Property Scores — 03 of 08
A national screening score for every address, with official council-study water depth where published. See the evidence, source and coverage status behind the result.
Live Example
Three real Melbourne addresses, scored by the production pipeline. The map plays a water-level simulation over real bare-earth terrain: Elwood's canal flats go under within a metre while the Studley Park ridge stays dry. Official VIC flood overlays are drawn where they exist.
The Problem
The useful answer is not just whether an overlay exists. It is what was modelled, at which event, from which study, and whether the address is actually covered.
Victoria has planning overlays, NSW has council flood studies, SA has PlanSA layers. There is no single national flood map to check.
Planning overlays only exist where councils commissioned studies. A low-lying block beside a creek can sit outside every mapped zone.
Buyers often discover flood exposure at insurance-quote time, after the contract. By then it is a five-figure annual premium problem.
How It Works
Depth, hazard class, overlays and terrain stay distinct, with the source and coverage state carried in the result.
Where an integrated council hydraulic study covers the point, we sample its published 1% AEP maximum-depth raster and return metres, event, source study and licence. This official study output takes priority over screening proxies.
We check the address against official flood mapping in every state and territory except the NT: Victoria's flood overlays, NSW ePlanning flood layers, Queensland and WA flood mapping, PlanSA, Tasmania and the ACT. For Victoria, NSW, Queensland, WA and the ACT the check runs against our own copy of the state's published overlay dataset rather than calling the state service at that moment; South Australia and Tasmania are checked against the state service directly, and every response says which basis answered. A severity-bearing official flood zone dominates the score. PlanSA's Flooding - Evidence Required control is different: it says further evidence is needed but publishes no severity, so the response marks its risk contribution unknown and neutral rather than inventing one.
We measure how high the address sits above the nearest drainage line within 300 metres, sampled from Geoscience Australia's national airborne laser survey (LiDAR) bare-earth model: ~245,000 km2 of populated Australia in every state and territory, with sub-metre height accuracy. Live state elevation services fill any gaps and the national terrain model covers the rest of the country. Every response carries an elevation_confidence flag telling you which source answered.
Distance to mapped rivers, creeks and water bodies from continental water geometry, as a final proximity signal where official layers are silent.
On the map, watch water rise over the local drainage line against real bare-earth terrain and see exactly when it reaches the property. A terrain-fill illustration of the same laser-surveyed elevation behind the score, not a hydraulic flood model.
The Physics
When rain falls, water collects along the nearest drainage line — how high an address sits above that line largely decides whether the water reaches the block, so that height is what we measure.
of height above the drainage line separates these two scores — measured from bare-earth elevation data, not read off an overlay.
GA LiDAR bare-earth (national terrain model outside coverage) · drainage within 300 m · illustrative values
Honest by Design
A flood result without provenance is dangerous. Depth carries its AEP, source study and licence; overlays report whether they were hit, checked with no hit, or unavailable.
Newcastle publishes H1-H6 hazard classification for the integrated study area. Hazard class and water depth answer different questions, so the API never converts H1-H6 into invented metres.
| State | Official flood mapping | Terrain elevation behind the score |
|---|---|---|
| VIC | Statewide planning overlays (LSIO / FO / SBO / RFO) | GA LiDAR; Vicmap contours fill gaps |
| NSW | State ePlanning + SES + council studies; seven production depth study areas; Newcastle H1-H6 | Partial official coverage; GA LiDAR and state elevation fill screening gaps |
| QLD | Council and regional flood studies; 48 Brisbane catchment depth rasters | No single statewide planning overlay; council-study coverage varies by address |
| ACT | Statewide 1% AEP flood extent | GA LiDAR; national model outside |
| TAS | State flood layer | GA LiDAR; theLIST contours fill gaps |
| WA | DoT mapped floodplains (no council studies published) | GA LiDAR; coastal contours; national model inland |
| SA | PlanSA flood controls; Evidence Required is neutral | Risk unknown where evidence is required; obtain site-specific evidence |
| NT | None published | GA LiDAR; national model outside |
Data at Scale
Flood source data last refreshed 2 August 2026.
Address-Level Evidence
One normalized component keeps the national score, official overlay result, study depth or H1-H6, terrain context and provenance together. Coverage is explicit, so an unavailable study is never rendered as zero risk.
4 Golf Links Road, Rocklea QLD 4106
Real production sample: Oxley Creek Flood Study, 1% AEP maximum-depth raster.
{
"score": 24,
"label": "High Risk",
"official_layer": "hit",
"flood_depth": {
"depth_m": 1.17,
"aep": "1% AEP",
"source": "Brisbane City Council - Oxley Creek Flood Study",
"licence": "CC BY 4.0"
}
}Who It's For
Check flood exposure before the building inspection, not after the insurance quote. Compare shortlisted addresses in seconds.
Flood overlays drive assessment pathways, floor-level requirements and drainage design. Screen sites before you commit to due diligence costs.
Add score, study depth or H1-H6 where available, provenance and an explicit coverage status to buyer reports or portfolio screens.
Property Scores
Each score uses open government data with transparent methodology. No black boxes.
Further Reading
Council maps, hydraulic studies, insurance signals and modelled 1% AEP depth where published — every way to check flood risk before you sign.
Enterprise
Send 20 addresses and judge coverage, evidence quality and report usefulness before discussing a licence.
One address payload with score, depth or H1-H6 where published, source provenance and coverage status. Read the schema →
Inspect a real Rocklea result captured from the production score service, including 1.17 m modelled depth from the Oxley Creek study. Open sample →
Use your own 20-address shortlist to test where official study evidence is present and whether it improves your reports or screening workflow.
We return the available evidence in a consistent format before any licence discussion.
Test 20 addressesReady?
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