Non ABS Structures
Non ABS Structures are Mesh Block approximations of administrative regions which are not defined or maintained by the ABS. The ABS provides a range of statistics for the following six 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 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. This geography is used to inform commuting patterns, and the development of transport policy.
Local Government Areas are updated annually. Commonwealth Electoral Divisions and State Electoral Divisions are also updated annually, but only when electoral redistributions have occurred. The remaining Non ABS Structures are updated every 5 years.
Commonwealth Electoral Divisions will be released in December 2026 to include redistributions made by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 8 October 2026 for the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, and Tasmania.
| Geography | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | OT | Aust. | Total (c) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGA | 131 | 82 | 80 | 73 | 139 | 31 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 566 | 567 |
| SED | 95 | 90 | 95 | 49 | 61 | 24 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 451 | 452 |
| POA (a) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2,644 | 2,645 |
| SAL | 4,556 | 2,951 | 3,238 | 1,700 | 1,702 | 778 | 305 | 139 | 7 | 15,376 | 15,377 |
| DZN (b) | 3,388 | 3,057 | 1,042 | 712 | 830 | 144 | 170 | 238 | 6 | 9,590 | 9,591 |
(a) Boundaries cross state and territory borders.
(b) Includes special purpose codes for the whole of Australia (Place of Work not stated, Place of Work not applicable, and Overseas visitor).
(c) Totals vary from the Australia count by 1 as they include a special purpose code for Outside Australia. Migratory - Offshore - Shipping, and No usual address special purpose codes are included in State and Territory counts.
Key changes
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. Detailed information on Main Structure changes are recorded in the changes from the previous edition of the ASGS under the Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas section of this publication.
The boundaries used to create Non ABS Structures, and the Mesh Blocks which they are built from, may change with each edition of the ASGS. Because these boundaries change over time, Non ABS Structures are not recommended for time series analysis. Geographic correspondence files enabling data conversion from ASGS Edition 3 (2021) to ASGS Edition 4 (2026) are available in the access and downloads section of this publication.
Annual changes to Local Government Areas, State Electoral Divisions and Commonwealth Electoral Divisions are listed in the respective sections of this publication.
A key change in ASGS Edition 4 was the removal of two Non ABS Structures due to low levels of use - Australian Drainage Divisions and Tourism Regions. Data on these boundaries will be available from TableBuilder or through statistical consultancies.
Further information regarding changes is provided in each Non ABS Structures section of this publication.
For information on how Non ABS Structures relate to other structures, refer to the ASGS diagram.