I think I can explain this one - if I'm right, Apple already has the correct data, but is using it incorrectly.
One of the Apple Maps data sources is GeoNames (geonames.org), a free data source available under a Creative Commons Attribution license and also used with the search on OpenStreetMap. If you search for Mildura at OpenStreetMap (openstreetmap.org) you'll get the correct location of the town, but if you scroll down the GeoNames list you'll also be offered "Mildura Shire" as a search option. Click on that, and the pointer moves to a location similar to the Apple Maps screenshot, about 70km away from the actual town. It seems that's the location that Apple's search has chosen to prioritize, over the actual town.
Mildura Shire is listed in GeoNames as a "second-order administrative division", so it's probably similar to the middle of a county or council area.
This isn't a problem with datasets or incorrect data, it's a problem with how Apple is searching & prioritizing the correct data they already have. Choosing the "town" instead of the "second-order administrative division" would be appropriate here.
For what it's worth, GeoNames already prioritizes the town of Mildura correctly in their search engine.
Something similar happens with Santa Barbara, but the results differ if you ask for driving directions or a normal search. A search for "Santa Barbara" returns the city, but if you ask for directions to "Santa Barbara" you are instead directed to a mountain range, probably because "Santa Barbara" is also the name of the county, which is fairly large and includes a lot of empty regions. (If you use "Santa Barbara, CA" instead, you deterministically get directed to the city.)
It's also a general UI problem with online maps. If you get directions to a city you'll get directions to a specific point within that city, instead of to the area that the city encompasses. It looks like the Shire of Mildura is an area that is 10,000 square kilometers. Having your map directions show that your destination is a broad swath of the country would be an easy way to tip you off that something is wrong with your directions.
It's not limited to Apple maps either - I've seen this on other consumer-grade online mapping services too. Sometimes searching for a specific location/address may default to the city that is in your search term, but if you're not paying attention you can be led astray.
You can see similar inconsistencies around Moscow. For some districts (район) in Moscow region, the name of the district on a map always sticks to the location of the main town in the district as you zoom in. Google map places the name of the district in the middle of the area it covers, so when you zoom in, it drifts away from the main town (which not always in the center of the district area). Again, seems like Apple map confuses administrative division units with towns.
Many don't line up with GeoNames data, but they do appear to be cases where a town name clashes with the name of a local council area, and Apple Maps have chosen the council area instead. Wanneroo is another example here:
http://theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com/post/32038150409/wanner...
The gist for me is that you need local offices for mapping quality control. Probably the best option for apple would be to set up a mapping office inside each of their Apple stores.
One of the Apple Maps data sources is GeoNames (geonames.org), a free data source available under a Creative Commons Attribution license and also used with the search on OpenStreetMap. If you search for Mildura at OpenStreetMap (openstreetmap.org) you'll get the correct location of the town, but if you scroll down the GeoNames list you'll also be offered "Mildura Shire" as a search option. Click on that, and the pointer moves to a location similar to the Apple Maps screenshot, about 70km away from the actual town. It seems that's the location that Apple's search has chosen to prioritize, over the actual town.
Mildura Shire is listed in GeoNames as a "second-order administrative division", so it's probably similar to the middle of a county or council area.
This isn't a problem with datasets or incorrect data, it's a problem with how Apple is searching & prioritizing the correct data they already have. Choosing the "town" instead of the "second-order administrative division" would be appropriate here.
For what it's worth, GeoNames already prioritizes the town of Mildura correctly in their search engine.