Areas / Colac Otway / Kawarren

Kawarren flood map & planning overlays

Kawarren is 99.7% environmental significance overlay, median age 54.

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

A planning-constraint profile of Kawarren (Colac Otway, VIC) - 64.76 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 Kawarren'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 Kawarren

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
12%
of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft
Below 3,000 ft
5%
of the suburb's area
Lowest measured
1,000 ft
averaging 3,500 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.

Kawarren at a glance

Parcels 290 Median lot 29,872 m² Mapped easements 96

How Kawarren is zoned

Farming Zone (FZ) 49%
Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) 48%
Rural Living Zone (RLZ) 3%
Transport Zone (TRZ2) 1%

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

Across its 64.76 km², Kawarren is highly constrained by planning overlays. Flood mapping covers the suburb and none of it falls within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 2 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 29,872 m² across 290 parcels.

Who lives in Kawarren

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

Population
189
usual residents, 2021
Median age
54
years
Median household income
$1,071
per week, Colac Otway suburb typical $1,443
Median rent
$165
per week, Colac Otway suburb typical $239
Median mortgage
$1,315
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 4
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 955, and decile 3 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 3
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Kawarren's 189 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 4.6%
5-14 10.7%
15-19 4.1%
20-24 2.0%
25-34 9.6%
35-44 7.6%
45-54 11.7%
55-64 23.9%
65-74 17.8%
75-84 6.1%
85+ 2.0%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

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

3,452 in 2001 to 3,974 in 2025, up 15%.

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.

Kawarren 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 Kawarren 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 5% of Kawarren. 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 Kawarren lot.

Kawarren planning - frequently asked

Is Kawarren flood-prone?

Flood mapping covers Kawarren and less than 1% of the suburb falls within a mapped flood overlay (the council-wide suburb average is 12%).

Is Kawarren bushfire-prone?

Around 100% of Kawarren is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Colac Otway average of 97%.

Is Kawarren under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 5% of Kawarren, and over about 12% 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 1,000 ft, with an average of 3,500 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 Kawarren?

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

Does Kawarren have heritage-listed places?

Kawarren has 2 heritage-listed places on record.

What is the typical lot size in Kawarren?

Across 290 surveyed parcels in Kawarren, the median lot size is about 29,872 m². There are also 96 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

What is the population of Kawarren?

At the 2021 Census Kawarren had 189 usual residents, with a median age of 54 and an average household size of 2.2 people. The wider Otway statistical area, which contains Kawarren, went from 3,452 people in 2001 to 3,974 in 2025, up 15%.

Is Kawarren an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Kawarren scores 955 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 Kawarren?

Median household income in Kawarren was $1,071 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,443 for the typical suburb in Colac Otway. Median rent was $165 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,315 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Gellibrand 4.8 km 6% 100%
Barongarook 7.8 km <1% 100%
Barongarook West 9.2 km <1% 100%
Forrest 9.3 km 11% 100%
Gerangamete 9.7 km 18% 100%
Irrewillipe East 12.4 km <1% 100%
Barramunga 13.7 km 1% 100%
Elliminyt 14.7 km 17% 92%
Yeodene 14.9 km 3% 100%
Beech Forest 15.0 km <1% 100%

See all Colac Otway suburb profiles →