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Highton

Victoria · Geelong

Live · ABS ERP June 2025

The weekday morning train from Waurn Ponds Railway Station reaches the CBD in 76 min, against 40 min from the middle Victoria area with a timetabled station.

Highton has 6 schools (4 government, 2 non-government; ACARA School Profile 2025) and 14 NQS-rated childcare services (ACECQA register). The median house price is $886,000, +0.4% YoY (Valuer-General VIC Q4 2025). Population is 25,794 (ABS ERP June 2025); the AM-peak train journey to the CBD takes 76 min (Transport Victoria (PTV) incl. V/Line, static GTFS, timetable from 22 Oct 2026).

Highton at a glance

Median house price
$886,000
Up 0.4% in a year
Rent: $520 a week, 3-bedroom house
Family-Fit score
70/100
Strong for families
How it is calculated
Schools
6
Area centre zoned to Highton Primary School
See the schools
Childcare services
14
13 rated Meeting NQS or above
Population
25,794
+1.0% in a year
Median age
38
18.3% are children under 15
Side-by-side schools, crime & safety, price & more in the Move Planner.
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Shade the map by values: Highton

Boundaries: ABS Suburbs & Localities 2021. School pins are ACARA's published locations. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO. Open the full VIC map →

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How the Family-Fit score is built70/100

Family-Fit score

Method published in full
70 /100
Strong for families

Strong for families - strongest on childcare & early years, weakest on getting around.

Schools in the area · 20% of the score
99/100

VIC median 75/100

6 schools in this SA2 · average government-school ICSEA 1096

Childcare & early years · 15% of the score
100/100

VIC median 100/100

14 NQS-rated services nearby

Everyday amenities · 15% of the score
79/100

VIC median 78/100

42 parks · 2 GPs · 2 supermarkets · 25 playgrounds

Getting around · 15% of the score
0/100

VIC median 60/100

76 min to the CBD by train from Waurn Ponds Railway Station

Housing affordability · 15% of the score
55/100

VIC median 46/100

Paying over 30% of income on housing: 9.5% of mortgage-holding households, 30.9% of renting households

Families already here · 10% of the score
77/100

VIC median 67/100

18.3% of residents are children aged 0–14 · 49.6% of families are couples with children

Socio-economic profile · 10% of the score
78/100

VIC median 56/100

SEIFA IRSAD decile 8 of 10 nationally

The grey marker on each bar is the median across the 500 Victoria areas we publish a score for (state median overall: 65/100). It is context, not a pass mark.

How this score is calculated

Each published figure for the Highton SA2 is mapped onto 0–100 by fixed thresholds, then weighted. Inputs with no data here are dropped and the rest rescaled - never scored as zero. Every threshold and weight →

Schools in the area 99/100 × 20% → 19.8 points
6 schools in this SA2 · average government-school ICSEA 1096
Childcare & early years 100/100 × 15% → 15 points
14 NQS-rated services nearby
Everyday amenities 79/100 × 15% → 11.9 points
42 parks · 2 GPs · 2 supermarkets · 25 playgrounds
Getting around 0/100 × 15% → 0 points
76 min to the CBD by train from Waurn Ponds Railway Station
Housing affordability 55/100 × 15% → 8.2 points
Paying over 30% of income on housing: 9.5% of mortgage-holding households, 30.9% of renting households
Families already here 77/100 × 10% → 7.7 points
18.3% of residents are children aged 0–14 · 49.6% of families are couples with children
Socio-economic profile 78/100 × 10% → 7.8 points
SEIFA IRSAD decile 8 of 10 nationally

School results, crime and flood or bushfire overlays are not graded into this score. Limits of the score →

What families notice
In their own terms

What families notice

Live
Families often notice
  • This address is zoned to Highton Primary School (government, no fees).
  • Recorded incidents are down 19% on the year before.
  • Ranks in the top 30% for socio-economic advantage in VIC (ABS SEIFA - not a safety or school-quality measure).
Good to know
  • About 31% of renters here spend over 30% of income on rent - above the standard affordability guideline (ABS Census 2021).
  • Property figures are from Q4 2025, the most recent Valuer-General release we have - prices may have moved since.
Source: Templated from the live data on this page - ABS, ACARA, ACECQA, BOCSAR/CSA Victoria, SEIFA 2021.
Living in Highton: family snapshot
Family snapshot

Living in Highton

Live

A large suburb. Many childcare options nearby - 14 NQS-rated services. About a 76-minute train to the CBD. Mostly detached family homes.

