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Download Free Database of Australian Postcodes

Last Updated: June 30th 2024 (Latest Updates)

A free, up-to-date downloadable database of Australian Postcodes and Localities, including longitude and latitude values, sourced by and supported by myself and the community.

Looking for other data sets? World City Data   New Zealand Postcodes

 

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History

Some years ago, Australia Post used to publish a full list of Australian Postal Codes including state and location data, in a raw data format, completely free.

They have since stopped doing this, instead preferring to charge for data that is arguably public domain, or at least available publicly in many different forms from many different providers.

I've needed this data for a number of projects over the years, and have collated as much publicly-available postal data as I could find. There are a bunch of files out on the internet with this data, but they are all missing data or detail, so I've tried to collate them as best I can.

You can learn more about Australian Postcodes on Wikipedia.

Current Statistics

The database currently contains 18,545 entries, spread over the following states:

¹ Many large businesses, government departments and other institutions receiving high volumes of mail had their own postcode as a Large Volume Receiver (LVR), e.g. the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital has the postcode 4029, the Australian National University had the postcode 0200. More postcode ranges were made available for LVRs in the 1990s. Australia Post has been progressively discontinuing the LVR programme since 2006.

Postcode Ranges

The following are prescribed number ranges for Australian Post Codes, as defined by Australia Post.

Data Fields

The files have many data fields, including those below. Additional fields are added from time to time.

¹ These fields are no longer being updated, as the data isn't overly relevant outside of AusPost.

Note on Data Accuracy

Even in late 2022, I keep finding discrepencies between data the Australia Post provides, that GIS has and various LGA databases. Why? No idea, clearly our government agencies and organizations aren't communicating.

As such, this database cannot be regarded as 100% accurate, and no warranties or guarantees of accuracy is provided. I do my best to check everything, as does everyone who contributes data, but it is an ever moving target.

Note on Latitudes & Longitudes

As of March 2021, there are now two sets of differing Lat/Long points for each postcode. The first are the points provided in the Australia Post database, and those derived from adjacent postcodes.

The second set, possibly more accurate, are derived from Googles Map API in 2020/2021. As Australia Post do not appear to have updates or added any new Lat/Long values in recent years, it is presumed the Google values are more accurate.

Note on Altitudes

Altitudes have been added for each postcode with a valid latitude and longitude. These altitudes are for the exact location of the lat/long point, and may represent the 'official' altitude for the city or suburb. For example, Melbourne CBD is a series of hills with various altitudes, but the altitude listed is for the exact point specified.

Altitudes values are expressed relative to local mean sea level (LMSL), in meters.

Addition of ABS Statistical Area 3 (SA3) and Statistical Area 4 (SA4) datasets

I've recently added SA3 and SA4 data sets to the postcode database. Nearly all postcodes have these values, however not all, so it can't be considered 100% accurate.

Also, the SA3/SA4 data set is from the 2021 census, so there might be some changes since. If anyone has a more recent database, please let me know!

You can learn more about SA3 and SA4 on the ABS site in the 1270.0.55.001 - Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) section.

Designated Regional Area Postcodes

I've added R1, R2 and R3 region codes based on GOV.AU data and Immigration categorization. It's not 100% accurate, as they exclude many postcodes, but is a good representation nonetheless.

More details at https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skill-occupation-list/regional-postcodes

Remoteness Area Designations

The Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) is a set of geographical data that can be analysed together for different purposes. The data are from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and other organisations.

The ASGS determines five levels of remoteness for areas under the Australian Statistical Geography Standard - Remoteness Area (ASGS-RA) structure.

More details at https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/health-workforce/health-workforce-classifications/australian-statistical-geography-standard-remoteness-area

Modified Monash Model

The Modified Monash Model (MMM) is how we define whether a location is a city, rural, remote or very remote.

The model measures remoteness and population size on a scale of Modified Monash (MM) category MM 1 to MM 7. MM 1 is a major city and MM 7 is very remote.

More details at https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/health-workforce/health-workforce-classifications/modified-monash-model

Use Cases

There are many, many potential uses for this database. Some of the projects and uses people have downloaded the database for include:

• Having a complete list of current suburbs in Australia
• Calculating distances between two Australian postcodes or two Australian suburbs
• Grouping population and other statistical data by suburb or postcode
• Mapping rainfall data to regions

Last Updates

Contribute on Github

Your Contributions

Any updates, corrections or additions to the dataset is greatly appreciated - this dataset is regarded as public domain - and can only continue to grow and improve with your help.

Help Support This Database

I make this information freely available, and use it for my own client projects and experiments. However, if you feel you'd like to help me out, a donation to the charity my wife and I run would be greatly appreciated! We work hard to provide education scholarships and healthcare services in Uganda (Africa), and any support is appreciated!

You can also support us by "buying us a coffee" using the link below, or learn more about what we do at windsofhope.org.au.

Important Notice: I make no absolutely no guarantees as to its accuracy, but please feel free to let me know of any fixes or updates you see.

Acknowledgement

I acknowledge and pay respect to the past and present Traditional Custodians and Elders of this land and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I would also like to extend my acknowledgment and thanks to the Indigenous people from countries overseas & recognise their respective cultures, strength, wisdom and creativity.