Areas / Colac Otway / Colac West

Colac West flood map & planning overlays

Colac West is Colac Otway's youngest, median 30.

Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.

A planning-constraint profile of Colac West (Colac Otway, VIC) - 6.95 km², mapped from live council and state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.

Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Colac West'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 Colac West

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

Under observed aircraft
66%
of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft
Below 3,000 ft
47%
of the suburb's area
Lowest measured
1,500 ft
averaging 3,000 ft
How often
not established
aircraft were seen, but not often enough to put a rate on

Night movements: observed, lowest 2,500 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.

Colac West at a glance

Parcels 186 Median lot 6,556 m² Mapped easements 111 Bus stops 1

How Colac West is zoned

Farming Zone (FZ) 86%
Commercial 2 Zone (C2Z) 7%
Industrial 1 Zone (IN1Z) 4%
Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) 2%
Transport Zone (TRZ2) 1%
Rural Activity Zone (RAZ) 0%

Selling in Colac West? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.

Across its 6.95 km², Colac West is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 10% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 98% is flagged bushfire-prone. There is 1 heritage-listed site on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 6,556 m² across 186 parcels.

Who lives in Colac West

Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Colac West suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.

Population
89
usual residents, 2021
Median age
30
years
Median household income
$1,474
per week, Colac Otway suburb typical $1,443
Median rent
$230
per week, Colac Otway suburb typical $239
Median mortgage
$1,300
per month
Household size
2.7
people, average

Socio-economic standing

ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.

Advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD) Decile 4
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 964, and decile 3 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 7
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Colac West's 89 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 8.4%
5-14 21.1%
15-19 4.2%
20-24 5.3%
25-34 18.9%
35-44 16.8%
45-54 9.5%
55-64 5.3%
65-74 5.3%
75-84 5.3%
85+ 0.0%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

Estimated resident population of Colac, the wider ABS statistical area containing Colac West. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Colac West itself.

11,432 in 2001 to 12,558 in 2025, up 10%.

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.

Colac West data sources and coverage

“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.

DatasetCoveragePublisher
Flood mappingMappedVicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services
Bushfire-prone mappingMappedVicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services
ZoningMappedVicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services
Heritage and environmentMapped where publishedVicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services
Aircraft noise contours (ANEF)Not heldVicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services, Defence
Observed flight pathsObservedadsb.lol, under the Open Database License
DemographicsAvailableAustralian 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 Colac West 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 47% of Colac West. 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 Colac West lot.

Colac West planning - frequently asked

Is Colac West flood-prone?

About 10% of Colac West falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 12%.

Is Colac West bushfire-prone?

Around 98% of Colac West is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Colac Otway average of 97%.

Is Colac West under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 47% of Colac West, and over about 66% 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 1,500 ft, with an average of 3,000 ft. 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 Colac West?

The dominant planning zone in Colac West is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Commercial 2 Zone (C2Z) and Industrial 1 Zone (IN1Z).

Does Colac West have heritage-listed places?

Colac West has 1 heritage-listed place on record.

What is the typical lot size in Colac West?

Across 186 surveyed parcels in Colac West, the median lot size is about 6,556 m². There are also 111 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

Does Colac West have a train station?

There is no train station inside Colac West itself. The suburb is served by 1 bus stop.

What is the population of Colac West?

At the 2021 Census Colac West had 89 usual residents, with a median age of 30 and an average household size of 2.7 people. The wider Colac statistical area, which contains Colac West, went from 11,432 people in 2001 to 12,558 in 2025, up 10%.

Is Colac West an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Colac West scores 964 and sits in decile 4 of 10 nationally and decile 3 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).

What is the median household income in Colac West?

Median household income in Colac West was $1,474 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,443 for the typical suburb in Colac Otway. Median rent was $230 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,300 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Larpent 4.0 km 11% 100%
Cororooke 4.2 km 2% 100%
Colac 4.5 km 78% 15%
Elliminyt 5.0 km 17% 92%
Balintore 6.0 km 26% 100%
Colac East 6.2 km 3% 91%
Corunnun 7.5 km 10% 100%
Coragulac 7.7 km <1% 100%
Nalangil 7.7 km 25% 98%
Yeo 9.8 km 2% 100%

See all Colac Otway suburb profiles →