Source: ABS population estimates · ABS Census 2021 · ACARA · ACECQA · state transit data (GTFS)
Highton compared with Victoria10 measures
Highton compared with the VIC average
Measure Highton VIC average Against VIC
Children aged 0 to 4 5.1% 5.8% About the same
Children aged 5 to 14 13.2% 12.2% Higher
Couple families with children 49.6% 45.2% Higher
One-parent families 10.5% 15.3% Lower
Homes owned outright 39.5% 32.5% Higher
Homes owned with a mortgage 39.3% 37.8% Higher
Homes rented 20.1% 28.0% Lower
Separate houses 88.6% 75.6% Higher
Flats and apartments 0.2% 10.5% Lower
Born overseas 18.8% 30.0% Lower

Source: ABS Census 2021. The VIC figure is the population-weighted average of the 520 VIC areas with a published value. "Higher" and "Lower" describe the number only.

About this area and its boundary

Highton is a locality in the Geelong area of Victoria. This profile draws on ABS population and Census figures, the ACARA school register and ACECQA childcare ratings for the Highton SA2.

25,794 residents - 18.3% are children under 15, median age 38.

This profile uses the ABS Highton statistical area (SA2) - the level Australian government data is published at. SA2 boundaries don’t always match suburb boundaries. It covers the gazetted suburbs of Highton, Waurn Ponds, Wandana Heights and Ceres, drawn separately on the map above.

Property market

The median house price is $886,000, up 0.4% in a year, and a 3-bedroom house rents for a median $520 a week across the Greater Geelong council area.

Median house price
$886,000
Q4 2025
House price, change in a year
+0.4%
Median rent, 3-bedroom house
$520
per week, Greater Geelong council area

Source: Valuer-General VIC Q4 2025 · Homes Victoria (DFFH) Rental Report, Jun 2026 quarter

Homes and households

Who owns the homes
40% Owned outright 39% Mortgage 20% Rented
Families
50% Couple with children 39% Couple, no children 11% One parent
Types of home
89% House 11% Townhouse 0% Apartment

Source: ABS Census 2021. Where the shares do not add to 100%, the rest is "other" or "not stated".

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Housing cost pressuremortgage and rent against income
What households here actually pay

Housing cost pressure

Live

In Highton, 30.9% of renting households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and 9.5% of households with a mortgage spend more than 30% on repayments - the ABS's stretched-household threshold (Census 2021).

ABS published figures, not our calculation.

Mortgage over 30% of income
9.5%

VIC avg 15.4%

Share of households WITH a mortgage whose repayments take more than 30% of income. That's 308 of 2,935 households with a stated repayment.

Rent over 30% of income
30.9%

VIC avg 30.9%

Share of RENTING households whose rent takes more than 30% of income. That's 514 of 1,514 households with a stated rent.

The two figures cover different households (mortgage-holding vs renting), so never add them. How the ABS counts these → Grey marker: VIC average (509 for mortgage and 508 for rent). Census 2021 - housing costs have moved since. Not financial advice.

Source: ABS Census 2021 - Mortgage & Rent Affordability Indicator Datasets (via ABS Data by Region, SA2)
What's being built herenew homes approved, year by year
Highton · new dwellings approved

What's being built here

Live

64 new homes were approved in Highton in the year to June 2025. Councils approved 941 new dwellings here across the 6 years to June 2025 - an approval is permission to build, not a home that exists yet.

64

Approved in the year to June 2025

Middle VIC area: 44

682

Separate houses

Private sector, over these 6 years

258

Townhouses & apartments

Private sector, over these 6 years

Counts are for the whole Highton statistical area. What these counts include → Dashed line: the median of 491Victoria areas.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Data by region, 2011-2025 (cat. 1410.0), sourced from ABS Building Approvals, Australia (cat. 8731.0) (source, CC BY 4.0). Each year is a year ended 30 June, published for the SA2, not the suburb.
About the rent figure

Homes Victoria does not publish a rent figure for this suburb on its own, so this is the median for the whole Greater Geelong council area: 3-bedroom houses with a lease that started in the June 2026 quarter. Rents inside the council area can sit above or below it.

