Areas / Northern Grampians / Great Western

Great Western flood map & planning overlays

Great Western counts 15 heritage places on 4 ha lots, 5th in the shire.

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

A planning-constraint profile of Great Western (Northern Grampians, VIC) - 154.66 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 Great Western'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 Great Western

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
14%
of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft
Below 3,000 ft
0%
of the suburb's area
Lowest measured
4,500 ft
averaging 7,000 ft
How often
not established
aircraft were seen, but not often enough to put a rate on

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.

Great Western at a glance

Parcels 1,095 Median lot 35,266 m² Mapped easements 101 Bus stops 2

How Great Western is zoned

Farming Zone (FZ) 72%
Rural Living Zone (RLZ5) 14%
Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) 8%
Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ) 2%
Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ1) 2%
Township Zone (TZ) 1%

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

Across its 154.66 km², Great Western is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 7% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 15 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 35,266 m² across 1,095 parcels.

Who lives in Great Western

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

Population
425
usual residents, 2021
Median age
52
years
Median household income
$1,474
per week, Northern Grampians suburb typical $1,296
Median rent
$200
per week, Northern Grampians suburb typical $200
Median mortgage
$1,231
per month
Household size
2.2
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 5
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 979, and decile 4 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 6
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Great Western's 425 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 2.4%
5-14 10.6%
15-19 5.2%
20-24 2.6%
25-34 5.7%
35-44 10.4%
45-54 16.5%
55-64 16.5%
65-74 20.3%
75-84 9.2%
85+ 0.7%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

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

8,778 in 2001 to 8,438 in 2025, down 4%.

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.

Great Western 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 Great Western 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 →

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 Great Western lot.

Great Western planning - frequently asked

Is Great Western flood-prone?

About 7% of Great Western falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 27%.

Is Great Western bushfire-prone?

Around 100% of Great Western is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Northern Grampians average of 100%.

Is Great Western under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed over about 14% of Great Western in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 4,500 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 Great Western?

The dominant planning zone in Great Western is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Rural Living Zone (RLZ5) and Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ).

Does Great Western have heritage-listed places?

Great Western has 15 heritage-listed places on record.

What is the typical lot size in Great Western?

Across 1,095 surveyed parcels in Great Western, the median lot size is about 35,266 m². There are also 101 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

Does Great Western have a train station?

There is no train station inside Great Western itself. The suburb is served by 2 bus stops.

What is the population of Great Western?

At the 2021 Census Great Western had 425 usual residents, with a median age of 52 and an average household size of 2.2 people. The wider Stawell statistical area, which contains Great Western, went from 8,778 people in 2001 to 8,438 in 2025, down 4%.

Is Great Western an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Great Western scores 979 and sits in decile 5 of 10 nationally and decile 4 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).

What is the median household income in Great Western?

Median household income in Great Western was $1,474 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,296 for the typical suburb in Northern Grampians. Median rent was $200 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,231 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Armstrong
Ararat		 5.8 km <1% 100%
Bulgana 10.0 km 6% 100%
Norval
Ararat		 10.2 km Not mapped 100%
Black Range (Stawell) 11.2 km <1% 100%
Rhymney
Ararat		 11.4 km 0% 100%
Concongella 12.7 km 15% 100%
Joel South 14.2 km 18% 100%
Ararat
Ararat		 14.4 km 0% 97%
Dunneworthy
Ararat		 14.4 km 5% 100%
Stawell 16.7 km 12% 97%

See all Northern Grampians suburb profiles →