Highlands flood map & planning overlays
The VIC Highlands: 24 ha holdings, 3rd-largest in Murrindindi.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Highlands
(Murrindindi, VIC) - 109.99 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
109.99 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Highlands'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 Highlands
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 1 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 8,500 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.
Highlands at a glance
How Highlands is zoned
Selling in Highlands? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 109.99 km², Highlands is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 4% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 3 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ1). The median lot measures about 243,939 m² across 253 parcels.
Who lives in Highlands
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Highlands 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 1035, and decile 8 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Highlands's 151 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Yea, the wider ABS statistical area containing Highlands. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Highlands itself.
3,497 in 2001 to 4,368 in 2025, up 25%.
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.
Highlands 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 Highlands 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 Highlands lot.
Highlands planning - frequently asked
Is Highlands flood-prone?
About 4% of Highlands falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 9%.
Is Highlands bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Highlands is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Murrindindi average of 100%.
Is Highlands under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed over about 20% of Highlands in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 1,500 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 Highlands?
The dominant planning zone in Highlands is Farming Zone (FZ1), though the suburb also includes Farming Zone (FZ) and Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ).
Does Highlands have heritage-listed places?
Highlands has 3 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Highlands?
Across 253 surveyed parcels in Highlands, the median lot size is about 243,939 m². There are also 88 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Highlands?
At the 2021 Census Highlands had 151 usual residents, with a median age of 54 and an average household size of 2.2 people. The wider Yea statistical area, which contains Highlands, went from 3,497 people in 2001 to 4,368 in 2025, up 25%.
Is Highlands an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Highlands scores 1035 and sits in decile 8 of 10 nationally and decile 8 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Highlands?
Median household income in Highlands was $1,375 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,375 for the typical suburb in Murrindindi. Median rent was $158 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,667 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dropmore | 5.0 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Caveat | 7.5 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Ghin Ghin | 9.4 km | 16% | 100% |
| Killingworth | 10.8 km | 30% | 100% |
| Molesworth | 12.5 km | 15% | 100% |
| Terip Terip | 13.4 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Whiteheads Creek Mitchell |
14.7 km | 4% | 100% |
| Homewood | 15.5 km | 12% | 100% |
| Tarcombe Strathbogie |
16.0 km | <1% | 100% |
| Trawool Mitchell |
16.7 km | 16% | 100% |