Source: Homes Victoria (Department of Families, Fairness and Housing), Rental Report, from Residential Tenancies Bond Authority bond lodgements. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Figures are as published; we have not adjusted them.

Schools and childcare

6 schools are located in the area, and the centre of the area is zoned to Highton Primary School. 14 childcare services are on the national register, 13 rated Meeting the National Quality Standard or above.

Your zoned school Live VIC + NSW + QLD catchments

Highton Primary School

The government school your child can attend for free by living in Highton.

Sector Government
Years Prep-6
Students 359
ICSEA 1121
A picture of students’ family backgrounds - not a ranking or a quality score.

This is the zoned government school for the centre of Highton (VIC catchment data) - addresses elsewhere in the suburb may be zoned to a different school.

See the catchment on the map
Zoned secondary school
Belmont High School Government · 7-12 · 1,291 students · just outside the suburb boundary
ICSEA 1053 intake context

Median VCE study score (2025): 29 · 97% satisfactory VCE completions - one measure, not a ranking.

Pathways: VCE, VCE VM, VPC · 61 VCE/VM/VET studies (Units 3-4)

© Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority; reproduced with permission. For current versions and related content visit http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au

The government Year 7 zone for the centre of Highton (VIC catchment data) - addresses elsewhere in the suburb may be zoned to a different school.

Also nearby - Catholic & Independent schools (not your catchment)
Christian College Geelong
Independent 1,908 students
ICSEA 1098 intake context
Woodline Primary
Independent 73 students
ICSEA 1100 intake context

Fee-paying schools can’t be enrolled in by zone - they’re shown for context, not as the area’s school quality.

We show school intake context, catchments and, for Victorian government secondary schools, the VCE figures the VCAA publishes. We don’t publish a school ranking.

All school zones in the Greater Geelong council area →

To look beyond Highton, every Victoria school is on the Australian schools and catchment zones map.

Find the school zone for an address in Highton

Type a street address in Victoria, NSW or Queensland. We show the government primary and secondary school zones it is in, from the official zone maps.

Your address goes from your browser straight to OpenStreetMap's address search to find it on the map. We never see it or store it. Address search © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Schools in Highton

ICSEA reflects student intake context, not teaching quality (1000 = national average). Source: ACARA School Profile 2025. All VIC schools →

Victorian Senior Secondary Completion and Achievement data source: Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA).

The VCAA is not associated with SuburbRadar and does not endorse any of the views or recommendations of SuburbRadar. The VCAA's assessment data for a given year cannot be used to predict results for schools or students in subsequent years. Each year's assessment results will vary due to different assessments being used and different populations of students participating in the assessment.

Childcare: 14 services

Exceeding NQS: 5Meeting NQS: 8Working Towards NQS: 1

National Quality Standard ratings from the ACECQA register, refreshed Oct 2026. Services are matched by suburb name.

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Childcare services, ratings and fees14 services
  • Bellaire Primary School OSHC Program
    Centre-Based Care · 120 places · Highton
    Rated Apr 2024
    Exceeding NQS
  • Town & Country Children's Centre
    Centre-Based Care · 94 places · Highton
    Rated Aug 2024
    Exceeding NQS
  • Williams House Kindergarten
    Centre-Based Care · 72 places · Highton
    Rated Oct 2023 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
    Exceeding NQS
  • Highton Preschool
    Centre-Based Care · 66 places · Highton
    Rated Aug 2024
    Exceeding NQS
  • St Lukes Uniting Kindergarten Highton
    Centre-Based Care · 27 places · Highton
    Rated Jun 2023 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
    Exceeding NQS
  • Jenny's ELC Waurn Ponds
    Centre-Based Care · 156 places · Waurn Ponds
    Rated Dec 2024
    Meeting NQS
  • Goodstart Early Learning Waurn Ponds
    Centre-Based Care · 122 places · Waurn Ponds
    Rated Mar 2026
    Meeting NQS
  • Botanica Early Learning Centre
    Centre-Based Care · 99 places · Highton
    Rated Mar 2026
    Meeting NQS
  • Montpellier PS TheirCare
    Centre-Based Care · 80 places · Highton
    Rated Apr 2024
    Meeting NQS
  • Team Holiday - Highton
    Centre-Based Care · 80 places · Highton
    Rated Mar 2026
    Meeting NQS
  • TeamKids - Highton Primary
    Centre-Based Care · 50 places · Highton
    Rated Oct 2026
    Meeting NQS
  • Bellevue Preschool
    Centre-Based Care · 33 places · Highton
    Rated Sep 2026
    Meeting NQS

+ 2 more services in this area.

