Administrative Boundaries
The most comprehensive national collection of government, statistical and electoral boundaries for Australia.
The Administrative Boundaries dataset provides authoritative government, statistical and electoral boundaries for Australia. It is a national collection of:
Government Boundaries
Incorporating state and territory boundaries, local government areas, suburbs/localities, wards and town points.
Statistical Boundaries
Incorporating Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) boundaries (2011 & 2016).
Electoral Boundaries
Incorporating boundaries regularly updated by the Australian Electoral Commission and equivalent state-based organisations.
The dataset contains boundaries in eight themes, with layers of data to support a wide range of analysis and segmentation activities.
How can I get Administrative Boundaries data?
Administrative Boundaries is available under open data terms from data.gov.au. If you need assistance using it, one of our partners can help.
Full Dataset
- Download for free at data.gov.au. Formats:
- Shape – Esri™
- TAB – MapInfo Professional™
How can you use Administrative Boundaries data?
Administrative boundaries are fundamental to many analysis and reporting scenarios.
Profiling
Build profiles of suburbs and wider areas by combining this data with social, demographic, economic and environmental data.
policy and services
Develop more accurate socioeconomic and demographic analysis for policy development and service delivery.
Emergency management
Identify areas under threat, recognising evacuation routes.
How accurate are the boundaries in Administrative Boundaries?
The boundaries used to represent each feature within the Administrative Boundaries dataset have been collected from official government sources. These governments create boundary representations using a variety of techniques, including:
- Tracing (digitising) from aerial imagery or paper plans
- Copying pre-existing representations of physical features (such as roads or rivers), and
- Field-based surveys.
The dataset does not include information on how the representation of any boundary has been collected or how far away it is from the on-ground (real world) object it represents. Irrespective of how the boundary has been captured, the general practice within state and territory jurisdictions is to record any boundary representation to the nearest 0.001m (1mm). This figure effectively describes the resolution of the data and is typically expressed using the terms tolerance and precision within spatial sciences. This value does not mean that all boundaries are within 1mm of the true representation of any feature.
Why are there overlaps or gaps in boundaries?
All data within each theme contained in the Administrative Boundaries dataset includes representations determined independently by each jurisdictional authority and reflects their individual policies and responsibilities. We continually work with the relevant authorities to improve consistency and alignment. Some things to note on specific types of data:
Coastline boundaries
These boundaries reflect the responsibilities associated with each theme, but misalignment will occur where each jurisdiction has different policies defining their area of responsibilities (eg. the distance of regulation out from the coastline). It is important to note that external boundaries should not be used as a representation of coastline.
State borders
As each jurisdiction has different policies for making a determination on representation, misalignment will occur. The Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) is working towards the construction of single agreed national boundary representation.
Suburbs
The Suburbs-Localities theme within the Administrative Boundaries dataset can have overlapping polygons where they have different CLASS CODES. For example, in South Australia, there are features overlapping gazetted suburbs, which represent a related class of locality known as ‘HUNDREDS’. Within the Australian Capital Territory, there are gazetted suburbs as well as ‘DISTRICTS’. All classes of locality are listed in the LOCALITY table under the LOCCL_CODE field. Filtering the dataset by selecting only gazetted localities (locality_class_code = ‘G’) will assist in improving the representation.
Layers
The dataset incorporates the best available data and, for some layers, not all parts of the country are covered. For example, there are no Local Government Areas in the Australian Capital Territory. Some parts of South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory are not covered by suburbs.
More Information
Download the Administrative Boundaries Product Description detailing the full dataset specifications.
View the Administrative Boundaries Metadata Statement.
View the Unpacking Administrative Boundaries– Quick Reference Guide.
Administrative Boundaries FAQ
Can I get help with using Administrative Boundaries?
Geoscape partners provide a range of commercial products based on Administrative Boundaries, including off-the-shelf and bespoke software solutions, consultancy and support.
How often is the dataset updated?
Geoscape issues four updates to the Administrative Boundaries dataset annually.
Is the data available in a single national table?
No. You will need to use a database or equivalent process to merge the jurisdiction tables.
Why are the spatial elements separate from the data elements?
The dataset has been modelled in a way that supports the widest possible use of the information. The data is intended for use in a GIS application or database that supports spatial functionality.
Are the relationships for database tables available?
You will need to construct the relationships between tables using the Administrative Boundaries Product Description document as a guide.
What are Other Territories (OT)?
Boundaries covering external territories such as Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Jervis Bay or Norfolk Island are considered OT, generally, in accordance with the ABS classification of this area.
What coordinates are used to represent the data?
All datasets are represented using geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) on the Geocentric Datum of Australia (GDA94 or GDA2020).
How often is mesh block information updated?
While mesh block information is included in every quarterly release of the Administrative Boundaries dataset, it is only updated every five years around Census time.
Are ABS Collection Districts (CD) and Statistical Local Areas (SLA) shown?
No. Collection Districts (CDs) and Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) were part of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) used by the ABS between 1984 and 2011. The ASGC was replaced by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) in July 2011.
There is mesh block information for 2011 and 2016. Which one should I use?
It is strongly recommended that the Mesh Blocks 2016 (*_MB_2016) be used as a reference dataset as it is the base geography for the most recent Census and other statistical geographies (ASGS).
Are the Electoral Boundaries up-to-date?
The electoral boundary redistribution process typically updates boundaries between elections. Whilst these boundaries can be finalised sometime before an election, they will typically only be adopted at the time of the election. Generally, only the active boundaries (those supporting the current Parliament) are included in this theme with updates applied at the most appropriate opportunity.