Boundary Layers
Use this guide to choose boundary layers, find their lookup identifiers, and interpret geometry, statistics, and missing results.
Choose layers
Supply at least one layer using layers. For multiple layers, send one comma-separated value, such as layers=localities,localGovernmentAreas. Names are case-sensitive. Duplicate names are processed once. The order of returned features is not guaranteed to follow the request order.
| Request value | Data returned | Primary PID field for identifier lookup |
|---|---|---|
localities | Suburb and rural locality boundaries | localityPid |
localGovernmentAreas | Council area boundaries | lgaPid |
electoralBoundariesState | State and territory electoral boundaries | stateElectoralPid |
electoralBoundariesCommonwealth | Commonwealth electoral divisions | commElectoralPid |
absBoundariesMeshBlock2011 | 2011 Mesh Blocks and associated ASGS codes | mbPid |
absBoundariesMeshBlock2016 | 2016 Mesh Blocks and associated ASGS codes | mbPid |
absBoundariesMeshBlock2021 | 2021 Mesh Blocks and associated ASGS codes | mbPid |
absBoundariesMeshBlock2026 | 2026 Mesh Blocks and associated ASGS codes | mbPid |
absBoundariesRemoteness2016 | 2016 Remoteness Areas | remoteness2016Pid |
absBoundariesRemoteness2021 | 2021 Remoteness Areas | remoteness2021Pid |
absBoundariesSeifa2021 | 2021 socio-economic indexes for an SA1 | seifa2021Pid |
absBoundariesSeifa2011 | 2011 socio-economic indexes for an SA1 | seifa2011Pid |
absBoundariesSeifa2016 | 2016 socio-economic indexes for an SA1 | seifa2016Pid |
Use the identifier returned by this API, including its casing. ASGS codes and polygon PIDs are distinct from the primary PID used by findByIdentifier.
Understand the boundary types
Government and electoral boundaries
- Localities combine state and territory suburb and rural locality boundaries into a national representation
- Local Government Areas represent council areas. ACT has no Local Government Area feature. A lookup reports
Layer 'localGovernmentAreas' not found.inmessages. See the Parliamentary Education Office's explanation of government responsibilities - Electoral boundaries represent Commonwealth and state or territory electorates. State electoral attributes include effective dates and status, which help distinguish boundary versions
ABS boundaries and statistics
- Mesh Blocks are the smallest ASGS areas. They aggregate into larger areas for statistical comparison. Their response attributes also identify associated Statistical Areas and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas
- Remoteness Areas group areas by relative access to services. They are derived from the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+) and ASGS SA1 boundaries. Choose the required reference year
- SEIFA summarises relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage using four indexes. Choose 2011, 2016, or 2021. Each response relates to an SA1 for that census year. Not every SA1 has SEIFA information. A point lookup finds the associated SA1 through the Mesh Block for that year
The four SEIFA indexes are:
| Field prefix | Index |
|---|---|
irsad | Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage |
irsd | Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage |
ier | Index of Economic Resources |
ieo | Index of Education and Occupation |
Use the API schema for the returned scores, ranks, deciles, and percentiles. These are index measures, not percentages or physical units. See ABS geography for ASGS background and contact geography@abs.gov.au for ABS geography enquiries. The API's documented request values determine what you can retrieve.
Geometry and missing data
- Set
excludeGeometry=truewhen you only need attributes - Geometry is excluded by default
- Set
excludeGeometry=falsewhen you need boundary coordinates - Excluded geometry remains an object with
coordinates: [null, null]. This is a sentinel value, not a usable polygon - SEIFA always returns this sentinel geometry because it is an attribute lookup
areaSqm, where supplied, is the area in square metres. Population and dwelling fields are counts- Optional attributes without values are omitted
- Missing layers produce messages alongside a
200result. Other requested layers can still return features
Uses and examples
Boundary data supports geographic reporting, policy analysis, emergency management, and service-area analysis. Browse Geoscape case studies for examples of location data in use.