1270.0.55.003 - Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 3 - Non ABS Structures, July 2018  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 31/07/2018   
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This document was added or updated on 28/08/2018.

COMMONWEALTH ELECTORAL DIVISIONS (CED)

The 2018 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) edition of the Commonwealth Electoral Divisions (CED) structure includes updates to the definition of electoral divisions that have occurred prior to 31 July 2018. This updates the 2017 edition of Commonwealth Electoral Divisions released in the ASGS Volume 3 - Non ABS Structures, July 2017. It includes gazetted changes to electoral divisions in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.

The ASGS Commonwealth Electoral Divisions are an ABS approximation of Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) electoral division boundaries. An AEC electoral division boundary is an area legally prescribed for the purpose of returning one member to the House of Representatives, Australia's Federal Lower House of Parliament.

More information can be found on the Australian Electoral Commission website: http://www.aec.gov.au

METHODOLOGY
The ASGS Commonwealth Electoral Divisions developed by the ABS are an approximation of the AEC electoral divisions, using one or more Statistical Areas Level 1 (SA1). Each SA1 has been allocated once to a Commonwealth Electoral Division based on the largest population contribution. It should be noted that where a SA1 covers two or more Commonwealth Electoral Divisions, the SA1 can only be allocated to one electorate.

For the 2018 ASGS, 169 Commonwealth Electoral Divisions have been defined to cover the whole of geographic Australia. These do not generally cross State and Territory borders but there are three exceptions:

  • Norfolk Island is included in the Australia Capital Territory electorate of Bean;
  • Jervis Bay Territory is included in the Australian Capital Territory electorate of Fenner; and
  • the Territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands are included in the Northern Territory electorate of Lingiari.

No usual address and Migratory - Offshore - Shipping are represented as non-spatial objects in the Commonwealth Electoral Division digital boundaries.

COMMONWEALTH ELECTORAL DIVISION NAMES
Commonwealth Electoral Division names are the same as those allocated by the Australian Electoral Commission.

COMMONWEALTH ELECTORAL DIVISION CODING STRUCTURE
Commonwealth Electoral Divisions are sorted by name then allocated a two digit code starting from 01 within each State or Territory. This is prefixed by a single digit State or Territory code to enable unique identification of Commonwealth Electoral Divisions across the country.

The codes used for the 2018 ASGS Commonwealth Electoral Divisions may not match those used in 2017 as codes are assigned alphabetically within each State and Territory, and some Commonwealth Electoral Division names may have changed since 2017. A geographic correspondence file enabling the translation of data from 2017 to 2018 CEDs is available in the downloads tab of this publication.

Special purpose codes are included as balancing items. SA1s allocated to these codes are not part of a Commonwealth Electoral Division.
  • CED code 94 is reserved for those States and Territories where people are coded to the No usual address SA1s.
  • CED code 97 is reserved for those States and Territories that have Migratory, Offshore and Shipping SA1s.

Example:
State and Territory NameState and Territory CodeCommonwealth Electoral Division CodeCommonwealth Electoral Division Name
New South Wales1101 Banks
New South Wales1102 Barton
New South Wales1103 Bennelong
New South Wales1104 Berowra
New South Wales1105 Blaxland
New South Wales1106 Bradfield
New South Wales1194 No usual address (NSW)
New South Wales1197 Migratory - Offshore - Shipping (NSW)