Geospatial web services
Latest release
Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)
Reference period
Edition 4, July 2026 - June 2031
Released
22/07/2026
Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) geospatial web services allow access to the most up to date ASGS digital boundaries without needing to store them. Geospatial web services are available for all ASGS editions as they are released. Some common uses for geospatial web services are mobile apps, custom geospatial web applications, online mapping applications (for example ArcGIS Online), and desktop mapping applications.
Choosing a geospatial web service
For guidance on choosing the correct geography for your purposes, see the Using the ASGS section of this publication.
ASGS geospatial web services are available in three different forms – full, generalised, and point layers.
- Full layers are identical to the digital boundaries available for download in Shapefile and GeoPackage formats.
- Generalised layers have been generalised to 0.000025 or 2.5m. These layers are most suitable for use in mapping applications where precision is not paramount. For example, if the map will be zoomed out to the whole of Australia, the decreased precision of a generalised layer may help your application run faster without compromising the required level of map detail.
- Point layers provide points for each record in a geography, along with all the associated attributes. Please note that some multi-part boundaries (for example Other Territories) may be represented by multiple points.
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.
How to use ASGS geospatial web services
ASGS Edition 4 geospatial web services are available in map server and feature server formats which are listed in the ArcGIS REST Services Directory. Please refer to your software provider's instructions on how to import a web service.
To open ASGS geospatial web services in Google Earth, select the relevant boundary from ASGS web service map server links and scroll to the bottom of the page. Select 'Generate KML' then create a document name when prompted. Choose 'Vector layers as vectors and raster layers as images' and then click 'Generate KML'. This will download a temporary file that can be opened using Google Earth. This type of file cannot be used offline. Desktop GIS applications can be used to create offline KML files.
The ASGS geospatial web services can also be accessed via APIs for use by developers.
ASGS geospatial web service links
The table below provides the direct map server URL for each geography.
| Structure name | ASGS geography | Reference Date | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas | |||
| Australia (AUS) | 2026 | https://geo.abs.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/ASGS2026/AUS/MapServer | |
| State and Territory (S/T) | 2026 | https://geo.abs.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/ASGS2026/STE/MapServer | |
| Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSAs) | 2026 | https://geo.abs.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/ASGS2026/GCCSA/MapServer | |
| Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4s) | 2026 | https://geo.abs.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/ASGS2026/SA4/MapServer | |
| Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3s) | 2026 | https://geo.abs.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/ASGS2026/SA3/MapServer | |
| Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s) | 2026 | https://geo.abs.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/ASGS2026/SA2/MapServer | |
| Statistical Areas Level 1 (SA1s) | 2026 | https://geo.abs.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/ASGS2026/SA1/MapServer | |
| Mesh Blocks (MBs) | 2026 | https://geo.abs.gov.au/arcgis/rest/services/ASGS2026/MB/MapServer | |