Areas / Melton / Diggers Rest

Diggers Rest flood map & planning overlays

Diggers Rest sees 126 flights a day, top in Melton, and 20.9% noise mapping.

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

A planning-constraint profile of Diggers Rest (Melton, VIC) - 69.88 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 Diggers Rest's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Amber hatching is the published aircraft noise (ANEF) contour. 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 Diggers Rest

The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.

Inside an aircraft noise contour

21%

21% of the suburb's land sits inside a published ANEF or airport-environs contour. Contours vary street by street, so whether a particular lot is inside one needs a property-level check.

Highest contour present

ANEF 25

Under AS 2021, land between ANEF 25 and 30 is generally unacceptable for new houses; 20 to 25 is conditionally acceptable with noise attenuation. The contour is a forecast, not a measurement at any one house.

Contours held

  • Victorian Airport Environs Overlay
  • vic_melbourne_airport_anef_20
  • vic_melbourne_airport_anef_25

Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 24 Oct 2026

Under observed aircraft
92%
of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft
Below 3,000 ft
28%
of the suburb's area
Lowest measured
500 ft
averaging 4,500 ft
Busiest square
~126 a day
126 a day below 3,000 ft · ±6%
typical observed square 5 a day

Night movements: observed, lowest 1,000 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.

Diggers Rest at a glance

Parcels 4,599 Median lot 420 m² Mapped easements 1,573 Train Diggers Rest Station Bus stops 30

How Diggers Rest is zoned

Green Wedge Zone (GWZ) 76%
Green Wedge A Zone (GWAZ) 13%
Urban Growth Zone (UGZ5) 5%
Transport Zone (TRZ2) 2%
General Residential Zone (GRZ1) 2%
Urban Growth Zone (UGZ9) 0%

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

Across its 69.88 km², Diggers Rest is highly constrained by planning overlays. Flood mapping covers the suburb and none of it falls within a mapped flood overlay, and 96% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 45 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Green Wedge Zone (GWZ). The median lot measures about 420 m² across 4,599 parcels.

Who lives in Diggers Rest

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

Population
5,669
usual residents, 2021
Median age
33
years
Median household income
$1,991
per week, Melton suburb typical $1,841
Median rent
$397
per week, Melton suburb typical $387
Median mortgage
$1,800
per month
Household size
2.6
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 6
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 1001, and decile 6 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 7
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Diggers Rest's 5,669 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 9.2%
5-14 11.8%
15-19 3.9%
20-24 5.7%
25-34 23.4%
35-44 16.4%
45-54 10.1%
55-64 9.9%
65-74 6.7%
75-84 2.5%
85+ 0.4%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

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

1,934 in 2001 to 7,434 in 2025, up 284%.

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.

Diggers Rest 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)Inside a held contourVicmap 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 Diggers Rest 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 28% of Diggers Rest. 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 Diggers Rest lot.

Diggers Rest planning - frequently asked

Is Diggers Rest flood-prone?

Flood mapping covers Diggers Rest and less than 1% of the suburb falls within a mapped flood overlay (the council-wide suburb average is 4%).

Is Diggers Rest bushfire-prone?

Around 96% of Diggers Rest is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Melton average of 60%.

Is Diggers Rest affected by aircraft noise?

About 21% of Diggers Rest sits inside a published aircraft noise contour, and the highest contour present is ANEF 25 - under AS 2021, land above ANEF 25 is generally considered unacceptable for new houses, and 20-25 conditionally acceptable with noise attenuation. ANEF contours are forecasts published per airport and used to control noise-sensitive development; they are not a measurement at any one house, and a property can sit under a flight path and outside every contour.

Is Diggers Rest under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 28% of Diggers Rest, and over about 92% 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 4,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 126 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 Diggers Rest?

The dominant planning zone in Diggers Rest is Green Wedge Zone (GWZ), though the suburb also includes Green Wedge A Zone (GWAZ) and Urban Growth Zone (UGZ5).

Does Diggers Rest have heritage-listed places?

Diggers Rest has 45 heritage-listed places on record.

What is the typical lot size in Diggers Rest?

Across 4,599 surveyed parcels in Diggers Rest, the median lot size is about 420 m². There are also 1,573 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

Does Diggers Rest have a train station?

Yes - Diggers Rest has 1 train station: Diggers Rest Station. It is also served by 30 bus stops.

What is the population of Diggers Rest?

At the 2021 Census Diggers Rest had 5,669 usual residents, with a median age of 33 and an average household size of 2.6 people. The wider Diggers Rest statistical area, which contains Diggers Rest, went from 1,934 people in 2001 to 7,434 in 2025, up 284%.

Is Diggers Rest an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Diggers Rest scores 1001 and sits in decile 6 of 10 nationally and decile 6 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).

What is the median household income in Diggers Rest?

Median household income in Diggers Rest was $1,991 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,841 for the typical suburb in Melton. Median rent was $397 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,800 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Plumpton 5.8 km 1% 100%
Sunbury
Hume		 7.3 km 2% 83%
Melton 8.6 km 6% 63%
Toolern Vale 8.8 km <1% 100%
Gisborne South
Macedon Ranges		 9.1 km Not mapped 100%
Kurunjang 9.5 km 4% 36%
Bonnie Brook 9.6 km 9% 89%
Calder Park
Brimbank		 9.8 km 3% 47%
Hillside (Greater Melbourne) 10.0 km <1% 17%
Fraser Rise 10.4 km <1% 42%

See all Melton suburb profiles →