Remoteness classification (ASGC-RA) N

Guide for use:

CODE 1 Major cities of Australia

'Major cities of Australia' includes Census Collection Districts (CDs) 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 CDs 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 CDs 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 CDs 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 CDs with an average ARIA+ index value greater than 10.53.

CODE 6 Migratory

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

Context:

Geographic remoteness is essentially a measure of a physical location's level of access to goods and services. Large population centres tend to have a greater range of goods and services available than small centres. Typically, a population centre is not likely to provide a full range of goods and services until its population reaches around 250,000 people.

The measures of remoteness used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) are based on population estimates obtained from the Census of Population and Housing, conducted every 5 years. Remoteness measures are calculated using Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+) scores, which are based on the distance of geographic locations from the nearest population centre in various size ranges. The lower the ARIA+ score for a location, the better its level of access to goods and services.

Information in relation to how remoteness is defined and calculated is available from the Geography portal on the ABS website.

Information in relation to how ARIA+ scores are calculated for physical locations is available from the National Centre for Social Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GISCA) website.

Origin:

Information relating to remoteness is available from the Geography portal on the ABS website:

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011. ABS Geography. Viewed 14 November 2011,

http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/Geography

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 GISCA website:

National Centre for Social Applications of Geographic Information Systems 2011. ARIA - Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia. Viewed 14 November 2011,
http://gisca.adelaide.edu.au/projects/aria_project.html

Comments:

In its initial form, as developed by GISCA 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 allow for more accurate estimation of the cost of travelling from Tasmania to the mainland, and to increase accuracy for locations at the urban fringe.