Paluma flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Paluma
(Townsville City, QLD) - 10.06 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
10.06 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Paluma's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Paluma properties?
Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 113 Paluma properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 113 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Paluma.
Paluma at a glance
Schools in and near Paluma
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: 9.38 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 8.83 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 Paluma is zoned
Selling in Paluma? 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 10.06 km², Paluma is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 7% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 14% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 12 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Conservation. The terrain is hilly, and the median lot measures about 886 m² across 117 parcels.
Recent development applications in Paluma
Applications are counted across the whole gazetted suburb from the public Townsville City Council register. No application address or individual property is published here.
Submitted in the past 12 months
The exact total and latest date are suppressed for privacy.
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 Paluma
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Paluma 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 955, and decile 5 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Paluma's 87 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Northern Beaches, the wider ABS statistical area containing Paluma. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Paluma itself.
5,363 in 2001 to 7,196 in 2025, up 34%.
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.
Paluma 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 | Townsville City Council |
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 Paluma 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 Paluma. 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 Paluma lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Paluma planning - frequently asked
Is Paluma flood-prone?
About 7% of Paluma falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 39%. Across the suburb, 0% of the 113 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk.
Is Paluma bushfire-prone?
Around 14% of Paluma is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Townsville City average of 50%.
What is the zoning in Paluma?
The dominant planning zone in Paluma is Conservation, though the suburb also includes Rural and Low Density Residential.
Does Paluma have heritage-listed places?
Paluma has 12 heritage-listed places on record.
Is Paluma hilly or flat?
Paluma is hilly: the median ground slope is about 11%, and 21% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 859 m to 899 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Paluma?
Across 117 surveyed parcels in Paluma, the median lot size is about 886 m². There are also 5 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Paluma?
At the 2021 Census Paluma had 87 usual residents, with a median age of 58 and an average household size of 2.0 people. The wider Northern Beaches statistical area, which contains Paluma, went from 5,363 people in 2001 to 7,196 in 2025, up 34%.
Is Paluma an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Paluma scores 955 and sits in decile 4 of 10 nationally and decile 5 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Paluma?
Median household income in Paluma was $1,350 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,510 for the typical suburb in Townsville City. Median rent was $160 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,517 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Creek | 11.0 km | 3% | 62% |
| Bambaroo Hinchinbrook Shire |
11.9 km | 53% | 37% |
| Coolbie Hinchinbrook Shire |
13.1 km | 59% | 33% |
| Mutarnee | 13.6 km | 26% | 84% |
| Yuruga Hinchinbrook Shire |
17.2 km | 44% | 59% |
| Rollingstone | 20.7 km | 25% | 86% |
| Orient Hinchinbrook Shire |
22.5 km | 82% | 36% |
| Balgal Beach | 23.0 km | 38% | 85% |
| Helens Hill Hinchinbrook Shire |
23.7 km | 79% | 43% |
| Clemant | 29.3 km | 11% | 92% |