Te Kowai flood map & planning overlays
Te Kowai is joint 2nd-flattest in Mackay Regional, a 0.6% median slope.
Most lots here are flood-mapped. The free check shows how much of one lot the overlay covers.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Te Kowai
(Mackay Regional, QLD) - 16.63 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
16.63 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Te Kowai'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
How common is mapped flood risk across Te Kowai properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 144 analysed Te Kowai properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 144 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Te Kowai.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Te Kowai
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 0 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 1,500 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.
Te Kowai at a glance
Schools in and near Te Kowai
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: 1.64 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 3.14 km from the suburb boundary
Source: Queensland Government school geographic information. Catchment boundaries can divide a suburb and change over time.
Which school zone is a Te Kowai address in? Check an address with our free school zone checker.
How Te Kowai is zoned
Selling in Te Kowai? 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 16.63 km², Te Kowai is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 63% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay. The dominant land-use zone is Rural. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 45,937 m² across 139 parcels.
Who lives in Te Kowai
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Te Kowai 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 974, and decile 6 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Te Kowai's 227 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Walkerston - Eton, the wider ABS statistical area containing Te Kowai. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Te Kowai itself.
6,919 in 2001 to 8,749 in 2025, up 26%.
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.
Te Kowai 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 Te Kowai 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 71% of Te Kowai. 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 Te Kowai. 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 to spin round in your browser (+$9 with the planning report).
Moving here? The Liveability section adds walking times from the address to schools, parks, shops and transport, and the school zones it sits in (+$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 Te Kowai lot.
Te Kowai planning - frequently asked
Is Te Kowai flood-prone?
About 63% of Te Kowai falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 36%. Across the suburb, 85% of the 144 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk. Published flood models are held over parts of Te Kowai; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Te Kowai bushfire-prone?
Bushfire mapping covers Te Kowai and little to none of it is mapped as bushfire-prone (the Mackay Regional average is 26%).
Is Te Kowai under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 71% of Te Kowai, and over about 87% 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 3,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 1 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 Te Kowai?
The dominant planning zone in Te Kowai is Rural, though the suburb also includes Special purpose and Open space.
Does Te Kowai have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Te Kowai.
Is Te Kowai hilly or flat?
Te Kowai is largely flat: the median ground slope is about 1%. Ground level runs from roughly 8 m to 15 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Te Kowai?
Across 139 surveyed parcels in Te Kowai, the median lot size is about 45,937 m². There are also 33 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Te Kowai have a train station?
There is no train station inside Te Kowai itself. The suburb is served by 2 bus stops.
What is the population of Te Kowai?
At the 2021 Census Te Kowai had 227 usual residents, with a median age of 40 and an average household size of 2.7 people. The wider Walkerston - Eton statistical area, which contains Te Kowai, went from 6,919 people in 2001 to 8,749 in 2025, up 26%.
Is Te Kowai an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Te Kowai scores 974 and sits in decile 5 of 10 nationally and decile 6 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Te Kowai?
Median household income in Te Kowai was $2,028 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,937 for the typical suburb in Mackay Regional. Median rent was $225 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,500 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Racecourse | 2.2 km | 68% | 2% |
| Alexandra | 2.7 km | 75% | 0% |
| Ooralea | 3.0 km | 60% | 0% |
| Palmyra | 4.8 km | 41% | 18% |
| Foulden | 5.6 km | 100% | 0% |
| Erakala | 5.7 km | 44% | 7% |
| Walkerston | 5.8 km | 77% | 2% |
| West Mackay | 6.0 km | 74% | 2% |
| Paget | 6.1 km | 81% | 6% |
| Bakers Creek | 6.1 km | 88% | 4% |