2902.0 - Census Update (Newsletter), Jul 2004  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/07/2004   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

ASGC - Towards 2006

Census data is available for a wide range of geographic areas ranging from the whole of Australia through to a Collection District of a few hundred households.

The basic framework for dividing Australia into relevant geographic areas is provided in the Australian Standard Geographical Classifcation (ASGC), a hierarchical classification with a number of different types of areas to satisfy different statistical purposes. The ASGC facilitates the standardisation of terminology and the comparability of data across collections.

The more well known geographical areas of the ASGC include the Local Government Area (LGA), the Statistical Local Area (SLA) and the Collection District (CD).

LGAs are legally designated areas administered by local council bodies, and are proclaimed by the state and territory governments. LGA boundaries are used as the basis for defining SLAs, so that each LGA is made up of one or more SLAs. SLAs therefore cannot cross LGA boundaries.

CDs are the smallest geographical unit in the ASGC, and are defined every 5 years for the Census of Population and Housing. They outline the area a single collector can cover, dropping off and collecting Census forms. CDs do not cross SLA (or consequently LGA) boundaries, and are used as the building block for all ASGC structures at the time of a census.

The process of ensuring that the geographical classification continues to be relevant takes a considerable amount of effort. The ABS monitors changes to the geographies of each state and territory to identify issues which may affect the ASGC, such as council amalgamations, re-distributions, or the gazettal of new suburbs.

Preparation is already underway for the 2006 edition of the ASGC which will be used for the 2006 Census. The 2006 CD design process is influenced by many factors, including population growth in a particular area, feedback provided by collectors from the 2001 Census, and changes to the boundaries of LGAs in the years between censuses.

The effective date for each edition of ASGC is 1 July of that year and includes changes to LGA boundaries made since the previous edition. However, changes gazetted too close to the effective date of 1 July may be held over until the next edition.

To ensure that census data is available for LGAs as they are defined on Census night in August 2006, it is important that any planned changes are gazetted earlier rather than later.

For more information, consult the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).