Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)

The Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) is a classification of Australia into a hierarchy of statistical areas. It is a social geography, developed to reflect the location of people and communities. The ABS use it to publish and analyse official statistics and other data. The ASGS is updated every 5 years to account for growth and change in Australia’s population, economy and infrastructure.

ASGS Edition 4 (2026) is an update of ASGS Edition 3 (2021) and has been designed for the publication of 2026 Census of Population and Housing data, and other ABS data releases.

Use of the ASGS for administrative, operational, or other non-statistical purposes should be carefully considered to ensure it is appropriate and fit for purpose.

ASGS Edition 4 is a single publication, which will be progressively released from July 2026.

The ASGS is split into two parts: the ABS and Non ABS Structures.

The ABS Structures are statistical geographies designed by the ABS to support the collection, release, and analysis of statistics. This supports confidentiality, accuracy, and the relevance of ABS data.

The ABS Structures include several statistical geographies that approximate urban and remote areas, and these may differ from official or commonly accepted definitions. 

The Non ABS Structures represents administrative geographies that are not defined or maintained by the ABS, but for which the ABS provides a range of statistics. All Non ABS geographies are approximated using Mesh Blocks. As a result, Non ABS geographies are cartographic representations of legally (or otherwise) defined boundaries. For example, ASGS Mesh Block approximated Local Government Areas should not be used for legal purposes.

Before using an ASGS geography, the purpose, design criteria, and update frequency should be carefully considered. ABS Maps can be used to visually compare two geographies.

There are 6 ABS Structures:

Main Structure

The Main Structure is designed for the release and analysis of a broad range of social, demographic, and economic statistics. It is a nested geographic hierarchy, with each level aggregating directly to the next level.

• Mesh Blocks (MB) are the smallest geography defined by the ABS and form the building blocks for larger geographies of the ASGS. Most Mesh Blocks contain between 30 and 60 dwellings. Only total usual resident population and total dwelling counts are released at this level.
• Statistical Areas Level 1 (SA1) are designed to maximise the geographic detail for Census of Population and Housing data while maintaining confidentiality. Most SA1s have a population between 200 and 800 people.
• Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2) are medium-sized general-purpose geographic areas that represent communities that interact together socially and economically. Most SA2s have a population between 3,000 to 25,000 people.
• Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3) are designed for the output of regional data. Most SA3s have a population between 30,000 and 130,000 people.
• Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4) are designed for the output of a variety of regional data and represent labour markets and the functional areas of Australia’s capital cities. Most SA4s have a population over 100,000 people.
• States and Territories (S/T) are cartographic representations of legally designated state and territory boundaries.
• Australia (AUS) is the largest geography in the ASGS and represents the geographic extent of Australia.

Greater Capital City Statistical Areas Structure

Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSA) represent the functional area of each of the 8 state and territory capital cities. Any areas outside of a capital city are classified as Rest of State, within each state or territory.

Indigenous Structure

The Indigenous Structure enables the publication and analysis of statistics for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of Australia.

• Indigenous Locations (ILOC) represent small Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, both urban and rural, with a minimum population of around 90 people.
• Indigenous Areas (IARE) are medium-sized areas designed to facilitate analysis of more detailed statistics for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• Indigenous Regions (IREGs) are large geographical areas originally based on the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission boundaries, which are no longer maintained. The larger population of Indigenous Regions enables highly detailed analysis.

Urban Structure

The Urban Structure represents areas of concentrated urban development in different ways for the purpose of statistical analysis. This structure uses population and dwelling data from the Census of Population and Housing and has not been designed to match official legal or administrative boundaries.

• Urban Centres and Localities (UCL) are aggregations of Mesh Blocks that meet population density criteria or contain urban infrastructure. As populations and urban areas change, UCLs change and areas can move in or out of the classification. This ensures meaningful data is available for urban areas and for comparisons over time.
• Section of State Range (SOSR) groups UCLs into 10 population classes (excluding Remainder of State/Territory) based on the population of the UCL. This enables statistical comparison between differently sized urban centres and rural areas.
• Section of State (SOS), like SOSR, is also based on the population of the UCL, but aggregates SOSR into 3 classes (excluding Remainder of State/Territory). SOSR and SOS do not explicitly define rural Australia, however any population not contained in a UCL are considered to be rural for statistical purposes.

Significant Urban Areas Structure

Significant Urban Areas (SUA) represent urban centres, or groups of related urban centres, with a core urban population of over 10,000 people.

Remoteness Structure

Remoteness Areas (RA) divides Australia, and each state and territory, into five classes of remoteness based on a measure of relative geographic access to services. Remoteness Areas are derived from the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia Plus (ARIA+), produced by the Australian Centre for Housing Research at Adelaide University.

There are 6 Non ABS structures:

• Local Government Areas (LGA) are Mesh Block approximations of official Local Government boundaries as defined by each Australian state and territory.
• State Electoral Divisions (SED) are Mesh Block approximations of state electoral districts as defined by Australian state and territory electoral commissions.
• Commonwealth Electoral Divisions (CED) are Mesh Block approximations of federal electoral divisions as defined by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
• Postal Areas (POA) are Mesh Block approximations of a generalised definition of Australian postcodes.
• Suburbs and Localities (SAL) are Mesh Block approximations of officially recognised boundaries of Australian suburbs (in cities and larger towns) and localities (outside cities and larger towns) as defined by the Australian state and territory governments.
• Destination Zones (DZN) are co-designed with Australian state and territory transport authorities for the analysis of Place of Work data from the Census of Population and Housing. DZNs are aggregates of Mesh Blocks which align with SA2s (they do not align with SA1s). This geography is used to inform commuting patterns, and the development of transport policy.

Further detail on the design of both the ABS and Non ABS Structures can be found in the relevant sections of this publication, as they are progressively released.

For ASGS Edition 4, Mesh Blocks, SA1s, SA2s and SA3s have been updated to reflect population growth and changes to infrastructure. These changes enable access to meaningful statistics on communities of interest. For more information on Main Structure change, refer to the Changes from the previous edition of the ASGS.

Other key changes in ASGS Edition 4 include:

• Urban Centres and Localities (UCL) are designed using Mesh Blocks rather than SA1s.
• Australian Drainage Divisions and Tourism Regions have been removed from the Non ABS Structures.
• Digital boundary files will be designed and published using the Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 (GDA2020).
• The ASGS Web Linked Data API (also known as ‘web-links’) has been decommissioned by Geoscience Australia and will not be available for ASGS Edition 4.

No design criteria changes were made for SA4s, GCCSAs, the Remoteness Structure, and the Indigenous Structure. Future ASGS consultations will inform any changes proposed for ASGS Edition 5 (2031).