Average subsidised fee - Geelong area
Centre-based day care
$14.34/hr
Outside school hours care
$11.19/hr

Mean hourly fee across CCS-approved services, December quarter 2025 - Dept of Education, © Commonwealth of Australia, CC BY 4.0. Published at SA3 level (a wider area than this suburb's SA2), so it's an average across Geelong and surrounds, not this specific service list.

Verify locations before visiting. A rating over 3 years old is flagged. What the NQS ratings mean → Childcare places per child, by suburb →

Who lives here

Fewer people born overseas than Victoria overall: 18.8% of residents, against 30.0% statewide.

Median age
38
ABS Census 2021
Children under 15
18.3%
About the VIC average
Born overseas
18.8%
Below the VIC average
Density
636
people per km²

Ages of people here

Highton VIC average

Share of residents in each age band, in years. Source: ABS Census 2021.

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How the area is changingCensus 2011 to 2021
People counted at the Census, 2011 to 2021
+4,707 people
2011: 19,327 2021: 24,034
Median age, 2011 to 2021
−2 years
2011: 40 2021: 38
Children aged 0 to 14, 2011 to 2021
+0.3 points
2011: 18.0% 2021: 18.3%
Born overseas, 2011 to 2021
+1.9 points
2011: 16.9% 2021: 18.8%
Speak another language at home, 2011 to 2021
+3.5 points
2011: 9.3% 2021: 12.8%
Greater Geelong council area, official forecast
+96,900 people
2021: 270,770 2036: 367,670

Each line is drawn on its own scale, so compare the numbers, not the heights. Source: ABS Census 2011, 2016 and 2021; Victoria in Future 2023, Victorian Department of Transport and Planning forecast, published for the council area, not the suburb.

Census trends against the middle VIC areafull charts
Three censuses, same boundaries

Which way this area is moving

Live

The 2011, 2016 and 2021 Censuses for Highton, counted on today's boundaries.

Since 2011, Highton has grown younger, with more residents speaking another language at home.

People counted
+4,707 people since 2011

Usual residents counted on Census night.

Median age
−2 years since 2011

Half the residents are older than this, half younger.

Children aged 0–14
+0.3 pts since 2011

Share of all residents. The clearest signal of families arriving or moving on.

Born overseas
+1.9 pts since 2011

Share of all residents born outside Australia.

Speak another language at home
+3.5 pts since 2011

Share of residents who stated a language, speaking one other than English at home.

The dashed line is the median across the Victoria areas we profile. How the three Censuses line up →

Source: ABS Census Time Series Profile 2021 (2011, 2016 and 2021 Censuses, SA2)
How many people will live around hereofficial forecast
Greater Geelong council area · official projection

How many people will live around here

Live

The rest of this page looks backwards. This is the one number that looks forward - and it is the state government's own, not ours. Victoria in Future 2023 (Vic. Dept of Transport and Planning) projects the Greater Geelong council area, which contains Highton along with its neighbouring suburbs, to grow to 367,670 people by 2036: 96,900 more people than the 270,770 counted in 2021.

This is the council area, not Highton. Greater Geelong is a whole local government area covering many suburbs, and neither state publishes a projection for a single suburb. Growth is never spread evenly across a council - a greenfield estate and an established street inside the same council will move very differently - so read this as the direction of the wider area a suburb sits in, not as a forecast for its own streets. Only the years the publisher itself lists are plotted: nothing is filled in between them, and nothing is carried past 2036. A projection is an assumption about the future, not a measurement of it, and it will be revised - this one was released September 2023. These figures sit on the projection's own series, so they are not directly comparable with the ABS resident-population and Census counts elsewhere on this page, which use different geographies and different years.

