Cardinia flood map & planning overlays

The schematic on this page is a Cardinia flood map: the mapped flood overlays drawn over the suburb's terrain and street grid, covering about 96% of the suburb. Flood lines vary block to block, so for a specific property use the free interactive map - search any Cardinia address and it shows the flood, zoning and bushfire mapping on the exact lot boundary.

About 96% of Cardinia falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 42%. Flood overlays vary block to block, so whether a particular lot is affected needs a property-level check.

Around 100% of Cardinia is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Cardinia average of 98%. A bushfire-prone designation can trigger additional building requirements, so check the specific address.

The dominant planning zone in Cardinia is Green Wedge Zone (GWZ1), though the suburb also includes Special Use Zone (SUZ1) and Public Use Zone (PUZ1). Zoning sets what you can build and do on a site, and can differ lot by lot.

Cardinia has 6 heritage-listed places on record. Heritage listing affects what you can alter or demolish, so confirm whether a specific property is listed or near a heritage place.

Across 215 surveyed parcels in Cardinia, the median lot size is about 21,748 m². There are also 67 registered easements mapped in the suburb - an easement can restrict where you can build, so always check the title and overlays for the specific lot.

At the 2021 Census Cardinia had 342 usual residents, with a median age of 44 and an average household size of 2.9 people. The wider Koo Wee Rup statistical area, which contains Cardinia, went from 5,236 people in 2001 to 12,598 in 2025, up 141%. ABS publishes no annual population series for individual suburbs, so that trend describes the surrounding area rather than Cardinia alone.

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Cardinia scores 992 and sits in decile 6 of 10 nationally and decile 5 within Victoria - decile 1 being the most disadvantaged tenth of Australian suburbs and decile 10 the least. The national average score is 1000. SEIFA summarises income, education, occupation and housing across the whole suburb, so it describes the area, not any particular household in it.

Median household income in Cardinia was $1,875 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,976 for the typical suburb in Cardinia. Median rent was $390 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,950 a month. These are 2021 Census figures and have not been indexed to today.

A Cardinia planning report pulls every overlay - zoning, flood, bushfire, heritage, environmental and noise - that touches a single lot, on live council and state data. The interactive map preview is free; the full PDF report is $9.