Indigenous Locations (ILOCs) are geographic areas built from whole Statistical Areas Level 1 (SA1s). Indigenous Locations are designed to represent small Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (urban and rural) that are near each other or that share language, traditional borders or Native Title. They usually have a minimum population of about 90 people. In some cases, Indigenous Locations have a smaller Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population to meet statistical requirements or to better represent the local community. Whole Indigenous Locations aggregate to form Indigenous Areas.

There are 1,139 Indigenous Locations covering the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. This incorporates 19 non-spatial special purpose codes including a new Outside Australia code; more information on these can be found in the special purpose codes section.

The Other Territories of Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island and Norfolk Island are each represented by individual Indigenous Locations. Jervis Bay is represented by two Indigenous Locations covering Jervis Bay (exc. Wreck Bay) and Wreck Bay separately.

Indigenous Locations are designed to allow the production and analysis of statistics relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a high level of spatial accuracy, while also maintaining the confidentiality of individuals. Changes to Indigenous Locations are determined through consultation undertaken by the ABS Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics, and incorporate statistical and community requirements wherever possible.

The key aim of Indigenous Location design is to identify and distinguish between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, both in urban and rural settings. Where a community is too small for confidentiality requirements, it is combined with another, related population. Remaining Statistical Areas Level 1 are combined into larger areas, which will include a more dispersed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.

In some cases, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that are too small to be identified separately have been combined with other nearby and associated communities. This has resulted in some multi-part Indigenous Locations where related communities are represented as a single Indigenous Location but are geographically separate. This enables the release of Census of Population and Housing data and other data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in a meaningful way, while balancing confidentiality and statistical requirements.  

The key criteria for Indigenous Location names are that they be:

• meaningful
• have a maximum of 50 characters
• unique, that is not shared by any other Indigenous Location in Australia.

Indigenous Locations are named according to the areas they represent.

• Where an Indigenous Location represents a well-known community it is named after that community, for example 30901102 Wujal Wujal.
• Where an Indigenous Location represents more than one community it is named with a combination of up to three distinct community names, for example 50800501 Burawa - Darlngunaya - Bungardi.
• Where an Indigenous Location represents a broader region, excluding a specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community this is reflected in the name, for example 70500502 Katherine exc. Town Camps.

Indigenous Locations are identified by eight-digit hierarchical codes consisting of a one-digit State or Territory identifier, followed by a two-digit Indigenous Region identifier, a three-digit Indigenous Area identifier and finally a two-digit Indigenous Location identifier, as shown below. Within each Indigenous Area, Indigenous Location identifiers are unique. When change occurs, old codes are retired and the next available identifier is assigned.

Indigenous Areas (IAREs) are medium sized geographic areas built from whole Indigenous Locations. They are designed for the release and analysis of more detailed statistics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Whole Indigenous Areas aggregate to form Indigenous Regions.

There are 431 Indigenous Areas covering the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. This incorporates 19 non-spatial special purpose codes including a new Outside Australia code; more information on these can found in the special purpose codes section.

The Other Territories of Jervis Bay, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island and Norfolk Island are each represented by individual Indigenous Areas.

Indigenous Areas represent larger populations and areas than Indigenous Locations, allowing the release of more detailed population and economic statistics. Changes to Indigenous Areas are determined through consultation with the Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics based on statistical and community requirements.

The key criteria for Indigenous Area names are that they be:

• meaningful
• have a maximum of 50 characters
• unique, that is not shared by any other Indigenous Area in Australia.

Indigenous Areas are named according to the areas they represent.

• Where an Indigenous Area represents a well-known community it is named after that community, for example 709012 Urapuntja.
• Where an Indigenous Area represents more than 1 community it is named with a combination of up to three distinct community names, for example 709005 Atitjere - Akarnenehe – Engawala.
• Where an Indigenous Area represents a broader region, excluding a specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community this is reflected in the name, for example 708001 Alice exc. Town Camps.

Indigenous Areas are identified by six-digit hierarchical codes consisting of a one-digit State or Territory identifier, followed by a two-digit Indigenous Region identifier and a three-digit Indigenous Area identifier, as shown below. Within each Indigenous Region, Indigenous Area identifiers are unique. When change occurs, old codes are retired and the next available identifier is assigned.

Indigenous Regions (IREGs) are large geographic areas built from whole Indigenous Areas and are based on historical boundaries. The larger population of Indigenous Regions enables highly detailed analysis.

There are 59 Indigenous Regions covering the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. This incorporates 19 non-spatial special purpose codes; more information on these can be found in the special purpose codes section.

The Other Territories of Jervis Bay and Norfolk Island are each represented by individual Indigenous Regions. Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island are combined into one Indigenous Region.

Indigenous Regions were originally designed based on the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission boundaries which are no longer maintained. They are created by combining one or more Indigenous Areas. Changes to Indigenous Regions are determined through consultation with the ABS Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics based on statistical and community requirements.

The key criteria for Indigenous Region names are that they be:

• meaningful
• have a maximum of 50 characters
• unique, that is not shared by any other Indigenous Region in Australia.

Indigenous Regions are named according to the areas they represent.

• Where an Indigenous Region represents a well known community it is named after that community, for example 703 Darwin.
• Where an Indigenous Region represents an area with multiple and varied populations it is named after a commonly identified name or combination of names for the area and/or communities it encompasses, for example 309 Cairns - Atherton.
• Where an Indigenous Region represents a broader region, excluding a specific area this is reflected in the name, for example 202 Victoria exc. Melbourne.

Indigenous Regions are identified by three-digit hierarchical codes consisting of a one-digit State or Territory identifier, and a two-digit Indigenous Region identifier, as shown below. Within each State or Territory, Indigenous Region identifiers are unique. When change occurs, old codes are retired and the next available identifier is assigned.

In the Indigenous Structure, special purpose codes are non-spatial. In all states and territories, the identifiers 94, 994 and 94 are used respectively for Indigenous Regions, Indigenous Areas and Indigenous Locations to represent No usual address. Similarly, the identifiers 97, 997 and 97 are allocated to Migratory – Offshore – Shipping. As for all other ASGS geographies, Z is used to denote Outside Australia. Special purpose codes are described in more detail in the Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas section of this publication.

Some Indigenous Structure boundaries have been changed on advice from the ABS Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics following consultation undertaken in 2018. Changes in ASGS Edition 3 have been made to resolve known issues and ensure that boundaries meaningfully reflect community groups, whilst balancing data confidentiality requirements.

There were limited changes to the Indigenous Structure for Edition 3 with the most change occurring at the Indigenous Location level. The table below shows the number of areas that have been affected by geometry, code and name changes respectively.

Correspondences enabling translation of data from ASGS 2016 to ASGS Edition 3 and how these changes have been applied are available in the access and downloads section of this publication.

Wherever possible, Indigenous Structure boundaries were altered by splitting areas into smaller areas, or merging two areas together. This supports analysis of data over time. Significant changes to boundaries have resulted in code changes, but names may remain the same. When assessing change between 2016 and ASGS Edition 3, it is important to consider both codes and names together. A small number of boundaries have been renamed to fix spelling errors.