Desirability Index

The eight pillars

The ASDI score groups metrics into eight pillars with fixed weights. The weights stay stable; the metrics inside each pillar can change over time.

• Safety22%

  Crime rate and offences against the person (ranked within each state), a smaller year-on-year trend, recorded road crash rates, plus bushfire and flood hazard overlays.

• Housing10%

  Space and market stability: fewer people per dwelling and healthy vacancy. Cheapness is not treated as desirable.

• Education14%

  Median school ICSEA first, then school and catchment access, and childcare per 1,000 residents.

• Accessibility12%

  Public transport per 1,000 residents, everyday walkability, Census commute and work-from-home shares, and health access. Distance from the capital is scored for metro suburbs only.

• Lifestyle12%

  Cafés and restaurants, shopping, recreation and sport per 1,000 residents, plus weather comfort. Fast-food strips are not treated as a dining scene.

• Environment12%

  Tree canopy first, then green-cover area, parks per 1,000 residents, and heritage listings as established streetscape.

• Future Growth6%

  Five-year population change and price momentum as a healthy band: modest growth scores well, boom expansion and decline both score worse.

• Community12%

  SEIFA advantage and disadvantage, employment and income, university qualifications, and owned-outright tenure from the 2021 Census.

How scores are built

1. Each metric is converted to a 0–100 score by percentile against comparable suburbs. Counts like shops and parks are scored per 1,000 residents with diminishing returns. Vacancy and population change score highest around a healthy band, not at the extremes. Cheap house prices are not treated as a liveability strength.
2. Related metrics are grouped into categories, then into the eight weighted pillars above. Pillars combine into the overall ASDI score. Missing data lowers a suburb's data confidence; it does not fill in a default score.
3. Essential-service gaps (no supermarket, GP, pharmacy, fuel, childcare, primary school or public transport) apply a capped penalty. The penalty is lighter outside major cities so coastal and country suburbs are not marked down for not looking like metro.
4. Each suburb gets a national rank, a state rank and a peer rank among similar suburbs, all from the same overall score.

Cohorts and ranks

State-specific datasets (crime, public transport, planning) are ranked within each state so different reporting and network sizes do not skew results. Each suburb is grouped into metro, coastal or regional cohorts using the ABS Remoteness Structure: metro is the major-city (or greater-capital) area, and regional covers inland country towns. Any suburb whose boundary meets the coast is grouped as coastal — city beaches and holiday towns alike — so beaches are compared with beaches. Industrial and remote ports without beach-lifestyle appeal stay regional, and waterfront suburbs in Greater Hobart stay metro rather than coastal. Peer ranks compare suburbs with a similar growth stage (for example, established metro suburbs).

• Metro Hobart

  The Hobart metropolitan area as defined by the ABS Remoteness Structure, so close-but-rural fringes (like the hills) are excluded.

• Coastal & beach

  Beachside suburbs and towns whose boundary meets the coast — city beaches and regional holiday towns alike — so beaches are ranked against beaches.

• Country & regional

  Inland country towns and localities beyond the metropolitan area.