Person—area of usual residence, statistical area level 1 (SA1) code (ASGS 2016) N(11)

Identifying and definitional attributes
Metadata item type:	Data Element
Short name:	Area of usual residence (SA1)
METEOR identifier:	659740
Registration status:	Early Childhood, Superseded 15/08/2023 Health, Superseded 20/10/2021
Definition:	The geographical region in which a person or group of people usually reside, as represented by a Statistical area level 1 (SA1) code.
Data Element Concept:	Person—area of usual residence

Value domain attributes

Representational attributes

Classification scheme:

Australian Statistical Geography Standard 2016

Representation class:

Code

Data type:

String

Format:

N(11)

Maximum character length:

Collection and usage attributes

Guide for use:

SA1 coding structure:

SA1s are identified by an 11-digit fully hierarchical code. The SA1 identifier is a 2-digit code, assigned within a Statistical area level 2 (SA2).

State/territory	SA4	SA3	SA2	SA1
N	NN	NN	NNNN	NN

Comments:

There are 57,523 SA1s. In aggregate, they cover the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. These include 33 non-spatial SA1 special purpose codes, comprising Migratory–Offshore–Shipping and No Usual Address codes for each State and Territory.

SA1s are designed to be either a predominantly rural or predominantly urban in character, with SA1s in rural and remote areas generally having a lower population than in urban areas. SA1s are designed to be internally connected by road, except for groups of unpopulated islands and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, which may not be contiguous. Areas without permanent population (such as lakes, commercial areas, national parks etc.) are often represented by 'zero SA1s' - these are SA1s with an effective design population of zero.

SA1s are also used as the building blocks for a number of Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) defined regions including the Indigenous Structure, the Section of State and Urban Centre and Localities Structures, and the Remoteness Structure. Within the Non-ABS Structure, SA1s are used to approximate a number of administrative regions, such as Commonwealth Electoral Divisions and State Electoral Divisions.

Source and reference attributes

Origin:

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016. Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas July 2016. ABS cat. no. 1270.0.55.001. Canberra: ABS

Data element attributes

Collection and usage attributes

Guide for use:

The geographical location is reported using an eleven digit numerical code to indicate the SA1 region within the reporting state or territory, as defined in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

Collection methods:

When collecting the geographical location of a person's usual place of residence, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recommends that 'usual' be defined as 'The address at which a person lives or intends to live for six months or more'. Apart from collecting a person's usual place of residence, there is also a need in some collections to collect area of residence immediately prior to or after assistance is provided, or at some other point in time.

Comments:

Area of usual residence is reported using SA1 to enable accurate and flexible aggregation of information to larger areas (such as the ASGS Remoteness Area classification). The use of SA1 also supports accurate analyses relating the data to information compiled by the ABS on the demographic and other characteristics of the population of each SA1, such as socio-economic status of area of usual residence using the Socio-Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA).