2905.0 - Statistical Geography: Volume 2 - Census Geographic Areas, Australia, 2001  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/08/2002   
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Contents >> 5. State Suburbs

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

A State Suburb (SSC) is formed by allocating CDs using the methods described in 1. Introduction to localities gazetted by the Geographic Place Name authority in each State/Territory. For the 2001 Census, SSCs are only available within the following areas:

New South Wales

  • Sydney and surrounds (11006–13631)
  • Central Coast and surrounds (15006–15376)
  • Newcastle and surrounds (16006–16486)
  • Wollongong and surrounds (17006–17276)

Victoria
  • Melbourne and surrounds (21006–22726)
  • Geelong and surrounds (26006–26146)
  • Ballarat and surrounds (27006–27116)
  • Bendigo and surrounds (28006–28116)

South Australia
  • Adelaide and surrounds (41006–42866)

Western Australia
  • Perth and surrounds (51006–52536)

Tasmania
  • Hobart and surrounds (61006–61356)
  • Launceston and surrounds (62006–62126)
  • Devonport and surrounds (63006–63031)
  • Burnie and surrounds (64006–64086)

Northern Territory
  • Darwin and surrounds (71006–71176)
  • Palmerston and surrounds (72006–72056)

For the 2001 Census, 2,027 SSCs are defined including one ‘unclassified’ suburb that occurs in every State/Territory. SSCs do not cross State/ Territory borders.

In the Australian Capital Territory and parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory, Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) approximate suburb boundaries. Users wanting to obtain data on suburb boundaries for these areas can refer to Statistical Geography Volume 1 Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (Cat. no. 1216.0) which contains the SLA classification. Advice should also be sought from the relevant ABS regional office to determine whether it is appropriate to use an SLA boundary as a suburb boundary.


SSC names and codes

SSC names are based on the most recent gazetted locality boundaries current at the time of census. The coding conventions for SSCs are as follows:
  • SSCs are sorted by name and then allocated a unique four-digit code;
  • codes are allocated within regions within each State/Territory (e.g. Sydney, Wollongong);
  • unique Australia-wide identification of SSCs requires a five-digit code comprising State/Territory code (digit 1) and SSC code (digits 2–5); and
  • the SSC code 9999 is reserved for those CDs in each State/Territory that are not classified as part of any SSC.

Example:
5 1006 Alexander Heights
5 1011 Alfred Cove
5 1016 Alkimos
5 1021 Applecross
5 1026 Ardross
...
5 9999 Unclassified WA

SSCs have been renumbered since the last census so the codes used for the 1996 Census will not match those used for the 2001 Census. It should also be noted that the coverage of SSCs has increased since the 1996 Census.

Please see 8. Census Geographic Area Classification Listings for a full listing of SSC codes and names.


Maintenance

Suburbs will change over time but the SSC classification will not be updated until the 2006 Census.



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