Source: Victoria in Future 2023, Victorian Department of Transport and Planning, released September 2023 (source, CC BY 4.0). Published for the council area, not the suburb; figures rounded to the nearest 10.
Where this year's population change came from+1.00% in a year
Population
25,794
ABS estimate, June 2025
Growth in one year
+1.00%
2024 to 2025
Net change
+248
people in a year

Where did the gain come from?

+248
Natural increase
Births minus deaths
+110
Internal migration
Net movers from elsewhere in Australia
-43
Overseas migration
Net arrivals from overseas
+181

Reading the streams: overseas arrivals were the dominant force - more came from abroad than the suburb grew on its own.

Growth vs benchmarks
Highton
+1.00%
VIC median
+0.90%
National median
+0.80%
Ages against the state average, band by band
The neighbourhood, in people

Ages of people here

Live

13.2% of people here are school-age children (5–14) - about the Victoria average of 12.2%, and 5.1% are under 5. The median age is 38.

0–4 years · before school
5.1%

VIC avg 5.8%

5–14 years · school age
13.2%

VIC avg 12.2%

15–19 years · teens
7.4%

VIC avg 5.6%

20–34 years
19.8%

VIC avg 21.3%

35–54 years
25.4%

VIC avg 26.8%

55–64 years
11.5%

VIC avg 11.5%

65 years and over
17.5%

VIC avg 16.8%

Share of all residents of Highton (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the Victoria average. How the bands and averages work →

Source: ABS Census 2021, General Community Profile (SA2)
Households and families
The neighbourhood, in people

Households and families

Live

60% of families here have children living at home - about the Victoria average of 61%. The largest overseas-born communities are United Kingdom (4.2%), India (2.3%) and China (1.4%). 20% of homes are rented.

Family make-up

Share of all families in the area. A small "other family" group the ABS also counts is not shown.

Couple with children
49.6%

VIC avg 45.2%

One-parent family
10.5%

VIC avg 15.3%

Couple, no children
39.1%

VIC avg 37.8%

What people live in

Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated structures are not shown.

Separate house
88.6%

VIC avg 75.6%

Semi-detached / townhouse
11.1%

VIC avg 13.5%

Flat or apartment
0.2%

VIC avg 10.5%

Owned or rented

Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated tenures are not shown.

Owned outright
39.5%

VIC avg 32.5%

Owned with a mortgage
39.3%

VIC avg 37.8%

Rented
20.1%

VIC avg 28%

Figures describe Highton (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the Victoria average. How these are counted →

Source: ABS Census 2021, General Community Profile (SA2)
Birthplaces, languages and communities
The neighbourhood, in people

Who lives in Highton

Live

Top 5 overseas birthplaces shown · 90.2% born in Australia or a country not in the top five.

United Kingdom · established by 2016
4.2%

VIC avg 3%

India · established by 2016
2.3%

VIC avg 3.9%

China · established by 2016
1.4%

VIC avg 2.3%

New Zealand · established by 2016
1.1%

VIC avg 1.2%

South Africa · established by 2016
0.8%

VIC avg 0.1%

Co-located communities
Highton is home to established United Kingdom and India communities - each is 2% or more of residents born overseas here, not a ranking of one against another.
Nearby
Belmont, Newtown and Grovedale - Mount Duneed also have an established United Kingdom community.
Settlement pattern
Of overseas-born residents who stated when they arrived, 21.2% arrived in the last 5 years (2016–2021) (VIC avg 17.5%) and 42.4% arrived before 2001 (VIC avg 47.4%).
English at home
Of residents who speak a language other than English at home and stated their English proficiency, 7% report speaking English “not well” or “not at all” (VIC avg 14.1%) - a self-reported ABS figure across all languages combined, not a judgement of any one community.

Figures describe Highton (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census. The ABS publishes only the five largest communities per area, so a missing name did not rank in the top five. How these are counted →

Source: ABS Census 2021, General Community Profile (SA2)
Socio-economic index (SEIFA)decile 8 of 10
Decile (1 lowest, 10 highest)
Decile 8 of 10
Where this sits in VIC
top 30% of Victoria areas

A relative comparison of the whole area against all of Australia - not a safety, liveability, or school-quality measure. What IRSAD measures → Source: ABS SEIFA 2021, IRSAD index (SA2).

