User:Pelagic/New South Wales Geographic Subdivision Types

(N.B. This is a rough draft for a new Wikipedia article.)

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the various ways that the state of New South Wales, Australia, is divided.

Australia is a federal nation; much of the responsibility for providing essential services lies with the constituent states, and much enabling legislation is passed through state parliament. Activities under Federal control generally use divisions which are aligned with state boundaries. Hence it makes sense to list the subdivisions on a per-state basis.

Postal Areas
Australia Post assigns Post Codes (former usage) or Postcodes (current terminology) to mail delivery areas.

The current four digit numeric postcode system was introduced in 1967 in association with the first mechanised mail processing centre in Australia. ... Postcodes are only allocated to localities officially gazetted by State land agencies. In the majority of circumstances, a postcode covers an area comprising of more than one locality. -- Australia Post, Assignment of Postcodes, accessed 2006-01-20.

Postcodes are easy to collect from customers, since they are usually included in addresses and most people know what postcode area they live in. Postcode information is also commonly included in street directories. Hence they are widely used by smaller organisations for statistical purposes.

Counties and Parishes
In the mid to late 1800s, the colony of New South Wales was divided into Counties (see Nineteen Counties) and Parishes for the purpose of administering land grants. Unlike Suburbs and Localities, Land Parishes are not shown on general-use maps (such as street directories), but knowledge of them is essential for interpreting historical land records.



Regions
Since there are no legislated entities between State and Local Government Area (LGA), organisations devise their own regional divisions of the state to suit their purposes.

DLG Regions
The New South Wales Department of Local Government oversees the operation of local Councils. It organises LGAs into 14 regions:


 * Central West (CW)
 * Far West (FW)
 * Hunter
 * Illawarra (IL)
 * Murrumbidgee (MG)
 * Murray (MR)
 * Mid-North Coast (NC)
 * Northern (NR)
 * North Western (NW)
 * Richmond--Tweed (RT)
 * South Eastern (SE)
 * Sydney Inner (SI)
 * Sydney Outer (SO)
 * Sydney Surrounds (SS)

Reference

RTA Regions
The Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales administers road transport within the state. State highways and other main roads are fully or partially funded by the authority (formerly the Department of Main Roads).

The RTA uses the following 6 regions:
 * Hunter
 * Northern
 * Southern
 * Southwest or South West
 * Western
 * Sydney