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2. Commonwealth Electoral Divisions
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
A Commonwealth Electoral Division is an area legally prescribed for the purpose of returning one member to the Federal Lower House of Parliament. The derived Census Geographic Areas which approximate these official areas are known as Commonwealth Electoral Divisions (CEDs). The boundaries and census statistics produced for CEDs are CD derived (based on the method described in 1. Introduction ). Boundaries are based upon the Electoral Divisions current at the Federal Election held on 11 November, 2001. CED boundaries are generally different to State Electoral Divisions (SEDs).
For the 2001 Census, 157 CEDs are defined to cover the whole of geographic Australia. CEDs do not generally cross State/Territory borders but there are two exceptions. Jervis Bay Territory is included in the Australian Capital Territory electorate of Fraser and the Territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands are included in the Northern Territory electorate of Lingiari.
CED names and codes
CED names are the same as those allocated by the Australian Electoral Commission. The coding conventions for CEDs are as follows:
- CEDs are sorted by name and then allocated a two-digit code starting from 01 that is unique within each State/Territory. Unique Australia-wide identification of CEDs requires a three-digit code comprising State/Territory code (digit 1) and CED code (digits 2–3); and
- the CED code 99 is reserved for those States/Territories that have Shipping, Off-Shore Areas and Migratory CDs. CDs allocated to this code are not part of any official Electoral Division. They are provided as a balancing item for census statistics obtained for CEDs.
Example:
3 01 Blair
3 02 Bowman
3 03 Brisbane
3 04 Capricornia
3 05 Dawson
3 06 Dickson
...
3 99 Off-Shore, Shipping & Migratory (Qld)
CEDs are renumbered after each census so the codes used for the 1996 Census may not necessarily match those used for the 2001 Census.
Please see 8. Census Geographic Area Classification Listings for a full listing of CED codes and names.
Maintenance
CEDs are only defined in the census year. Thus, any boundary changes that occur in official electoral boundaries will not be reflected until the next census. However, CD based concordances will be produced as redistribution of Commonwealth Electoral boundaries become effective.
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