Bairnsdale flood map & planning overlays
Bairnsdale tops East Gippsland on people (7,905) and heritage (172).
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Bairnsdale
(East Gippsland, VIC) - 66.42 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
66.42 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Bairnsdale'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 Bairnsdale
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 24 Oct 2026
typical observed square 1 a day
Night movements: not established - night is sampled as often as day, but too few night flights have been seen here to conclude either way.
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.
Bairnsdale at a glance
How Bairnsdale is zoned
Selling in Bairnsdale? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 66.42 km², Bairnsdale is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 20% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 88% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 172 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ1). The median lot measures about 711 m² across 6,391 parcels.
Who lives in Bairnsdale
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Bairnsdale 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 899, and decile 1 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Bairnsdale's 7,905 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Bairnsdale, the wider ABS statistical area containing Bairnsdale. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Bairnsdale itself.
12,080 in 2001 to 15,917 in 2025, up 32%.
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.
Bairnsdale 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 | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Zoning | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
Profile last materially updated 24 October 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 Bairnsdale 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 8% of Bairnsdale. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Bairnsdale lot.
Bairnsdale planning - frequently asked
Is Bairnsdale flood-prone?
About 20% of Bairnsdale falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 18%.
Is Bairnsdale bushfire-prone?
Around 88% of Bairnsdale is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a East Gippsland average of 94%.
Is Bairnsdale under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 8% of Bairnsdale, and over about 36% at any altitude up to 10,000 ft, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 5,500 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 Bairnsdale?
The dominant planning zone in Bairnsdale is Farming Zone (FZ1), though the suburb also includes Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) and General Residential Zone (GRZ1).
Does Bairnsdale have heritage-listed places?
Bairnsdale has 172 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Bairnsdale?
Across 6,391 surveyed parcels in Bairnsdale, the median lot size is about 711 m². There are also 1,556 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Bairnsdale have a train station?
Yes - Bairnsdale has 1 train station: Bairnsdale Station. It is also served by 30 bus stops.
What is the population of Bairnsdale?
At the 2021 Census Bairnsdale had 7,905 usual residents, with a median age of 44 and an average household size of 2.2 people. The wider Bairnsdale statistical area, which contains Bairnsdale, went from 12,080 people in 2001 to 15,917 in 2025, up 32%.
Is Bairnsdale an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Bairnsdale scores 899 and sits in decile 2 of 10 nationally and decile 1 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Bairnsdale?
Median household income in Bairnsdale was $1,101 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,209 for the typical suburb in East Gippsland. Median rent was $270 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,192 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Bairnsdale | 4.1 km | 49% | 86% |
| Eastwood | 5.2 km | 14% | 30% |
| Wy Yung | 7.1 km | 17% | 99% |
| Broadlands | 7.6 km | 87% | 27% |
| Hillside (Bairnsdale) | 7.9 km | 17% | 100% |
| Lucknow | 8.0 km | <1% | 92% |
| Ellaswood | 8.4 km | 0% | 100% |
| Forge Creek | 8.6 km | 20% | 81% |
| Eagle Point | 8.7 km | 60% | 49% |
| Newlands Arm | 11.0 km | 20% | 74% |