Summer services update
What it covers
The suburb and locality boundaries cover New Zealand including North Island, South Island, Stewart Island/Rakiura, Chatham Islands, and nearby offshore islands.
Why NZ Suburbs and Localities is managed by Toitū Te Whenua
Under the Local Government Act 1974, the Surveyor-General at Toitū Te Whenua has a responsibility to collate addresses allocated by Territorial Authorities for electoral, postal, and other purposes.
A suburb helps ensure addresses are unique throughout New Zealand
Examples of use
New Zealand emergency services use suburb and locality data to support emergency responses and help locate callers requesting assistance.
The dataset is key to Territorial Authorities and NZ Post for addressing purposes, and can be used as a valuable way to aggregate and report on information such as the number of COVID-19 cases by suburb.
How to access
NZ Suburbs and Localities layer is available from the LINZ Data Service and as an ArcGIS REST Service.
Access on the LINZ Data Service
Role of Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa New Zealand Geographic Board
The NZ Suburbs and Localities dataset is not necessarily the same as the names and extents of suburbs and localities that our country’s national naming authority officially names.
The formal statutory process followed by Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa New Zealand Geographic Board will not be undermined in any way by changes made to this suburbs and localities dataset.
The importance of public, iwi, community and council consultation is paramount. As is good naming practice applied by the Board. Therefore, any major change request to the NZ Suburbs and Localities dataset that includes a new name or an altered name will be assessed as to whether it needs to go through the Board’s statutory processes.
The NZ Suburbs and Localities dataset will not be used to create new suburbs and localities that could cause confusion especially for emergency response or where they might be contentious or if they might adversely affect our Treaty partnership commitments.
See information about the Board’s role in officially naming suburbs and localities:
Search the Board’s online Gazetteer for suburbs and localities that reflect communities of interest:
Guidance documents
3 guidance documents provide information for users of the NZ Suburbs and Localities dataset.
NZ Suburbs and Localities - Data Dictionary
The data dictionary provides information about the attributes and data structure of the NZ Suburbs and Localities layer and the full NZ Suburbs and Localities dataset, including related tables.
NZ Suburbs and Localities - Data Dictionary (LINZ Data Service)
NZ Suburbs and Localities - Change Requests
The change request document sets out the process you can use to request a change to a suburb or locality boundary or name.
NZ Suburbs and Localities - Principles, Requirements and Rules
The principles, requirements and rules Toitū Te Whenua will use to update and maintain NZ Suburbs and Localities.