Ellis Beach flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Ellis Beach
(Cairns Regional, QLD) - 13.33 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 10 September 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
13.33 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Ellis Beach's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Ellis Beach properties?
Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 9 Ellis Beach properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 9 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Ellis Beach.
Ellis Beach at a glance
Schools in and near Ellis Beach
Public school-location data shows availability across the suburb. These figures do not rate schools and do not assign a particular address to a catchment.
Inside the suburb boundary
0 schools providing primary years and 0 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: 5.11 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 8.42 km from the suburb boundary
Source: Queensland Government school geographic information. Catchment boundaries can divide a suburb and change over time; use the official catchment finder for a specific address.
How Ellis Beach is zoned
Selling in Ellis Beach? The lot-level zone is the zoning Part 3 of Queensland's Form 2 seller disclosure statement asks for - see our Form 2 planning data guide.
Across its 13.33 km², Ellis Beach is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 7% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 8% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Conservation. The terrain is gently undulating, and the median lot measures about 11,120 m² across 12 parcels.
Who lives in Ellis Beach
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Ellis Beach suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Clifton Beach - Kewarra Beach, the wider ABS statistical area containing Ellis Beach. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Ellis Beach itself.
6,519 in 2001 to 12,760 in 2025, up 96%.
Source: ABS Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (Suburbs and Localities), Regional Population (SA2), CC BY 4.0. Small counts are randomly adjusted by the ABS.
Ellis Beach data sources and coverage
“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.
| Dataset | Coverage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Flood mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Zoning | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data, Defence |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
Profile last materially updated 10 September 2026. See the methodology and full source list. Source data changes over time and critical decisions should be checked with the responsible authority.
Check a specific Ellis Beach address
See exactly which overlays touch a single property - the interactive map is free. Need it on paper? A full planning PDF is just $9.
Published flood models are held over parts of Ellis Beach. The free check tells you whether one reaches an address; where it does, a Flood Model Report is +$9 with the planning report.
The Terrain Report shows the fall of the block - contours, cross sections and a 3D model of the lot (+$9 with the planning report).
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Ellis Beach lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Ellis Beach planning - frequently asked
Is Ellis Beach flood-prone?
About 7% of Ellis Beach falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 55%. Across the suburb, 0% of the 9 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk.
Is Ellis Beach bushfire-prone?
Around 8% of Ellis Beach is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Cairns Regional average of 23%.
What is the zoning in Ellis Beach?
The dominant planning zone in Ellis Beach is Conservation, though the suburb also includes Tourist Accommodation and Special Purpose.
Does Ellis Beach have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Ellis Beach.
Is Ellis Beach hilly or flat?
Ellis Beach is gently undulating: the median ground slope is about 4%, and 44% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 2 m to 60 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Ellis Beach?
Across 12 surveyed parcels in Ellis Beach, the median lot size is about 11,120 m².
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Cove | 2.2 km | 13% | 31% |
| Clifton Beach | 5.2 km | 15% | 47% |
| Macalister Range | 5.8 km | 5% | 47% |
| Kewarra Beach | 6.8 km | 23% | 30% |
| Trinity Beach | 7.9 km | 22% | 40% |
| Trinity Park | 9.6 km | 83% | 22% |
| Smithfield | 11.1 km | 48% | 43% |
| Yorkeys Knob | 11.9 km | 87% | 15% |
| Holloways Beach | 14.3 km | 81% | 15% |
| Caravonica | 14.9 km | 40% | 19% |