin (Shipping)
5140221Port Denison (Shipping)
5140222Jurien (Shipping)

Tasmania
6060101Migratory
6060102Off-Shore
6060103Antarctica
6060201Burnie (Shipping)
6060202Devonport (Shipping)
6060203Tamar River (Shipping)
6060204Hobart (Shipping)
6060205Currie (Shipping)
6060206Whitemark (Shipping)
6060207Triabunna (Shipping)

Northern Territory
7040101Migratory
7040102Off-Shore
7040201Darwin (Shipping)
7040202Nhulunbuy (Gove) (Shipping)
7040203Groote Eylandt (Shipping)
7040204McArthur River Mines (Shipping)

Australian Capital Territory
No Migratory, Off-Shore or Shipping

Other Territories
No Migratory, Off-Shore or Shipping