Towns in Time is a compilation of time series data for Victoria’s towns covering the years 1981 to 2016. The data is based on Census data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and published at the Urban Centre and Locality (UCL) level.

Previous versions of Towns in Time had concorded all historical data to the latest available town boundaries. In 2011, the introduction of mesh blocks as the unit of collection made exact concordance with previous censuses impossible. Therefore, for 2011 and 2016, each town is defined by the UCL, or combination of SA1s, or combination of mesh blocks which most closely approximates the 2006 town definition.

Towns in Time 2016 presents data for the 2016 definition of each town, together with 2011 data under the 2011 definition and data under the 2006 definition for 2006 and previous years. For each town, a map showing the difference in town boundary between 2006, 2011 and 2016 is attached to the data sheet. It is recommended that the user assess this concordance when using time series data.

Data sheets for individual towns

A town name followed by (SA1) indicates that the town is not a UCL according to the current ABS definition, and data has been presented for the most appropriate SA1(s).

A town name followed by (MB) indicate that the town could only be identified as mesh block(s) in 2011 and 2016. The data for 2011 for these towns is limited to total usual resident population and total dwellings.

Page last updated: 10/08/18