Getting around and lifestyle

The morning-peak train from Waurn Ponds Railway Station reaches the city in 76 minutes, and the nearest emergency department is St John of God Geelong Hospital, 7 km away in a straight line.

2
Supermarkets
Middle VIC area: 1
2
GPs
Middle VIC area: 0
42
Parks
Middle VIC area: 22
25
Playgrounds
Middle VIC area: 10
None mapped
Train stations
Middle VIC area: 0
None mapped
Libraries
Middle VIC area: 0

Mapped inside the Highton boundary. A zero can mean "not mapped" rather than "not there". Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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Train to the city and nearest emergency department

Train to the city

Timetable published

76 min from Waurn Ponds Railway Station

Median scheduled weekday morning-peak travel time to the central-city terminus, from the closest station to the middle of this area (4.6 km away in a straight line). Train leg only.

Nearest emergency department

Mapped

St John of God Geelong Hospital · 7 km

Straight-line distance from the middle of this area - not a drive time. In an emergency call 000; do not plan around this figure.

Community and recreation
1
Places of worship
Middle VIC area: 1
None mapped
Community centres
Middle VIC area: 0
None mapped
Swimming pools
Middle VIC area: 0
2
Sport and fitness venues
Middle VIC area: 1
Out with a baby
3
Baby-change tables
None mapped
Baby-care rooms

Public-toilet facilities recorded on the National Public Toilet Map - not every place in the area that will let you change a baby.

About this data

Counts of features tagged in OpenStreetMap inside the Highton boundary. “Middle VIC area”: the median of 518 Victoria areas. How these counts and times are made →

Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors · baby-facility counts from the National Public Toilet Map (Continence Foundation of Australia, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, CC BY 3.0 AU) · Transport Victoria (PTV) incl. V/Line, static GTFS, timetable from 22 Oct 2026

Crime & safety in Highton

Police recorded 396 incidents in Highton in the year ending June 2026, down 19% on the year before. This is a raw count, not a rate or a rating.

Recorded incidents, 2026
396
Change on the year before
-19%
488 in 2025
Recorded incidents, 2021
429
LGA rate, as published
6,276.5
per 100,000 people, Greater Geelong council area

LGA rate, as published: 18,893 recorded incidents and 6,276.5 per 100,000 people across the whole Greater Geelong council area, which is larger than Highton. The rate is the agency's own figure - we do not calculate rates. Source: Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, year ending June 2026, released September 2026.

Largest offence categories

Property and deception offences 239
Crimes against the person 85
Justice procedures offences 46
Public order and security offences 13
Drug offences 12
Is Highton safe? Here's what police recorded

Police recorded 396 criminal incidents in Highton in the year ending June 2026 (Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, released September 2026). Greater Geelong council area, which includes Highton, had 6,276.5 recorded incidents per 100,000 people (LGA rate, as published: Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, year ending June 2026, released September 2026). Counts are often higher where many people visit (shopping centres, stations, nightlife), not only where many people live. SuburbRadar does not rate suburbs as safe or unsafe.

How much crime is recorded in Highton?

396 incidents in the year ending June 2026, against 488 the year before. The largest offence categories were Property and deception offences (239), Crimes against the person (85), Justice procedures offences (46). These are raw counts as published, not adjusted for population. Source: Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, released September 2026. Counts are often higher where many people visit (shopping centres, stations, nightlife), not only where many people live. SuburbRadar does not rate suburbs as safe or unsafe.

Police-recorded incident counts (Years ending June; latest = year ending June 2026). Raw counts, not a rate, and not a judgement about the suburb. Counts are often higher where many people visit (shopping centres, stations, nightlife), not only where many people live. SuburbRadar does not rate suburbs as safe or unsafe. Source: Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, released September 2026. More on crime & safety →

Crime Statistics Agency Victoria data, licensed under CC BY 3.0 AU. Suburb totals are added up from published figures.

Risks

5 of the 7 planning and hazard records we hold show something in this area: flooding, bushfire, heritage controls, traffic noise and acid sulfate soils.

Flooding

In an official overlay

7.0% of the area

Bushfire

Designated Bushfire Prone Area

69.1% of the area

Heritage controls

In an official overlay

1.8% of the area

Traffic noise

Freeway or highway present

Princes Freeway · Colac Road · A10 · +1 more

Acid sulfate soils

Mapped as likely

0.4% of the area

Each line is the extent of an official record across the whole Highton area - not a risk rating, and a specific address may or may not be affected. Not financial or insurance advice.

