--- title: Suburbs and localities to postal areas correspondence, 2021, Australia resource: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/ publisher: Australian Bureau of Statistics licence: CC BY 4.0 licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ version: 2026-10-14 rows: 15433 fields: 7 source: https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/2c79581f-600e-4560-80a8-98adb1922dfc/resource/33d822ba-138e-47ae-a15f-460279c3acc3/download/asgs2021correspondences.zip source_sha256: 3c4ca9307b86dd9c51626920ddbb64fbe38936fd30f4e2c846eb71569dcb1c60 language: en-AU operator: National Digital not_endorsed: true --- # Suburbs and localities to postal areas correspondence, 2021, Australia The ABS correspondence from each of the 2021 suburbs and localities to the postal areas it falls in, with the ABS's population ratio and quality rating for each pair. Published by Australian Bureau of Statistics under CC BY 4.0. National Digital converted the publisher's file to other formats. It renamed and typed the columns and kept only those the schema lists. National Digital made these changes, and the publisher is not responsible for them. Australian Bureau of Statistics has not endorsed this site. Also called: suburb to postcode correspondence, postcode to suburb lookup Australia, SAL to POA correspondence 2021, CG_SAL_2021_POA_2021. ## Download Latest version, redirects to `https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/v/2026-10-14/`: - csv: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/latest/data.csv (723 KB) - xlsx: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/latest/data.xlsx (554 KB) - json: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/latest/data.json (2.8 MB) - parquet: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/latest/data.parquet (192 KB) - sqlite: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/latest/data.sqlite (946 KB) - duckdb: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/latest/data.duckdb - ndjson: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/latest/data.ndjson (2.8 MB) - csv.gz: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/latest/data.csv.gz (163 KB) Pinned version 2026-10-14: `https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/v/2026-10-14/data.`. Dated versions keep their content. ## Query The query API returns only the rows you ask for, as JSON, NDJSON or CSV, from the same typed rows as the files. It needs no key. Rows: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/rows. Counts and sums: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/aggregate. - Rows: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/rows?ratio_from_to=lt.1&limit=5 - Aggregate: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/aggregate?group=quality_indicator&metric=count&ratio_from_to=lt.1 Each filter is `field=operator.value` in the query string, and every filter must match. A number or date field compares as a number or date, and a text field compares as text. Values are case-sensitive, except that `like` and `ilike` ignore case in the ASCII letters A to Z. Prefix `not.` to negate a filter, as `not.eq.value`. Operators: `eq.value`, `neq.value`, `gt.value`, `gte.value`, `lt.value`, `lte.value`, `like.*text*`, `ilike.*text*`, `in.(a,b,c)`, `is.null`. - `select`: Fields to return, comma-separated. Every field when absent. - `order`: `field.asc` or `field.desc`, comma-separated. When absent, rows come in the order of the file they are read from. For the newest versions that is the version's own data.parquet, which keeps the publisher's order unless the dataset sorted it. Any other version is read from the Parquet file the answer names in `file`, and when that file is sorted the answer names its sort in `order`, which ties follow too. - `limit`: Rows per page, 1 to 10,000. 100 when absent. - `offset`: Rows to skip. The `next` URL in each answer sets it for you. - `group`: On `aggregate`, fields to group by, comma-separated. - `metric`: On `aggregate`, `count`, `sum.field`, `avg.field`, `min.field` or `max.field`, comma-separated. `count` when absent. - `format`: `json`, `ndjson` or `csv`. JSON carries the provenance header, and the others carry it in response headers. Without a version the API answers from the newest version, and that answer changes when the publisher releases again. Put `versions//` before `rows` or `aggregate` for an answer from that version alone. Every version with a table can be queried, and `/api/v1/datasets//versions` lists them. A query on a version the database does not hold is read from its Parquet file, and one that would read too much of it is refused with DuckDB SQL that answers it from the file. The API allows 60 requests in 10 seconds from one address. Above that it answers 429 for 10 seconds with a `Retry-After` header, a `RateLimit-Policy` header and a JSON body that gives the limit. Every API answer carries the same `RateLimit-Policy`. A client should wait the `Retry-After` seconds, or read the files, which have no limit. OpenAPI for this dataset: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/openapi.json ## Explore Charts and dashboards in the browser: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/explore/. A dashboard can be shared as a link or embedded. ## Fields | field | type | publisher's header | note | |---|---|---|---| | `sal_2021_code` | string | SAL_CODE_2021 | | | `sal_2021_name` | string | SAL_NAME_2021 | | | `poa_2021_code` | string | POA_CODE_2021 | | | `ratio_from_to` | number | RATIO_FROM_TO | | | `quality_indicator` | string | INDIV_TO_REGION_QLTY_INDICATOR | | | `overall_quality_indicator` | string | OVERALL_QUALITY_INDICATOR | | | `bmos_null_flag` | integer | BMOS_NULL_FLAG | | Key: `sal_2021_code, poa_2021_code`. ## Versions - 2026-10-14: 15433 rows, 7 fields, sha256 3c4ca9307b86. https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/v/2026-10-14/ Machine-readable: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/versions.json, https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/changes.json, https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/datapackage.json, https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/schema.json, https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/history.tar.zst ## Same subject, other publishers - [Suburb and locality boundaries, South Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/sa-suburb-boundaries/) (SA) - [Suburb and locality boundaries, New South Wales (Geoscape)](https://publicdata.au/d/au-localities-nsw/) (Cth) - [Suburb and locality