Australia States & Territories Boundaries — GeoJSON Download
Quick answer: This page hosts Australia's 9 states, territories, and external territories as a single 230 KB GeoJSON FeatureCollection, with a map preview and one-click download under CC BY 4.0.
About this dataset
All 9 Australian states, territories, and external territories as one hosted GeoJSON, simplified from the ABS digital boundary files to a quarter of a megabyte.
Download Australia state and territory boundaries as GeoJSON: the six states, the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, and an aggregated Other Territories feature in a single FeatureCollection carrying shapeName, shapeISO (AU-NSW, AU-VIC, AU-QLD), and shapeID. The geometry derives from the Australian Bureau of Statistics digital boundary files (ASGS Edition 3, 2021) and is simplified to about a 1 km tolerance, which brings the national layer down to roughly 230 KB while keeping every unit outline. Because Australian states are large and mostly arid, this is one of the cleanest boundary layers to work with — low vertex counts, unambiguous borders, and no disputed naming. It pairs directly with ABS population, employment, and economy tables published at state level.
Data source: Australian Bureau of Statistics via geoBoundaries
How to download
- 1 Preview the state layer above — all 9 units render from one small file.
- 2 Download the GeoJSON and open it in QGIS, ArcGIS, or GeoDataViewer Studio.
- 3 Join ABS state-level tables on shapeName or shapeISO (AU-NSW, AU-VIC).
- 4 Move to the ABS ASGS files for sub-state geographies such as SA4 regions.
Hosted simplified GeoJSON (220 KB)
9 units, web-ready — used by the map preview above
Full-detail GeoJSON from geoBoundaries
Every original vertex, ~24 MB
ABS digital boundary files
Official ASGS shapefiles including SA1–SA4 and Greater Capital City areas
geoBoundaries Australia metadata
Machine-readable licence, source, and download record
FAQ
Which states and territories are included?
Nine features: the six states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania), the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, and an aggregated Other Territories feature covering the external territories such as Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island.
Does this include local government areas or suburbs?
No. This layer is the state and territory level only. The ABS digital boundary files linked on this page publish local government areas, SA2/SA3/SA4 statistical areas, and other sub-state geographies.
Is the geometry detailed enough for coastal work?
The hosted layer uses a ~1 km tolerance, which is right for mapping and joins but not for coastal engineering or precise area measurement. Use the full-detail file for those.
What attribution is required?
The layer is CC BY 4.0 from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, so credit the ABS. The ABS also asks that you note the ASGS edition and reference year, which this page states as Edition 3, 2021.