Areas / Colac Otway / Skenes Creek

Skenes Creek flood map & planning overlays

Skenes Creek keeps 661 m² lots, 2nd-smallest, median age 55.

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

A planning-constraint profile of Skenes Creek (Colac Otway, VIC) - 7.18 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 Skenes Creek'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 Skenes Creek

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
20%
of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft
Below 3,000 ft
7%
of the suburb's area
Lowest measured
2,000 ft
averaging 3,000 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.

Skenes Creek at a glance

Parcels 428 Median lot 661 m² Mapped easements 309 Bus stops 2

How Skenes Creek is zoned

Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ) 82%
Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) 8%
Transport Zone (TRZ2) 5%
Township Zone (TZ) 5%

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

Across its 7.18 km², Skenes Creek is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 3% of the suburb sits 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 Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ). The median lot measures about 661 m² across 428 parcels.

Who lives in Skenes Creek

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

Population
249
usual residents, 2021
Median age
55
years
Median household income
$1,260
per week, Colac Otway suburb typical $1,443
Median rent
$295
per week, Colac Otway suburb typical $239
Median mortgage
$1,450
per month
Household size
2.0
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 7
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 1019, and decile 7 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 7
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Skenes Creek's 249 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 5.0%
5-14 6.2%
15-19 3.9%
20-24 1.5%
25-34 10.8%
35-44 7.3%
45-54 14.7%
55-64 18.1%
65-74 17.4%
75-84 12.0%
85+ 3.1%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

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

Skenes Creek 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 Skenes Creek 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 7% of Skenes Creek. 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 Skenes Creek lot.

Skenes Creek planning - frequently asked

Is Skenes Creek flood-prone?

About 3% of Skenes Creek falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 12%.

Is Skenes Creek bushfire-prone?

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

Is Skenes Creek under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 7% of Skenes Creek, and over about 20% 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 2,000 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 Skenes Creek?

The dominant planning zone in Skenes Creek is Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ), though the suburb also includes Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) and Transport Zone (TRZ2).

Does Skenes Creek have heritage-listed places?

Skenes Creek has 2 heritage-listed places on record.

What is the typical lot size in Skenes Creek?

Across 428 surveyed parcels in Skenes Creek, the median lot size is about 661 m². There are also 309 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

Does Skenes Creek have a train station?

There is no train station inside Skenes Creek itself. The suburb is served by 2 bus stops.

What is the population of Skenes Creek?

At the 2021 Census Skenes Creek had 249 usual residents, with a median age of 55 and an average household size of 2.0 people. The wider Otway statistical area, which contains Skenes Creek, went from 3,452 people in 2001 to 3,974 in 2025, up 15%.

Is Skenes Creek an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Skenes Creek scores 1019 and sits in decile 7 of 10 nationally and decile 7 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).

What is the median household income in Skenes Creek?

Median household income in Skenes Creek was $1,260 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,443 for the typical suburb in Colac Otway. Median rent was $295 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,450 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Petticoat Creek 2.1 km 3% 100%
Skenes Creek North 2.4 km Not mapped 100%
Tanybryn 6.3 km Not mapped 100%
Apollo Bay 6.5 km 3% 98%
Sugarloaf 7.9 km 1% 100%
Marengo 8.8 km 11% 100%
Wongarra 8.8 km <1% 100%
Mount Sabine 9.5 km Not mapped 100%
Grey River 11.4 km <1% 100%
Kennett River 11.4 km <1% 100%

See all Colac Otway suburb profiles →