Search Tips

Understanding the different ways regions are defined can help you find the regional data most relevant to you. We suggest checking out this fact sheet for an introduction. For help with finding the exact name and code for your particular region, see Find My Regions tool.

The Hub’s data catalogue brings together datasets aggregated to areas smaller than a State or Territory. This includes Local Government Areas (LGAs), Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2s), Postcodes and Suburbs. You can learn more about them with our fact sheet.

Many of the datasets in the catalogue cover hundreds or thousands of local regions and these cannot be individually mentioned in the catalogue data summaries. For this reason, the catalogue can’t support searches using specific regional names, addresses or postcodes.

However, using region and location tags on the left of the search screen can help you out.

Datasets are ‘tagged’ according to the states, territories, and the types of smaller regions they cover. This can help further help filter results.

For example, suppose you’re looking for data for a particular LGA in Western Australia. You can select the LGA – Local Government Area tag in the Administrative Regions tag group and the WA tag in the State / Territory tag group. This will narrow down your results to datasets that cover LGAs in Western Australia. From the results, you can open or download a data set then search for the name of your LGA within it.

For help with finding the exact name and code for your particular region, see Find My Regions tool. For more information about using statistical geography, see this fact sheet.

Check out our quick introductory video on searching for data where we use housing as an example.

The regional data collection includes diverse datasets, both spatial (able to be viewed on a map) and non-spatial (able to be viewed in a spreadsheet).

Because of the complexity in covering these datasets, our catalogue does not feature a map-based search tool for individual region names or codes.

If you are looking for basic statistical information on your region via a clickable map, we suggest ABS Data By Region. To explore a wider array of government datasets on a map, we suggest NationalMap.

These map-based data tools are linked from our catalogue.

You can browse the catalogue by using the filters on the left side. You can use these filters without typing any search terms into the search bar.

These filters include tags for topics such as ‘population’, ‘liveability’, and ‘infrastructure and services’. Datasets tagged with these terms will be shown when you click on a tag. You can also use the tags to filter on geographic regions, such as state, LGAs and postcodes. For example, you could select the LGA – Local Government Area tag from the Administrative Regions tag group if you are interested in data available at the LGA level.

We recommend keeping it simple and choosing a few words. If you can, use distinctive words or a combination of specific words in relation to your theme of interest.

For example, if you search for ‘wheat’ and return no results, try searching for ‘agriculture’. There are datasets in the catalogue that will include the specific topic you are interested in (eg. ‘wheat’) within a broader theme such as ‘agriculture’ or ‘crops’.

You can use the filter panel on the left to narrow down the results. Datasets are ‘tagged’ according to the topics (e.g., health or agriculture), states, territories, and the types of smaller regions they cover. These tags are organised into groups to help you find them, and can help further help you narrow down the search results.

You can also experiment with adding additional keywords to your search, or using more specific words.

You can use quotation marks in the search field to search for an exact phrase. For example, “aged care” will reveal results for that phrase, rather than all results that include the words aged and care.

Using a minus symbol (-) before a word will give results that exclude any references to that word.

For advanced users, more detailed options for filtering searches in CKAN catalogues are explained here: User guide — CKAN 2.10.1 documentation 

It could be for a variety reasons, including that we simply may not be aware of it. If you have any suggestions for new datasets and/or thoughts on what data is of interest to you (but not available on the Hub), please do not hesitate to contact us here with your suggestions.        

All of the datasets available on the Hub are either already publicly available, or deemed suitable for public access. The Hub’s data catalogue is a curated and organised portal that helps you find regional data in a single, easy to use, and searchable location.  

A key focus for the Hub is help you find data on your local area. The Hub brings together datasets aggregated to areas smaller than a State or Territory. This includes Local Government Areas (LGAs), Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2s), Postcodes and Suburbs.

We welcome any suggestions of additional data sets by contacting us here.

The majority of datasets available on the Hub’s data catalogue are externally sourced and managed. The accuracy and timeliness of individual datasets can vary depending on how carefully and regularly the data owners manage their datasets. A metadata description and overview of each dataset includes a range of key information against each dataset, including when it was last updated, and by whom.

The Hub is free to use and doesn’t require you to log in or share any details.

The best way is to subscribe to our regular newsletter (see here) and we will let you know about key updates to the Hub.

We are adding new datasets all the time, but if you’re after specific datasets that relate to freight or transport you can visit the National Freight Data Hub here.

The Learn page has a range of materials and resources specifically designed to assist first-time data users. This includes instructional videos and other tools to help you navigate and use the Hub and help you along your data journey. Importantly, the Hub has been designed and built with a clear focus on catering for the ‘novice’ or ‘beginner’ data along with the more experienced data user.

The About Us page on the Hub has various options available to help you contact the Hub team, including an email contact address for any questions you may have.