Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)
The Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) is a classification of Australia into a hierarchy of statistical areas. First introduced in 2011, the ASGS replaced the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) that had been used since 1984. The ASGS is a social geography, developed to reflect the location of people and communities, and used for the release and analysis of 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 will facilitate the release of the 2026 Census of Population and Housing and will be progressively released from July 2026 to July 2030.
Until July 2026, ASGS Edition 3 remains the most up to date version of the ASGS.
The ASGS Edition 4 release schedule (below) is provisional. Timings are dependent on the availability of the data inputs required to produce each structure.
ASGS Edition 4 Provisional Release Schedule
| ASGS Structure | Proposed release/update |
|---|---|
| Main Structure | July 2026 |
| Indigenous Structure | October 2026 |
| Non ABS Structure | October 2026 then annually in July 2027-2030 for some geographies |
| Urban Structure | October 2027 |
| Remoteness Structure | March 2028 |
The ABS has undertaken a review of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). The outcomes of this review are available from Outcomes from the review of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) published on 31 July 2025. A summary of the responses to this consultation is available on the ABS Consultation Hub.
ABS Maps is an online mapping tool to view and compare statistical boundaries.