Geographical Structures

The Statistical Areas 2 (SA2) presented in the Child Development Atlas are based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, July 2016

Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2) are medium-sized geographical areas that represent communities that interacts together socially and economically. The SA2 is the smallest area at which Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) non-Census and Intercensal statistics can be released.

SA2s have an average population of about 10,000 persons (range 3,000 to 25,000 persons). SA2s in remote and regional areas generally have smaller populations than those in urban areas.

Where possible, SA2s are designed around whole suburbs or rural localities. In regional and remote areas, areas with smaller populations may be combined to form one SA2. In the major cities, SA2s often represent single suburbs.

In large urban areas, SA2s are named for the gazetted suburbs that comprise them:

• where a SA2 is made from a single suburb, it will retain the name of the suburb (e.g., Ellenbrook)
• where a single large suburb is split into more than one SA2, it will retain the name of the suburb and a geographic identifier (e.g., Canningvale – East)
• where a SA2 is made up from 2 or 3 suburbs, then the SA2 name is a concatenation of the suburb names (e.g., Midland-Guildford)
• where a SA2 is made up of 4 or more suburbs it will be named for the larger or more prominent suburbs, or given a local identifier (e.g., Gingin-Dandaragan)

See the ABS website for more information on SA2s.

The Statistical Areas 3 (SA3) presented in the Child Development Atlas are based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, July 2016.

Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3) are geographical areas that are made up of neighbouring Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2).

SA3s generally have a population of between 30,000 and 130,000 people. They often closely align to Local Government Areas. In outer regional and remote areas, SA3s represent areas which are widely recognised as having a distinct identity and similar social and economic characteristics.

SA3s are named according to the areas they represent:

• where a SA3 represents a well-known regional area it is named after that region (e.g., Goldfields)
• where a SA3 represents the functional area of a regional city it is named after that city (e.g., Bunbury)
• where a SA3 represents an economic hub within a major city it is generally named to reflect that hub (e.g., Wanneroo)
• where a SA3 represents a group of related suburbs it is named after one or more of those suburbs that reflect its location and extent (e.g., Belmont-Victoria Park)

See the ABS website for more information on SA3s.

The Local Government Areas used in the Child Development Atlas are based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 3 - Non ABS Structures, July 2017.

Local Government Areas (LGAs) are an ABS approximation of officially gazetted LGAs as defined by State and Local Government departments. LGAs cover incorporated areas of Australia, which are geographical areas that are the responsibility of incorporated local governing bodies. 

See the ABS website for more information on LGAs.

Health Regions are defined by the Department of Health of Western Australia and consist of the state of Western Australia divided into 10 areas:

• East Metro
• Goldfields
• Great Southern
• Kimberley
• Midwest
• North Metro
• Pilbara
• South Metro
• South West
• Wheatbelt

The boundary map outlining the Western Australian metropolitan health regions are aggregated from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Statistical Geography Standard Statistical Area Level 2 geographical boundaries.

Regional Development Commission (RDC) regions are a grouping of Local Government Areas according to the Regional Development Commissions Act 1993. The boundaries used in the Child Development Atlas contain an additional boundary called ‘Perth Metro’. This region comprises of the remaining Local Government Areas within the Perth Metropolitan area not already assigned to an RDC.

The objectives of the RDCs are to:

• maximise job creation and improve career opportunities in the region;
• develop and broaden the economic base of the region;
• identify infrastructure services needed to promote economic and social development within the region;
• provide information and advice to promote business development within the region;
• seek to ensure that the general standard of government services and access to those services in the region is comparable to that which applies in the metropolitan area; and
• generally take steps to encourage, promote, facilitate and monitor the economic development in the region.

More information can be found on the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development website.