Census of Population and Housing Destination Zones

This document details the Destination Zones (DZNs) used for the 2016 Census of Population and Housing.

It provides:

• the purpose of the regions
• their currency
• the hierarchy of regions
• coding conventions
• summary table.

The 2016 Destination Zones are based on the 2011 Destination Zones. The 2011 Destination Zones were designed individually by each State or Territory Transport authority. The Destination Zones are used by the States and Territories and other users for the analysis of Place of Work Census data, commuting patterns and the development of transport policy.

2016 Census of Population and Housing 'Place of Work' data is coded to 2016 Destination Zones.

The Destination Zone regions are not an Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) structure and do not represent an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) standard.

The reasons for this are:

• They were not part of the original ASGS consultation.
• There has not been subsequent extensive stakeholder consultation on their development beyond the individual State or Territory Transport authorities.
• Data is not available for them as a standard ABS product free of charge.
• Destination Zone special purpose codes are not consistent with the ASGS.

The 2016 Destination Zones cover the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. Destination Zones do not aggregate or align to Statistical Area Level 1 (SA1). They are built from 2016 Mesh Blocks (MB) and align to the 2016 Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2).

Despite 2016 Destination Zones not being part of the 2016 ASGS, the alignment to 2016 Statistical Areas Level 2, enables data from numerous sources to be comparable at this level. The ABS promotes the use of the ASGS as it provides a common framework of statistical geography used by the ABS and other organisations to enable the publication of statistics that are comparable and spatially integrated. The ASGS provides users with an integrated set of standard regions that they can use to access, visualise, analyse and understand statistics produced by the ABS and other organisations.

As the 2016 Destination Zones are not part of the ASGS the ABS is only providing limited supporting material. Digital boundaries, .csv allocation tables and a population weighted correspondence are available for these regions on the Data downloads section within this product.

The Destination Zones are current from the date of the 2016 Census of Population and Housing: 9 August 2016.

The 2016 Destination Zones are built from whole 2016 Mesh Blocks and align to 2016 Statistical Areas Level 2. The hierarchy has only one level between the 2016 Mesh Blocks and 2016 Statistical Areas Level 2: the 2016 Destination Zones themselves. There is no alignment or aggregation to the 2016 Statistical Areas Level 1.

As the 2016 Destination Zones aggregate to 2016 Statistical Areas Level 2, they can be aggregated to any level of the ASGS which itself is an aggregation of 2016 Statistical Areas Level 2.

This includes the following 2016 ASGS areas:

• Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3s)
• Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4s)
• State or Territory (S/T)
• Australia
• Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSAs)
• Significant Urban Areas (SUAs)
• Tourism Regions (TRs).

For more information regarding the Mesh Blocks, Statistical Areas Level 2, Statistical Areas Level 3, Statistical Areas Level 4, Greater Capital City Statistical Areas and State and Territory; please refer to the 2016 edition of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (cat. no. 1270.0.55.001).

For more information on 2016 Tourism Regions please refer to Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 3 - Non-ABS Structures (cat. no. 1270.0.55.003).

For more information on 2016 Significant Urban Areas please refer to Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 4 - Significant Urban Areas, Urban Centres and Localities, Section of State (cat. no. 1270.0.55.004).

A 2016 Destination Zone is identifiable by a 9 digit code. This comprises the State or Territory, Statistical Area Level 2 and Destination Zone identifier code. A Destination Zone identifier is only unique within a State or Territory. Destination Zones do not have names.

Example: 111728922

Three special purpose identifiers are reserved for 'Place of Work (POW) not stated', 'Place of Work not applicable' and 'Overseas visitor'. These are Australia wide and no State or Territory identifier is applicable, these are:

&&&&: Place of Work not stated

@@@@: Place of Work not applicable

VVVV: Overseas visitor

Example: Place of Work not stated

There are four special Destination Zone identifiers in each State and Territory these are:

9499: Place of Work No Fixed Address (State or Territory)

9799: Migratory – Offshore – Shipping (State or Territory) (note that this includes Antarctica)

9099: Place of Work Capital City undefined (note this is followed by the name of capital city)

9899: Place of Work State/Territory undefined (State or Territory)

Please note: Records associated with these special purpose codes are non-spatial and not associated with a geometry. As such, they are not represented geographically within the Destination Zone boundaries.

Example: Place of Work No Fixed Address (NSW) 194999499

A summary of the units of the Destination Zones for each State or Territory is provided in the table below.

Note: Includes special purpose codes for the States and Territories. Does not include special purpose codes for whole of Australia (Place of Work not stated, Place of Work not applicable and Overseas visitor).

This release previously used catalogue number 8000.0.