Palm Island flood map & planning overlays
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 12 September 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
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.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Palm Island at a glance
Schools in and near Palm Island
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: 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 |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
Profile last materially updated 12 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 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.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Palm Island lot.
See what's in the $9 report →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 67%.
Is Palm Island bushfire-prone?
Around 4% of Palm Island is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Hinchinbrook Shire average of 36%.
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 | 100% | 19% |
| Orient | 33.6 km | 82% | 36% |
| Macknade | 35.5 km | 95% | 4% |
| Blackrock | 35.8 km | 100% | 12% |
| Coolbie | 37.4 km | 59% | 33% |