Palm Island flood map & planning overlays
99.9% under environmental overlays, mostly high ecological value waters, on 164 ha median lots.
Things you won't regret: spending $9 to know the lot before you commit.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Palm Island
(Hinchinbrook Shire, QLD) - 503.54 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
503.54 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Palm Island's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Palm Island
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 7 Nov 2026
typical observed square 1 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 500 ft - night is sampled as often as day, but night traffic is light, so this is a floor and no rate can be put on it.
How this is measured
Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously, so every figure is a floor: aircraft not captured between samples are not represented. Rates are per 500 m square - the busiest square in the suburb, not a count of flights over the suburb - and a square is only rated where enough traffic was seen to measure it. Altitudes are above mean sea level. Flight paths change with runway use, weather, season and airspace design. This is a record of observed traffic; it is not a noise contour and not a planning control.
Palm Island at a glance
Schools in and near Palm Island
Public school-location data shows availability across the suburb; it does not rate schools or assign any individual 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: 0.13 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 0.13 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 Palm Island is zoned
Selling in Palm Island? 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 503.54 km², Palm Island is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 5% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 4% is flagged bushfire-prone. There is 1 heritage-listed site on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Environmental management and conservation. The median lot measures about 1,639,244 m² across 12 parcels.
Who lives in Palm Island
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Palm Island 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 707, and decile 1 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Palm Island's 2,138 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Ingham Surrounds, the wider ABS statistical area containing Palm Island. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Palm Island itself.
7,200 in 2001 to 6,723 in 2025, down 7%.
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.
Palm Island 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 |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
Profile last materially updated 7 November 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 Palm Island 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.
See what's in the $9 report →Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 21% of Palm Island. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Published flood models are held over parts of Palm Island. The free check tells you whether one reaches an address; where it does, a Flood Model Report is +$9 with the planning report.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Palm Island lot.
Palm Island planning - frequently asked
Is Palm Island flood-prone?
About 5% of Palm Island falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 69%. Published flood models are held over parts of Palm Island; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Palm Island bushfire-prone?
Around 4% of Palm Island is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Hinchinbrook Shire average of 36%.
Is Palm Island under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 21% of Palm Island, and over about 33% at any altitude up to 10,000 ft, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 2,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 24 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously and flight paths change with runway use, weather and season; the ANEF contour is the planning instrument.
What is the zoning in Palm Island?
The dominant planning zone in Palm Island is Environmental management and conservation, though the suburb also includes Rural.
Does Palm Island have heritage-listed places?
Palm Island has 1 heritage-listed place on record.
What is the typical lot size in Palm Island?
Across 12 surveyed parcels in Palm Island, the median lot size is about 1,639,244 m².
What is the population of Palm Island?
At the 2021 Census Palm Island had 2,138 usual residents, with a median age of 27 and an average household size of 3.7 people. The wider Ingham Surrounds statistical area, which contains Palm Island, went from 7,200 people in 2001 to 6,723 in 2025, down 7%.
Is Palm Island an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Palm Island scores 707 and sits in decile 1 of 10 nationally and decile 1 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Palm Island?
Median household income in Palm Island was $973 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,525 for the typical suburb in Hinchinbrook Shire. Median rent was $125 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,167 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taylors Beach | 24.2 km | 50% | 13% |
| Halifax | 27.4 km | 77% | 11% |
| Forrest Beach | 28.3 km | 68% | 24% |
| Lucinda | 29.0 km | 38% | 2% |
| Braemeadows | 30.9 km | 100% | 11% |
| Cordelia | 33.2 km | 88% | 19% |
| Orient | 33.6 km | 82% | 36% |
| Macknade | 35.5 km | 95% | 4% |
| Blackrock | 35.8 km | 99% | 12% |
| Coolbie | 37.4 km | 59% | 33% |