You can define the areas you are interested in by using standard areas or by drawing on the map. These will then appear on the dashboard and allow subscribers to generate comprehensive reports.
At the moment, to create a standard area you can only do so through the use ABS Statistical Areas (see definitions below) at level 1, 2 or 3. We refer to these as SA1s, SA2s and SA3s. SA2s are named according to suburbs you are likely to know, but they are indexed in the tool using SA3s, so please download the spreadsheet below to see a list of SA2s and the SA3s you can find them in.
List of SA2s showing which SA3 they lie in
When the development of the tool is complete, you will be able to define standard areas by suburb, postcode, or statistical area.
The information below has been taken from the ABS website, where you can read more about how Statistical Areas are defined.
Statistical Areas Level 1 (SA1s) have been designed as the smallest unit for the release of Census data. SA1s generally have a population of 200 to 800 persons, and an average population of about 400 persons. They are built from whole Mesh Blocks and there are approximately 55,000 SA1s covering the whole of Australia.
Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s) are a general-purpose medium sized area built from whole SA1s. Their aim is to represent a community that interacts together socially and economically. SA2s generally have a population range of 3,000 to 25,000 persons , and have an average population of about 10,000 persons. The SA2 is the lowest level of the ASGS structure for which Estimated Resident Population (ERP), Health and Vitals and other non-Census ABS data are generally available. There are 2,196 SA2s covering the whole of Australia.
Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3s) provide a standardised regional breakup of Australia. The aim of SA3s is to create a standard framework for the analysis of ABS data at the regional level through clustering groups of SA2s that have similar regional characteristics. SA3s are built from whole SA2s and in general have populations between 30,000 and 130,000 persons. They are often the functional areas of regional cities and large urban transport and service hubs.
Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4s) are the largest sub-State regions. They are designed for the output of Labour Force Survey data and reflect labour markets within each state and territory within the population limits imposed by the Labour Force Survey sample. SA4s provide the best sub-state socio-economic breakdown in the ASGS. SA4s are built from whole SA3s and cover the whole of Australia. There are 88 SA4s.