Forest Lake flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Forest Lake
(Brisbane City, QLD) - 9.86 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 19 September 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
9.86 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Forest Lake's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Forest Lake properties?
Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 9,476 Forest Lake properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 9,476 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Forest Lake.
Forest Lake flood history and overland flow
These are suburb-wide totals across 9,476 analysed properties. They show how common each mapped category is across Forest Lake; they do not identify or describe any individual property.
Recorded historical flood mapping
72 analysed properties intersect at least one mapped historical event extent.
- February 2022: 72
Mapped overland flow
435 analysed properties carry a mapped overland-flow category.
- Low: 68
- Medium: 68
- High: 93
- Affected: 206
Source: Brisbane City Council flood mapping, aggregated by LayeredGeo. Categories are only shown where at least five analysed properties share them. An address-level check is still required to determine whether a particular lot is mapped.
Forest Lake at a glance
Schools in and near Forest Lake
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
3 schools providing primary years and 4 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: inside the suburb
Secondary: inside the suburb
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 Forest Lake is zoned
Selling in Forest Lake? 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 9.86 km², Forest Lake is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 17% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 29% is flagged bushfire-prone. There is 1 heritage-listed site on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Low density residential. The terrain is gently undulating, and the median lot measures about 491 m² across 8,544 parcels.
Recent development applications in Forest Lake
Applications are counted across the whole gazetted suburb from the public Brisbane City Council register. No application address or individual property is published here.
Submitted in the past 12 months
Latest included submission: 18 September 2026.
Previous 12 months: 28 (43% higher in the latest period).
Common application types
- Reconfiguring a lot: 7
- Building work: 9
- Operational work: 19
Counts depend on applications that the council publishes and that can be assigned to a suburb. Categories can overlap when one application covers several types. Totals below five and their latest dates are suppressed. Register last synchronised 19 September 2026. Check the official council register.
Who lives in Forest Lake
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Forest Lake suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Socio-economic standing
ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.
Score 997, and decile 7 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Forest Lake's 22,676 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Forest Lake - Ellen Grove, the wider ABS statistical area containing Forest Lake. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Forest Lake itself.
14,091 in 2001 to 24,080 in 2025, up 71%.
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.
Forest Lake property market snapshot
Queensland Government publishes this as a SA2 market series for Forest Lake - Ellen Grove, the wider statistical area containing Forest Lake. It is not a valuation and is not specific to this suburb or any individual property.
House sales
Median sale price from 355 sales over 12 months to March 2026.
Unit sales
Median sale price from 117 sales over 12 months to March 2026.
Source: Queensland Government Statistician's Office (QGSO). View the source profile. The same SA2 figure can appear on several suburb pages within that statistical area.
Forest Lake 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 |
| Market statistics | Available at SA2 level | Queensland Government Statistician's Office (QGSO) |
| Development applications | Available as suburb totals | Brisbane City Council |
Profile last materially updated 19 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 Forest Lake 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 here: a Flood Model Report is available for about 9,400 Forest Lake addresses (+$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 Forest Lake lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Forest Lake planning - frequently asked
Is Forest Lake flood-prone?
About 17% of Forest Lake falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 40%. Across the suburb, 1% of the 9,476 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 76 rated high risk or historically affected.
Is Forest Lake bushfire-prone?
Around 29% of Forest Lake is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Brisbane City average of 27%.
What is the zoning in Forest Lake?
The dominant planning zone in Forest Lake is Low density residential, though the suburb also includes Open space (Local) and Education purposes.
Does Forest Lake have heritage-listed places?
Forest Lake has 1 heritage-listed place on record.
Is Forest Lake hilly or flat?
Forest Lake is gently undulating: the median ground slope is about 5%. Ground level runs from roughly 28 m to 77 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Forest Lake?
Across 8,544 surveyed parcels in Forest Lake, the median lot size is about 491 m². There are also 293 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Forest Lake have a train station?
There is no train station inside Forest Lake itself. The suburb is served by 43 bus stops.
What is the population of Forest Lake?
At the 2021 Census Forest Lake had 22,676 usual residents, with a median age of 37 and an average household size of 2.8 people. The wider Forest Lake - Ellen Grove statistical area, which contains Forest Lake, went from 14,091 people in 2001 to 24,080 in 2025, up 71%.
Is Forest Lake an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Forest Lake scores 997 and sits in decile 6 of 10 nationally and decile 7 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Forest Lake?
Median household income in Forest Lake was $1,921 a week at the 2021 Census, against $2,122 for the typical suburb in Brisbane City. Median rent was $390 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,690 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ellen Grove | 2.0 km | 18% | 59% |
| Doolandella | 2.3 km | 30% | 66% |
| Inala | 3.2 km | 15% | 5% |
| Heathwood | 3.3 km | 25% | 46% |
| Carole Park Ipswich City |
3.6 km | 43% | 37% |
| Richlands | 3.8 km | 18% | 3% |
| Durack | 3.9 km | 44% | 26% |
| Pallara | 4.3 km | 61% | 58% |
| Larapinta | 4.6 km | 51% | 54% |
| Willawong | 4.9 km | 76% | 35% |