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The ASGC manual is essentially a reference document. Consequently, additional and more specialised ASGC-related material and products are needed to assist application of the ASGC to statistical work. Many of these materials and products are available for sale to ABS clients, as well as for use by ABS personnel. The following is a listing of some of the more important types of related material and products.

National Localities Index (NLI)

The NLI (cat. no. 1252.0) is a street address coding system which supplements the ASGC. The NLI allows reported street address data to be readily converted into ASGC codes. The NLI contains a list of all localities in Australia. In broad terms, localities are places where people reside or conduct business. Localities are assigned a postcode and their full ASGC Main Structure code (i.e. S/T, SD, SSD and SLA codes). Where a locality is split between two or more SLAs, the NLI is augmented by a streets index. The NLI is updated regularly and maintained in accordance with each edition of the ASGC.

The NLI is held and maintained on the ABS mainframe computer system and is available on various recording media (e.g. magnetic tape or floppy disk) as either simple data files or incorporated into computer-assisted coding software. The NLI is available by S/T or for the whole of Australia.

Maps and digital boundaries

Maps depicting the census editions of the ASGC were included in 1986 and 1991 Census publications, and for the 1996 Census in Statistical Geography: Volume 1—Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0). Since 1991, copies of digitised ASGC boundaries have been produced and are available for each edition of the ASGC. Digitised boundaries for the 1986 Census (ASGC Ed. 3) are also available.

ASGC maps of the 1999 Main Structure are included in this publication. Printed A3 size maps for the Main Structure of ASGC Editions 1991-1998 (cat. no. 1216.0.05.001) are available through ABS Bookshops.

Labels and codes

Listings of ASGC labels and codes are available for all structures and all editions of the ASGC (cat. no. 1216.0.15.001). These listings are available on floppy disk. The standard format is ASCII comma delimited text file.

Conversion listings and concordances

To assist users of the ASGC, the ABS (Geography Section) has developed a number of conversion listings (concordance files) to enhance comparability of data. These concordances are available on floppy disk in a variety of storage formats. The standard format is ASCII comma delimited text file. Concordance files are available by S/T or for the whole of Australia.

The concordances currently available include:

• 1998 SLAs to 1999 SLAs

• 1996 SLAs to 1998 SLAs

• 1996 CDs to 1999 SLAs

• 1996 CDs to 1998 SLAs

• 1996 CDs to 1996 SLAs

• Census 91 SLA Codes/Census 96 SLA Codes
  A concordance incorporating all area/code changes to SLAs between the 1991 and 1996 Censuses of Population and Housing.

• Census 86 SLA Codes/Census 91 SLA Codes
  A concordance incorporating all area/code changes to SLAs between the 1986 and 1991 Censuses of Population and Housing.

• Postal Area to ASGC Edition 1996 Concordance
  Concordance files for converting postal area (CD-derived postcodes) data to and from the ASGC 1996 Edition.

• Customised Concordances
  Concordances between ASGC spatial units, postal areas and other geographical units can be tailored to individual user requirements.

Contact details

For further information on any of these ASGC-related materials and products, please contact

Assistant Director, Area Classification,
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra

Phone: 02 6252 5888
Fax: 02 6252 8666,