National Postcode Boundaries¶
Disclaimer
Overview¶
The National Postcode Boundaries dataset is Australia’s most definitive set of Postcodes developed by Australia Post and Geoscape Australia. The National Postcode Boundaries dataset represents postcodes as both a polygon (postcode boundaries) and a point (postcode centroid). For more information, please refer to the National Postcode Boundaries Product Description. Geoscape welcomes your feedback on the National Postcode Boundaries product. We also publish regular product development updates on our website ( www.geoscape.com.au ).
Release Summary¶
This product was released to customers on 16 February 2026 with data extracted on 9 February 2026.
This release is a full national data population for the National Postcode Boundaries product, described by the National Postcode Boundaries Product Description.
Any issues that have been identified for this release are described in the Issues section.
Change Notifications¶
Versioning Update (Effective June 2026)¶
Beginning June 2026, all data products will transition to a standardised versioning format: MAJOR-MINOR-EXTRACT (e.g., 004-000-001). This approach provides a clear and consistent structure, making it easier for users to identify product versions and understand update levels at a glance. The change is intended to improve transparency, reduce ambiguity, and support more efficient integration and usage of our data products.
Implementation of New Zip File Naming and Packaging Standards (Starting August 2026)¶
As part of ongoing improvements to product consistency and packaging standards, updates to zip file naming conventions and internal packaging structure will be implemented, starting in August 2026.
Zip File Naming
Two standard naming patterns will be used, depending on whether an extract contains spatial information:
Spatial Tables:
{PRODUCT-NAME}_{RELEASE YYYYMM}_{REGION}_{CRS}_{FORMAT}_{VERSION MAJOR-MINOR-EXTRACT}.zip
Aspatial (Insights) Tables:
{PRODUCT-NAME}_{RELEASE YYYYMM}_{REGION}_{FORMAT}_{VERSION MAJOR-MINOR-EXTRACT}.zip
Packaging Structure
All zip files will follow a simplified, flat directory layout:
No nested folders
The primary data file and the accompanying contents.txt file will be located at the top level of the zip These changes ensure consistent packaging across all products, reduce complexity, and support improved automation and user experience.
Updates¶
General¶
The tolerance for boundary change detection has been reduced from 0.00005 degrees to 0.0005 degrees to reduce precision changes flagging as changed polygons.
The QA process highlighted the existence of multi-part Postcode polygons, some of these spanning significant distances.
A small number of gazetted localities were identified that do not currently have postcodes assigned. These will be submitted to postcode allocation and if successful, included in future updates.
Some localities serviced by multiple delivery offices have not been assigned postcodes. Examples include Royal National Park and Blue Mountains National Park in NSW.
Australian Capital Territory¶
The locality of Kenny has been corrected to postcode 2911.
Northern Territory¶
Marine parks near Darwin have not been allocated postcodes. These are non-delivery areas and will only serve to overstate the total area covered by the postcode and any “per square km” statistics generated from them.
Queensland¶
Some localities in QLD are unable to be allocated postcodes at this time. Examples include “Upland”, “Ward” and “Selwyn”.
Marine parks have not been allocated postcodes. These are non-delivery areas and will only serve to overstate the total area covered by the postcode and any “per square km” statistics generated from them.
South Australia¶
As the South Australian land authorities have not gazetted the north-western part of the state there will not be any postcodes generated on locality basis.
Future Considerations¶
This section outlines enhancements or changes under consideration, but not planned into a specific release. For further details on future initiatives, please contact Geoscape Support.
Western Australia¶
The North-western coastline has excessive detail and may be simplified in a future release. At this time this area is excluded from topology change comparison. Visual inspection indicates minimal changes to this remote region.
Annex A – Release Counts¶
The volume of updates applied in this release is included in the table below.
TABLE |
ACT |
NSW |
NT |
OT |
QLD |
SA |
TAS |
VIC |
WA |
TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LOCALITY_POSTCODE |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
POSTCODE |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
POSTCODE_POINT |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
POSTCODE_POLYGON |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Note
Edits to the Postcode Points and Postcode Polygons theme are generally geometry recalculations required after the geometry from associated locality boundaries were edited.