boundaries, Victoria (Geoscape)](https://publicdata.au/d/au-localities-vic/) (Cth) - [Suburb and locality boundaries, South Australia (Geoscape)](https://publicdata.au/d/au-localities-sa/) (Cth) - [Suburb and locality boundaries, Western Australia (Geoscape)](https://publicdata.au/d/au-localities-wa/) (Cth) - [Suburb and locality boundaries, Tasmania (Geoscape)](https://publicdata.au/d/au-localities-tas/) (Cth) - [Suburb and locality boundaries, Northern Territory (Geoscape)](https://publicdata.au/d/au-localities-nt/) (Cth) - [Suburb and locality boundaries, Australian Capital Territory (Geoscape)](https://publicdata.au/d/au-localities-act/) (Cth) - [Suburb and locality boundaries, Other Territories (Geoscape)](https://publicdata.au/d/au-localities-ot/) (Cth) - [Registered vehicles by suburb, Queensland, October 2022](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-vehicle-registrations-by-suburb/) (Qld) - [Locality boundaries, Queensland](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-locality-boundaries/) (Qld) - [Current liquor licences by location, Victoria](https://publicdata.au/d/vic-liquor-licences/) (Vic) ## Attribution and citation Australian Bureau of Statistics, ASGS Geographic Correspondences (2021) Edition 3, CG_SAL_2021_POA_2021.xlsx, sourced 26 October 2026, https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/asgs-edition-3-2021-correspondences, licensed under CC BY 4.0. The licence requires the publisher's attribution. We ask that you also name publicdata.au and link to the version you used. Plain text: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ASGS Geographic Correspondences (2021) Edition 3, CG_SAL_2021_POA_2021.xlsx, sourced 26 October 2026, https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/asgs-edition-3-2021-correspondences, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au, https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/v/2026-10-14/ Harvard: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2026) Suburbs and localities to postal areas correspondence, 2021, Australia, version 2026-10-14 [data set], CC BY 4.0, sourced 26 October 2026. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au. Available at: https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/v/2026-10-14/ Markdown: Data: [Suburbs and localities to postal areas correspondence, 2021, Australia](https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/asgs-edition-3-2021-correspondences), Australian Bureau of Statistics, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), sourced 26 October 2026. Files: [publicdata.au](https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/v/2026-10-14/) by [National Digital](https://nationaldigital.com.au/). ## Questions ### How do I download Suburbs and localities to postal areas correspondence, 2021 as a CSV file? Open https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/latest/data.csv. It redirects to the newest dated version, which is https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/v/2026-10-14/data.csv today. The same path serves Excel, JSON, Parquet, SQLite, DuckDB, NDJSON. A dated URL never changes, so use it when the file must stay the same. ### Can I open Suburbs and localities to postal areas correspondence, 2021 in Excel? Yes. https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/v/2026-10-14/data.xlsx is a workbook with the 15,433 rows on a records sheet, the field list on a second sheet and the provenance on a third. The CSV also opens in Excel. https://publicdata.au/d/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021/v/2026-10-14/data.csv.gz is the CSV at about a tenth of the size. ### How often is Suburbs and localities to postal areas correspondence, 2021 updated? ABS releases it when the ABS releases a new edition, after each Census. This site checks the portal every week and adds a dated version when the file changes. ### Can I use Suburbs and localities to postal areas correspondence, 2021 commercially? Yes. CC BY 4.0 allows commercial use, redistribution and derived works as long as the attribution is kept. The attribution string is in this page's side column and inside every file. ### Is this the official source for Suburbs and localities to postal areas correspondence, 2021? No. The publisher is Australian Bureau of Statistics, and its page is https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/asgs-edition-3-2021-correspondences. National Digital converted the publisher's file to other formats. It renamed and typed the columns and kept only those the schema lists. National Digital made these changes, and the publisher is not responsible for them. The original sits beside every version as source.zip with its SHA-256, so the two can be compared. ### What is in each row? One pair of a suburb or locality and a postal area that it shares population with, as the ABS publishes the pair in its 2021 correspondence. A suburb that lies in one postal area has one row with a ratio of 1. A suburb split across postal areas has a row for each, and its ratios add to 1. ### How is the ratio worked out? The ABS weights its standard correspondences by where people live, using population modelled to residential address locations. The ratio is the share of the suburb's population that the ABS places in the postal area. This site publishes the ratio as the ABS gives it and computes none of its own. ### What do the quality columns mean? The ABS rates each row and the whole correspondence as Good, Acceptable or Poor, by how well it expects data to convert from the suburb to the postal area. The flag `bmos_null_flag` is 0 for an ordinary row and 1 for a row whose ratio is below the ABS's minimum output size, usually 0.01. ### How does this join to other datasets here? The suburb code matches `sal_2021_code` in the ABS suburb and locality boundaries, and the postal area code matches `poa_2021_code` in the ABS postal area boundaries. Both codes are text, so Northern Territory postcodes keep their leading zero, such as 0800. ## What this site did to the data Cells were typed, headers were renamed to snake_case and the encoding was made UTF-8. Rows were left alone. Nothing is derived. The publisher's file is beside every version as `source.zip`. ## Improve this dataset This page is built from [register/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021.yaml](https://github.com/National-Digital/publicdata.au/blob/main/register/abs-suburbs-to-postal-areas-2021.yaml) on GitHub, and a fix to it is welcome as a pull request. https://publicdata.au/contribute/ explains how.