Person—geographic remoteness, classification (ASGS-RA) N

Identifying and definitional attributes

• Health, Superseded 06/09/2018

Value domain attributes

Representational attributes

Collection and usage attributes

CODE 1     Major cities of Australia

'Major cities of Australia' includes Statistical Area Level 1s (SA1s) with an average Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+) index value of 0 to 0.2.

CODE 2     Inner regional Australia

'Inner regional Australia' includes SA1s with an average ARIA+ index value greater than 0.2 and less than or equal to 2.4.

CODE 3     Outer regional Australia

'Outer regional Australia' includes SA1s with an average ARIA+ index value greater than 2.4 and less than or equal to 5.92.

CODE 4     Remote Australia

'Remote Australia' includes SA1s with an average ARIA+ index value greater than 5.92 and less than or equal to 10.53.

CODE 5     Very remote Australia

'Very remote Australia' includes SA1s with an average ARIA+ index value greater than 10.53.

CODE 6     Migratory

'Migratory' is composed of off-shore, shipping and migratory SA1s.

In this value domain, physical distance is defined in terms of ARIA+ codes, rather than a simple linear distance between points.

The list of permissible values for this value domain, i.e. codes 1 to 6, is intended to be directly mappable to the values used by the ABS to describe remoteness areas, i.e. codes 0 to 5.

In its initial form, as developed by the National Centre for Social Applications of Geographic Information Centres (now located within the Australian Population and Migration Research Centre) and the then Department of Health and Aged Care in 1999, ARIA scores ranged from 0 to 12 and were based on proximity to 4 points of reference.

A new version, ARIA+, was introduced in 2003, with ARIA+ scores now based on proximity to 5 points of reference. Also, changes were made to account for Tasmania's unique status as an island state, and to increase accuracy for locations at the urban fringe.

Prior to 2011, ARIA+ scores were calculated for individual Census Collection Districts (CCDs). Following the phasing out of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) and the introduction of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) by the ABS in 2011, ARIA+ scores are now calculated for individual Statistical Area Level 1s (SA1s). 

Source and reference attributes

Publications detailing the ASGS remoteness classification are available free of charge from the ABS website:

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2013. 1270.055.005 - Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 5 - Remoteness Structure, July 2011. Viewed 15 July 2013,
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/DetailsPage/
1270.0.55.005July%202011?OpenDocument

Information relating to the development of the ARIA and ARIA+ scores by the National Centre for Social Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GISCA) is available from the APMRC website:

Australian Population and Migration Research Centre (APMRC) 2013. ARIA (Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia). Viewed 15 July 2013,
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/apmrc/research/projects/
category/about_aria.html

Data element attributes

Collection and usage attributes

The remoteness classification of an entity can be derived using characteristics of its physical location, e.g. its postcode or other address details.

The remoteness classification (RA1 to RA5) can be found by entering the postcode or other address details of the person's residence into the Commonwealth Department of Health's Remoteness area locator, available on the DoctorConnect website. The website can be accessed via the following link:

http://www.doctorconnect.gov.au/internet/otd/Publishing.nsf/
Content/locator

Source and reference attributes

Commonwealth Department of Health 2014. DoctorConnect. Viewed 23 April 2014,

http://www.doctorconnect.gov.au/internet/otd/Publishing.nsf/
Content/locator

Relational attributes