Australian Regional Development Authority Boundaries 2015-16

A 2015-16 spatial dataset maps 55 Regional Development Australia (RDA) committee regions across Australian states and territories. The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development created it by aggregating Local Government Area (LGA) boundaries from the ABS/PSMA 2015 dataset. It includes updates for council amalgamations and special administrative areas like external territories.

Use Cases

• Analyze regional economic development initiatives by mapping RDA boundaries against LGA codes and names.
• Study administrative changes like the 2011 amalgamation forming the City of Greater Geraldton using retained LGA code 53520.
• Model spatial coverage of government programs by identifying special areas like Jervis Bay Territory or Christmas Island within specific RDAs.
• Track historical boundary adjustments, such as Lord Howe Island's reassignment from RDA Northern Rivers to Mid North Coast in August 2011.

Strengths

• Built from the authoritative ABS/PSMA LGA 2015 boundary dataset.
• Documents specific administrative changes and territorial assignments for accuracy.
• Released under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license for reuse.

Limitations

• Dataset is static for the 2015-16 period and may not reflect recent boundary changes.
• Some RDA regions in South Australia are not perfectly aligned with LGA boundaries, creating complexity.
• Norfolk Island is explicitly noted as not part of any RDA, limiting complete territorial coverage.

Provenance

Source

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, Australian Government.

Collection Method

Spatial aggregation and modification of the ABS/PSMA Local Government Area (LGA) 2015 boundary dataset.

Time Range

2015-16 (April 2016 snapshot).

Freshness

null

Geography

Australia, including states, territories, and external territories like Christmas Island and Jervis Bay.