THE SPATIAL UNITS
Census Collection District (CD)
See Chapter 2.
Statistical Local Area (SLA)
See Chapter 2.
Local Government Area (LGA)
An LGA included in the ASGC LGA Structure is a spatial unit which represents the whole geographical area of responsibility of an incorporated Local Government Council, an Aboriginal or Island Council in Queensland, or a CGC in the Northern Territory.
An LGA consists of one or more SLAs. LGAs aggregate directly to form the incorporated areas of S/Ts (see ASGC Structural Chart, Chapter 1). In this edition of the ASGC, there are 667 LGAs defined.
Delimitation of LGAs
The creation and delimitation of LGAs is the responsibility of the state and territory Governments. The number of LGAs, their names and their boundaries vary over time.
Local government bodies perform a wide range of functions in the areas they administer. These functions are defined in legislation such as:
- The Local Government Acts in each state and the Northern Territory
- The Indigenous Council Acts in each state and the Northern Territory
- Specific Acts and regulations establishing Local Government Areas in Queensland, City of Brisbane Act 1924, and the Commonwealth Aluminium Corporation Pty Limited Agreement (Weipa Town Area) Regulation 1994.
LGA status
In all states and the Northern Territory each incorporated area has an official status. In this ASGC edition, the various LGA status types currently in use are:
- 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 Island Councils (IC)
- South Australia: Cities (C), Rural Cities (RC), Municipalities/Municipal Councils (M), District Councils (DC), Regional Councils (RegC) 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), Community Government Councils (CGC) and Shires (S).
LGA name
In the LGA Structure LGA names are contracted. A suffix also indicates the LGA status.
Example:
City of Albury Albury (C)
District Council of Copper Coast Copper Coast (DC)
LGA names are not unique across states and territories (e.g. Campbelltown (C) is duplicated between New South Wales and South Australia). An LGA name will become unique when used in conjunction with a state code, or its LGA code.
LGA code
LGAs are identified by four-digit codes as follows:
- Codes are unique only within an S/T. For unique Australia-wide LGA code identification, the four-digit code must be preceded by the S/T code. All LGA codes end with the digit 0.
- Where an LGA corresponds to an SLA, the LGA code and the SLA code are identical.
- Where an LGA consists of more than one SLA, generally the first three digits of the LGA code and the SLA code are identical.
The exceptions to this rule are explained in special case LGA codes below.
Special case LGA codes
When an LGA consists of many component SLAs, it becomes impossible to maintain a three-digit link between the LGA code and the SLA codes. This occurs for the LGAs of: Queensland - Brisbane (C), Gold Coast (C), Logan (C), Pine Rivers (S), Redland (S), Caboolture (S), Maroochy (S), Ipswich (C), Cairns (C), Thuringowa (C) and Townsville (C); and for the Northern Territory - Darwin (C) and Palmerston (T).
For example, the LGA of Brisbane (C) in Queensland is split into 158 SLAs, including:
Acacia Ridge 1001
Yeronga 1648
Zillmere 1653
State/Territory (S/T)
See Chapter 2.