Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)
The ABS's framework of boundaries for publishing statistics, from mesh blocks of a few dozen dwellings up to states and territories, plus the ABS's versions of councils, suburbs and postcodes. It's redrawn every five years; Edition 4, released from July 2026, is the one the 2026 Census will use.
Two kinds of boundaries
The ASGS has two parts. ABS Structures are areas the ABS designs specifically for statistics, and they fit inside each other exactly. Non ABS Structures are the ABS's versions of areas defined by someone else, such as councils, suburbs and postcodes, rebuilt from mesh blocks so Census figures can be published for them. They don't nest inside the ABS's own areas or inside each other.
The main structure
The main structure runs from smallest to largest, each level made of whole units of the one below. In the 2026 boundaries:
- Mesh blocks: 374,917, designed where possible to hold 30 to 60 dwellings and tagged with a broad land use. Only population and dwelling counts are released for them.
- SA1s: 63,485 neighbourhood blocks of about 400 people.
- SA2s: 2,571 communities, typically of about 10,000 people.
- SA3s: 367 regions, mostly of 30,000 to 130,000 people.
- SA4s: 108 labour markets.
- Greater Capital City Statistical Areas: each capital city's functional area, and the rest of each state.
- States and territories.
Other ABS structures
The ABS also groups the same building blocks in other ways. Remoteness Areas classify places by access to services, Urban Centres and Localities and Significant Urban Areas mark out towns and cities, and the Indigenous Structure supports statistics about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Non ABS Structures
- Local Government Areas, the only structure updated every year.
- Suburbs and Localities.
- Postal Areas.
- State and Commonwealth electoral divisions.
- Destination Zones, used for Census data on where people work.
Edition 4 dropped Tourism Regions and Australian Drainage Divisions, which the ABS removed because of low use.
Editions
The ABS redraws most ASGS boundaries every five years, timed for the Census. Edition 3 covered July 2021 to June 2026 and the 2021 Census. Edition 4 covers July 2026 to June 2031 and the 2026 Census, and is being released in stages from July 2026. Within an edition the main structure doesn't change, so figures stay comparable from year to year.
Between editions, the ABS publishes correspondences: tables showing how much of each old area's population falls into each new area. They are how data on 2021 SA2s is converted to 2026 SA2s.
Choosing a level
- A few streets, or the pieces of a custom catchment: SA1
- A local community: SA2 or suburb
- Anything that runs through a council: LGA
- Customer data held by postcode: Postal Area
- A region: SA3
- A labour market: SA4
The ASGS in Censible
Censible uses the 2026 boundaries for every Census year. Figures from 2011, 2016 and 2021 are moved onto them with the ABS's population-weighted correspondences, so an area can be compared across Censuses on the same map. Censible labels these carried figures.
Source: ABS, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 4.
Statistical Area Level 1 (SA1)
The smallest area the ABS uses to publish most Census data. An SA1 is a neighbourhood block of about 400 people, usually between 200 and 800, and SA1s fit together to form SA2s.
Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2)
A medium-sized area defined by the ABS to represent a community that interacts socially and economically. Most have between 3,000 and 25,000 residents.
Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3)
A regional area made up of neighbouring SA2s with similar characteristics, usually home to between 30,000 and 130,000 people. SA3s are used for regional statistics and fit together to form SA4s.
Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4)
The largest regions below state level in the ABS's main set of boundaries, built from whole SA3s. SA4s are designed to represent labour markets, and most hold between 100,000 and 500,000 people.
Local Government Area (LGA)
LGA stands for Local Government Area: the area a local council looks after. In ABS data, LGAs are the ABS's version of council boundaries, built from small mesh blocks so Census figures can be published for every council in Australia.
Suburbs and Localities (SAL)
The ABS's approximation of officially recognised suburbs and localities, built from mesh blocks. It replaced State Suburbs (SSC) from the 2021 Census.
Postal Area (POA)
The ABS's version of a postcode, built from mesh blocks so Census figures can be published by postcode. Postal Areas only cover postcodes where people live, so PO box and business-only postcodes aren't included.
Remoteness Area (RA)
One of five ABS classes that group every part of Australia by its access to services: Major Cities, Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote and Very Remote.
Mesh block
The smallest area in the ABS's boundaries, designed where possible to hold 30 to 60 dwellings and tagged with a broad land use. The ABS releases only population and dwelling counts for mesh blocks, and builds every larger area, including councils, suburbs and postcodes, from them.
Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA)
An ABS region representing the functional extent of a state or territory capital, taking in the towns and rural areas whose residents work, shop or socialise in the city. GCCSAs are built from whole SA4s, and Rest of State regions cover the remainder of each state.
Correspondence (ABS correspondence file)
A table published by the ABS for converting data from one set of geographic areas to another, such as 2021 SA2s to 2026 SA2s. Each row gives the share of a 'from' area that falls in a 'to' area, weighted by where the population lives.
Questions people ask
Australian Statistical Geography Standard: the ABS's framework of boundaries for collecting and publishing statistics.
Edition 4, which covers July 2026 to June 2031 and will be used for the 2026 Census. The ABS is releasing it in stages from July 2026.
The mesh block, usually 30 to 60 dwellings. Only population and dwelling counts are released for mesh blocks, so the SA1 is the smallest area for most Census data.
ABS Structures, such as SA1 to SA4, are designed by the ABS for statistics and nest exactly. Non ABS Structures, such as councils, suburbs and postcodes, approximate boundaries set by others and don't nest within the ABS's areas.