Mobility+ Population Presence and Origin-Destination Data Collection (SA1 and SA2) - Australia

Brief description

Mobility+ location insights are derived from telco mobility data and delivered as hourly and multi-hourly, SA1- and SA2-level aggregate tables: Population Presence and Origin-Destination (OD) trip matrices. Both datasets contain aggregate weighted counts and are designed to support population-level analysis rather than analysis of individual people or devices. This page provides information to help researchers understand the dataset structure, available columns and data dictionary, and to support methodology development before moving to the secure KeyPoint where the data is accessed.

Mobility+ datasets draw on a curated base of mobile devices from Telstra customers over 18, excluding wholesale and small-business customers, with one device representing one person for the purposes of producing aggregate estimates. Counts are weighted to the Australian population and benchmarked to the ABS × 10-year age-band population. All values in the count column are perturbed between -5 and +5 using a confidential probability distribution. Values perturbed to ≤ 0 are retained as 0, signalling that the original cell was greater than zero.

Privacy protection and responsible use are fundamental to Mobility+ data access. Researchers are provided with aggregated and de-identified mobility information, rather than information about identifiable individuals, devices or households. Aggregation, minimum thresholds, suppression and other confidentiality controls are applied to reduce re-identification risk. Mobility+ data is intended to support aggregate research insights and must not be used to identify or target individuals, devices or households.

Access to Mobility+ data is controlled and subject to consultation and approval through AURIN in collaboration with the data provider. Researchers interested in using the data should first complete an expression of interest form or contact AURIN to discuss their proposed research question, intended use and data requirements. Proposed projects are reviewed for research suitability, privacy requirements, permitted use and applicable governance requirements. Access is provided only to approved projects through the agreed managed research environment and subject to applicable access conditions.

Population Presence assigns each device to the single SA1/SA2 in which it spent the most time in each hourly interval, so a device contributes to exactly one area per interval. Summing counts across all areas for one interval therefore gives a best estimate of the population present at that time in any larger geography.

Origin-Destination counts weighted trips between SA1/SA2 pairs. A stay point is recorded when a device remains in an area for more than 15 minutes and then travels at least 2 km, measured as the crow flies, before the next stay point is recorded. A trip is the movement between two consecutive stay points, including area A back to area A where the criteria are met.

Both datasets are non-spatial tables keyed on ASGS 2021 SA codes, with no geometry. Coverage is sparse by design: an SA1/SA2 × hour/multi-hour combination absent from the data means no device spent the majority of that interval in that area and must not be interpreted as zero population.

Mobility+ Population Presence and Origin-Destination datasets can support a range of research applications. Population Presence supports diurnal and day-of-week population profiling, activity-centre and catchment analysis, event and peak-load assessment, and daytime-versus-night-time population comparison. Origin-Destination supports travel-demand modelling, containment and catchment analysis, and time-of-day movement profiling.

Full description

Mobility+ Population Presence Data (SA1) Hourly - Australia - The Mobility+ hourly Population Presence dataset estimates the population present in each SA1 across Australia. Each row is one observation: an interval start and end, the 11-digit ASGS 2021 SA1 code, and an aggregate weighted count. Counts are weighted to the Australian population and benchmarked to the ABS × 10-year age-band population. \n\nPopulation Presence assigns each device to the single SA1/SA2 in which it spent the most time in each hourly interval, so a device contributes to exactly one area per interval. Summing counts across all areas for one interval therefore gives a best estimate of the population present at that time in any larger geography. \n\nPopulation Presence supports diurnal and day-of-week population profiling, activity-centre and catchment analysis, event and peak-load assessment, and daytime-versus-night-time population comparison. \n\nExamples of the SA1 Population Presence data are shown below. Note that different temporal intervals may be available when accessing the actual data, and column names and value format may differ slightly.\n \n| interval_start | interval_end | sa1_code | count |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| 1/09/2025 00:00:00 (E. Australia Standard Time) | 1/09/2025 00:59:59 (E. Australia Standard Time) | 10201103010 | \\ |
Mobility+ Population Presence Data (SA2) Hourly - Australia - The Mobility+ hourly Population Presence dataset estimates the population present in each SA2 across Australia. Each row is one observation: an interval start and end, the 9-digit ASGS 2021 SA2 code, and an aggregate weighted count. Counts are weighted to the Australian population and benchmarked to the ABS × 10-year age-band population. \n\nPopulation Presence assigns each device to the single SA1/SA2 in which it spent the most time in each hourly interval, so a device contributes to exactly one area per interval. Summing counts across all areas for one interval therefore gives a best estimate of the population present at that time in any larger geography. \n\nPopulation Presence supports diurnal and day-of-week population profiling, activity-centre and catchment analysis, event and peak-load assessment, and daytime-versus-night-time population comparison. \n\nExamples of the SA2 Population Presence data are shown below. Note that different temporal intervals may be available when accessing the actual data, and column names and value format may differ slightly. \n\n| interval_start | interval_end | sa2_code | count |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| 1/09/2025 00:00:00 (E. Australia Standard Time) | 1/09/2025 00:59:59 (E. Australia Standard Time) | 101051539 | \\ |
Mobility+ Origin-Destination Data (SA1) Hourly - Australia - The Mobility+ hourly Origin-Destination dataset estimates the aggregate weighted counts of trips between SA1 pairs across Australia. Each row is one origin × destination × hour observation: the hour of the trip, the 11-digit ASGS 2021 origin and destination codes, and an aggregate weighted count of trips. \n\nOrigin-Destination counts weighted trips between SA1/SA2 pairs. A stay point is recorded when a device remains in an area for more than 15 minutes and then travels at least 2 km, measured as the crow flies, before the next stay point is recorded. A trip is the movement between two consecutive stay points, including area A back to area A where the criteria are met. \n\nOrigin-Destination supports travel-demand modelling, containment and catchment analysis, and time-of-day movement profiling. \n\nExamples of the SA1 Origin-Destination data are shown below. Note that different temporal intervals, as well as additional attributes such as median_trip_duration_sec and median_trip_distance_m, may be available when accessing the actual data, and column names and value format may differ slightly. \n\n| hour | origin_sa1 | destination_sa1 | count |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| 0 | 10201103010 | 10201103606 | \\ |
Mobility+ Origin-Destination Data (SA2) Hourly - Australia - The Mobility+ hourly Origin-Destination dataset estimates the aggregate weighted counts of trips between SA2 pairs across Australia. Each row is one origin × destination × hour observation: the hour of the trip, the 9-digit ASGS 2021 origin and destination codes, and an aggregate weighted count of trips. \n\nOrigin-Destination counts weighted trips between SA1/SA2 pairs. A stay point is recorded when a device remains in an area for more than 15 minutes and then travels at least 2 km, measured as the crow flies, before the next stay point is recorded. A trip is the movement between two consecutive stay points, including area A back to area A where the criteria are met. \n\nOrigin-Destination supports travel-demand modelling, containment and catchment analysis, and time-of-day movement profiling. \n\nExamples of the SA2 Origin-Destination data are shown below. Note that different temporal intervals, as well as additional attributes such as median_trip_duration_sec and median_trip_distance_m, may be available when accessing the actual data, and column names and value format may differ slightly. \n\n| hour | origin_sa2 | destination_sa2 | count | \n|---|---|---|---|\n| 0 | 101051539 | 122011418 | \\ |