Allocation files for WA Regions to ABS (MB, SA1, SA2, LGA or similar)

Looking for data
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Hi, I’m looking for any reference dataset that either translates/matches WA regions to ABS statistical boundaries/areas (MB, SA1, SA2, LGA, or similar). This would be similar to ABS Allocation files…actually looking for this definition/data for all states (although most other states have adopted some form of SA3 or SA4 variants that are more easily interpreted). Thanks!

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Hi Chris, great question. In Western Australia ‘region’ is a generic term; over time, different government agencies have taken different approaches to dividing the State into areas relevant to their work.

Do you know the specific kind of region that you’re trying to match, or the government agency that uses them?

If not, you may find Geographic Boundaries in Western Australia useful. This guide is no longer updated (due to the Department of Treasury team which created it disbanding) however we have kept it available as an excellent resource for understanding the general situation.

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Thanks Kate! In working across all the AUS states, it seems like this is similar, one gov’t department does one thing while another dept in the same gov’t does something else.

For others that may have a similar question, we decided to try to align to a “national standard” and the best we could find with sufficient info was Regional Development Australia (https://www.rda.gov.au/)…again, while not entirely “standard” its a single source (for “truth”) and decent .pdf and interactive mapping (ArcGIS Web Application)

…now if only I could find a source or download for the shapefile(s) from the interactive map!?!

Cheers, happy data hunting!

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Awesome, thanks for taking the time to share what you found Chris :slight_smile:

Since this is a national standard, you’ll want the national data catalogue: data.gov.au - Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities

The RDA regions probably haven’t changed since they last posted spatial data, but if you need to check I would recommend starting with the contact point on the relevant dataset page and moving on to the general contact on the RDA website if it bounces.