Sunshine Beach flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Sunshine Beach
(Noosa Shire, QLD) - 1.9 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
1.9 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Sunshine Beach's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Sunshine Beach at a glance
Schools in and near Sunshine Beach
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 3 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 Sunshine Beach is zoned
Selling in Sunshine Beach? 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 1.9 km², Sunshine Beach is highly constrained by planning overlays. Flood mapping covers the suburb and none of it falls within a mapped flood overlay, and 27% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Low Density Residential. The median lot measures about 536 m² across 2,442 parcels.
Who lives in Sunshine Beach
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Sunshine Beach 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 1049, and decile 9 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Sunshine Beach's 2,480 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Sunshine Beach, the wider ABS statistical area containing Sunshine Beach. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Sunshine Beach itself.
6,393 in 2001 to 7,524 in 2025, up 18%.
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.
Sunshine Beach 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 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 Sunshine Beach 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 Sunshine Beach. 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 an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Sunshine Beach lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Sunshine Beach planning - frequently asked
Is Sunshine Beach flood-prone?
Flood mapping covers Sunshine Beach and less than 1% of the suburb falls within a mapped flood overlay (the council-wide suburb average is 28%).
Is Sunshine Beach bushfire-prone?
Around 27% of Sunshine Beach is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Noosa Shire average of 76%.
What is the zoning in Sunshine Beach?
The dominant planning zone in Sunshine Beach is Low Density Residential, though the suburb also includes Community Facilities and Medium Density Residential.
Does Sunshine Beach have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Sunshine Beach.
What is the typical lot size in Sunshine Beach?
Across 2,442 surveyed parcels in Sunshine Beach, the median lot size is about 536 m². There are also 161 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Sunshine Beach have a train station?
There is no train station inside Sunshine Beach itself. The suburb is served by 15 bus stops.
What is the population of Sunshine Beach?
At the 2021 Census Sunshine Beach had 2,480 usual residents, with a median age of 49 and an average household size of 2.2 people. The wider Sunshine Beach statistical area, which contains Sunshine Beach, went from 6,393 people in 2001 to 7,524 in 2025, up 18%.
Is Sunshine Beach an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Sunshine Beach scores 1049 and sits in decile 9 of 10 nationally and decile 9 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Sunshine Beach?
Median household income in Sunshine Beach was $1,735 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,602 for the typical suburb in Noosa Shire. Median rent was $495 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,167 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunrise Beach | 1.4 km | 1% | 41% |
| Noosa Heads | 1.5 km | 25% | 67% |
| Castaways Beach | 3.3 km | 6% | 95% |
| Marcus Beach | 5.1 km | 8% | 97% |
| Noosaville | 5.3 km | 69% | 42% |
| Weyba Downs Sunshine Coast Regional |
8.0 km | 15% | 72% |
| Peregian Beach | 8.1 km | 18% | 93% |
| Doonan | 8.7 km | 13% | 96% |
| Tewantin | 9.0 km | 30% | 77% |
| Peregian Beach Sunshine Coast Regional |
9.0 km | 24% | 60% |