                                                                                                                                                    FOI Ref: FOI202324/12

Theodora McIntosh
e-mail: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear Theodora,
RE: YOUR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST [FOI202324/12]
I refer to your request received by the ABS on 18 October 2023 in which you seek:

"A list of urban areas/localities in Australia by state? I have been looking for a while but can't find a
concrete list. Preferably this would include population figures from the 2021 census and geographical
coordinates, but it's completely fine if that's impossible.”

A copy of your full request can be found in Attachment A.
Response to Your Request
I am an authorised decision maker under section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). I have
reviewed your request and determined that much of the information you are seeking, if held by the ABS,
would have been collected under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905 (C&S Act). Information
collected under the C&S Act is exempt from the FOI Act under Schedule 2, Part II, Division 2. Therefore, I am
refusing access to any such documents we may hold on the basis that they are exempt.
Alternative access arrangements
In our correspondence to you on 24 October 2023, the ABS provided you with two spreadsheets outside of the
FOI Act that provide some of the information you are seeking. These spreadsheets contain information from
the most recent Census, including the full data of population estimates and components by Local Government
Area (LGA) and Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2).
For your convenience,  you can access the most recent ABS regional population publication on the ABS website
Regional population, 2021-22 financial year | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)
If you have any questions about this data, or you wish to seek further Census related data, please contact
xxxxxx.xxxx@xxx.xxx.xx who will be able to provide further assistance.
Decision and Reasons for Decision
I have taken the following into account in making my decision:
•  Email correspondence between yourself and the FOI team.
•  The relevant provisions of the FOI Act, specifically Schedule 2, Part II, Division 2.
•  The guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under S93A of the FOI Act.
Charges
There are no charges for this request.
Locked Bag 10, Belconnen ACT 2616
Telephone: 1300 135 070 | www.abs.gov.au

Internal Review of the Decision
Section 54 of the FOI Act gives you the right to apply for an internal review of the decision by the ABS.
Additionally, you may request a review of this decision by the Information Commissioner. Details of both
procedures involved in an application to review a decision are set out at Attachment B.
If you have any queries on this matter please contact the ABS FOI Contact Officer at
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely,

Michael Meagher
Program Manager
Legislative Compliance and Parliamentary Branch
Australian Bureau of Statistics

01/11/2023

Attachment A
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CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless
you recognise the sender
and know the content is safe
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Dear Australian Bureau of Statistics, would you be able to provide me with a
list of urban areas/localities in Australia by state? I have been looking for
a while but can't find a concrete list. Preferably this would include
population figures from the 2021 census and geographical coordinates, but it's
completely fine if that's impossible.
Yours faithfully, Theodora McIntosh
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
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Good afternoon,
Thank you for your email.
The Freedom of Information Act al ows for requests of documents rather than information.
However, there is publicly available information that should satisfy your request.
The ABS has published statistical breakdowns of regional populations from the 2021 Census at
the fol owing link: Regional population, 2021-22 financial year | Australian Bureau of Statistics
(abs.gov.au). This webpage contains information about the breakdown of Australia's population
by various geographical areas. Under the 'data downloads' section you can access
spreadsheets in a variety of forms. I have attached a copy of two of the aforementioned
spreadsheets, which includes the ful  data for population estimates and components by Local
Government Area (LGA) and Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2).
32180DS0002_2021-22r.xlsx 32
3 1
2 8
1 0
8 D
0 S
D 0
S 0
0 0
0 1
0 _
1 2
_ 0
2 2
0 1
2 -
1 2
- 2
2 r
2
r (
  1
( )
1 .
) x
. l
x s
l x
s
I hope this information satisfies your request. If it does, could you please respond by email by
COB Tuesday 24 October 2023 confirming that you are withdrawing your request?
Kind regards,
Adam
Freedom of Information
Policy & Legislation Section | Legislative Compliance and Parliamentary Branch
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Good afternoon,
We kindly would like to fol ow up on the below email. If you could provide a response to the
email by COB Friday 27 October 2023 that would be appreciated.
Kind regards,
Adam
Freedom of Information
Policy & Legislation Section | Legislative Compliance and Parliamentary Branch
Australian Bureau of Statistics

Attachment B
INFORMATION ON RIGHTS OF REVIEW

1.    INTERNAL REVIEW OF DECISION
If you disagree with our decision you have the right to apply for an internal review under section
54 of the FOI Act.
Application for a review of the decision must be made within 30 days of receipt of this letter.
No particular form is required but it would assist the decision-maker if you set out in the
application the grounds on which you consider that the decision should be reviewed.
Application for an internal review of the decision should be e-mailed to
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx or posted to:
ABS FOI Contact Officer
Policy  and  Legislation  Section
Australian Bureau of  Statistics
Locked Bag 10
BELCONNEN ACT 2617

2.    AUSTRALIAN INFORMATION COMMISSIONER REVIEW OF DECISION
Section 54L of the Act gives you the right to seek a review of the decision from the Information
Commissioner.  An application for review must be made within 60 days of receiving the decision.
Application for an Information Commissioner review of the decision should be e-mailed to
xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or posted to:
Director of FOI Dispute Resolution
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY  NSW  2001

3.    COMPLAINTS TO THE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
Section 70 of the Act provides that a person may complain to the Information Commissioner
about action taken by an agency in the exercise of powers or the performance of functions
under the Act.
A complaint to the Information Commissioner must be in writing and identify the agency the
complaint is about.  It should be e-mailed to xxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx or posted to:
Director of FOI Dispute Resolution
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY  NSW  2001
The Information Commissioner may decline to investigate the complaint in a number of
circumstances, including that you did not exercise your right to ask the agency, the
Information Commissioner, a court or tribunal to review the decision.

Document Outline