Indigenous Regions

Indigenous Regions (IREGs) are large geographic areas built from whole Indigenous Areas and are based on historical boundaries. The larger population of Indigenous Regions enables highly detailed analysis.

There are 59 Indigenous Regions covering the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. This incorporates 19 non-spatial special purpose codes; more information on these can be found in the special purpose codes section.

The Other Territories of Jervis Bay and Norfolk Island are each represented by individual Indigenous Regions. Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island are combined into one Indigenous Region.

Indigenous Regions were originally designed based on the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission boundaries which are no longer maintained. They are created by combining one or more Indigenous Areas. Changes to Indigenous Regions are determined through consultation with the ABS Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics based on statistical and community requirements.

The key criteria for Indigenous Region names are that they be:

• meaningful
• have a maximum of 50 characters
• unique, that is not shared by any other Indigenous Region in Australia.

Indigenous Regions are named according to the areas they represent.

• Where an Indigenous Region represents a well known community it is named after that community, for example 703 Darwin.
• Where an Indigenous Region represents an area with multiple and varied populations it is named after a commonly identified name or combination of names for the area and/or communities it encompasses, for example 309 Cairns - Atherton.
• Where an Indigenous Region represents a broader region, excluding a specific area this is reflected in the name, for example 202 Victoria exc. Melbourne.

Indigenous Regions are identified by three-digit hierarchical codes consisting of a one-digit State or Territory identifier, and a two-digit Indigenous Region identifier, as shown below. Within each State or Territory, Indigenous Region identifiers are unique. When change occurs, old codes are retired and the next available identifier is assigned.