Maleny flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Maleny
(Sunshine Coast Regional, QLD) - 24.89 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
24.89 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Maleny's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Maleny properties?
Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 2,417 Maleny properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 2,417 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Maleny.
Maleny at a glance
Schools in and near Maleny
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
2 schools providing primary years and 2 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 Maleny is zoned
Selling in Maleny? 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 24.89 km², Maleny is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 24% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 23% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 15 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Rural. The terrain is hilly, and the median lot measures about 1,298 m² across 2,352 parcels.
Recent development applications in Maleny
Applications are counted across the whole gazetted suburb from the public Sunshine Coast Council register. No application address or individual property is published here.
Submitted in the past 12 months
Latest included submission: 25 August 2026.
Previous 12 months: 12 (33% lower in the latest period).
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 20 September 2026. Check the official council register.
Who lives in Maleny
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Maleny 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 990, and decile 7 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Maleny's 3,959 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Caloundra Hinterland, the wider ABS statistical area containing Maleny. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Maleny itself.
7,344 in 2001 to 9,352 in 2025, up 27%.
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.
Maleny 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 |
| Development applications | Available as suburb totals | Sunshine Coast 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 Maleny 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 Maleny. 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 Maleny lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Maleny planning - frequently asked
Is Maleny flood-prone?
About 24% of Maleny falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 30%. Across the suburb, 9% of the 2,417 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 92 rated high risk or historically affected.
Is Maleny bushfire-prone?
Around 23% of Maleny is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Sunshine Coast Regional average of 38%.
What is the zoning in Maleny?
The dominant planning zone in Maleny is Rural, though the suburb also includes Rural Residential and Low Density Residential.
Does Maleny have heritage-listed places?
Maleny has 15 heritage-listed places on record.
Is Maleny hilly or flat?
Maleny is hilly: the median ground slope is about 12%, and 27% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 387 m to 467 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Maleny?
Across 2,352 surveyed parcels in Maleny, the median lot size is about 1,298 m². There are also 636 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Maleny have a train station?
There is no train station inside Maleny itself. The suburb is served by 6 bus stops.
What is the population of Maleny?
At the 2021 Census Maleny had 3,959 usual residents, with a median age of 59 and an average household size of 2.1 people. The wider Caloundra Hinterland statistical area, which contains Maleny, went from 7,344 people in 2001 to 9,352 in 2025, up 27%.
Is Maleny an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Maleny scores 990 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 Maleny?
Median household income in Maleny was $1,144 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,677 for the typical suburb in Sunshine Coast Regional. Median rent was $390 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,625 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reesville | 4.1 km | 18% | 37% |
| North Maleny | 4.2 km | 35% | 41% |
| Balmoral Ridge | 5.0 km | 15% | 49% |
| Wootha | 5.1 km | 14% | 38% |
| Witta | 5.4 km | 18% | 33% |
| Crohamhurst | 6.3 km | 18% | 51% |
| Bald Knob | 7.3 km | 1% | 31% |
| Booroobin | 7.4 km | 3% | 66% |
| Elaman Creek | 7.7 km | 25% | 54% |
| Montville | 8.3 km | 14% | 68% |