Breakwater flood map & planning overlays
Breakwater mixes 1,060 residents with industry, 26.5% flood-mapped.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Breakwater
(Greater Geelong, VIC) - 3.14 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
3.14 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Breakwater'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 Breakwater
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 0 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 3,000 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.
Breakwater at a glance
How Breakwater is zoned
Selling in Breakwater? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 3.14 km², Breakwater is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 26% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 30% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 11 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Industrial 1 Zone (IN1Z). The median lot measures about 553 m² across 1,149 parcels.
Who lives in Breakwater
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Breakwater 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 876, and decile 1 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Breakwater's 1,060 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Geelong, the wider ABS statistical area containing Breakwater. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Breakwater itself.
11,944 in 2001 to 13,719 in 2025, up 15%.
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.
Breakwater 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 Breakwater 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 90% of Breakwater. 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 Breakwater lot.
Breakwater planning - frequently asked
Is Breakwater flood-prone?
About 26% of Breakwater falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 18%.
Is Breakwater bushfire-prone?
Around 30% of Breakwater is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Greater Geelong average of 50%.
Is Breakwater under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 90% of Breakwater, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 2,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 0 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 Breakwater?
The dominant planning zone in Breakwater is Industrial 1 Zone (IN1Z), though the suburb also includes Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) and Special Use Zone (SUZ4).
Does Breakwater have heritage-listed places?
Breakwater has 11 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Breakwater?
Across 1,149 surveyed parcels in Breakwater, the median lot size is about 553 m². There are also 422 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Breakwater have a train station?
There is no train station inside Breakwater itself. The suburb is served by 14 bus stops.
What is the population of Breakwater?
At the 2021 Census Breakwater had 1,060 usual residents, with a median age of 40 and an average household size of 2.1 people. The wider Geelong statistical area, which contains Breakwater, went from 11,944 people in 2001 to 13,719 in 2025, up 15%.
Is Breakwater an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Breakwater scores 876 and sits in decile 1 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 Breakwater?
Median household income in Breakwater was $1,077 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,670 for the typical suburb in Greater Geelong. Median rent was $300 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,213 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomson (Geelong) | 0.8 km | Not mapped | 0% |
| South Geelong | 1.3 km | 34% | <1% |
| Whittington | 1.6 km | 53% | 3% |
| Newcomb | 2.4 km | 54% | 0% |
| Marshall | 2.6 km | 16% | 67% |
| Belmont | 2.7 km | 30% | 10% |
| East Geelong | 2.7 km | 6% | 0% |
| St Albans Park | 2.7 km | 38% | 50% |
| Charlemont | 3.1 km | 40% | 83% |
| Geelong | 3.3 km | 6% | 0% |