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All 9 checks and what each one means

Flooding

In an official overlay

7.0% of the area

Part of this area sits inside a Victorian planning-scheme flood overlay - Land Subject to Inundation, Floodway, or Special Building (overland stormwater). Whether a specific address is affected depends on the property.

Bushfire

Designated Bushfire Prone Area

69.1% of the area

This area is inside Victoria’s designated Bushfire Prone Area, the statewide designation that makes bushfire construction standards - the BAL rating a builder works to - apply to a new home or extension. It is not the Bushfire Management Overlay, the narrower planning control, and no part of this area falls in that overlay. The designation is drawn broadly around vegetation, so read it as "check the property", not as a measure of how exposed the area is.

Heritage controls

In an official overlay

1.8% of the area

Part of this area sits inside the Victorian Heritage Overlay, so changes to buildings there - extensions, demolition, sometimes even paint colours - need planning approval. It applies property by property: most homes in an area with an overlay are not in it, and being in one is a protection as much as a restriction.

Traffic noise

Freeway or highway present

Princes Freeway · Colac Road · A10 · +1 more

4 named roads through this area carry OpenStreetMap's highest classification - a freeway, motorway or major highway, whatever the road is called locally, alongside 9 named main roads. Roads are counted by name, not by mapped segment. Where a home sits relative to them matters far more than the count - a street two blocks back can be quiet.

Aircraft noise

Not in the overlay

No Victorian Airport Environs Overlay (including the Melbourne Airport one) intersects this area. The overlays cover land close to an airport under a mapped noise contour - aircraft still fly over areas outside them, including on flight paths.

Land contamination checks

Not in the overlay

No part of this area sits inside the Victorian Environmental Audit Overlay. The overlay records past land uses councils know about - it is not a test result, so absence means nothing has been flagged here, not that the ground has been cleared.

Acid sulfate soils

Mapped as likely

0.4% of the area

Part of this area is mapped by the state as land where coastal acid sulfate soils are likely to occur. Acid sulfate soils are harmless while they stay wet and buried; digging into them - for a pool, footings, a basement or drainage - exposes them to air and produces acid that eats concrete and steel and can kill fish downstream, so excavation may need a management plan. This is soil mapping rather than a planning overlay, and it describes the ground, not the house standing on it.

Recorded crime

Official counts published

396 incidents

Police-recorded criminal incidents in Years ending June; latest = year ending June 2026, down 19% on the prior year. A count, not a rate - busier areas with more shops, stations and visitors record more incidents than quiet ones of the same size. Full breakdown ↑

Social housing

Census figure

0.6% rented from a state or territory housing authority · 0.7% from a community housing provider

Share of occupied private dwellings here with a stated tenure (Census 2021). The middle VIC area is 1.0% public and 0.3% community, across 513 areas. Listed because families ask; it is a fact about who owns the homes, not a judgement about the people in them.

About this data

Every line is an official published record for the Highton area - we don't rate, score or rank any of them. Where a line is missing, treat it as not checked rather than clear. What each line covers and does not →

Source: Vicmap Planning, © The State of Victoria, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action - CC BY 4.0 · Designated Bushfire Prone Area, © State of Victoria, Department of Transport and Planning - CC BY 4.0 · Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, released September 2026 · ABS Census 2021 (G37 tenure and landlord type) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) - road classification

Nearby suburbs

The six closest profiled areas in Victoria, by distance between area centres.

Highton · 4 gazetted suburbs

The suburbs in this area

Live

Everything else on this page is published for Highton as a whole - one ABS statistical area covering 4 separate gazetted suburbs. These are the figures published for each of those suburbs on its own.

Gazetted suburbs inside Highton, with each suburb's own published figures.
Suburb Residents
Census 2021
Schools Median
house price
Highton 20,736 4 $886k
Waurn Ponds 4,956 0 $820k
Wandana Heights 2,195 0 $1.15M
Ceres 266 2 none published

Each row is that suburb's own published figure - nothing here is the wider area's number divided up. Resident counts are the Census 2021 usual-resident count for the gazetted suburb, so they will not add up to the population at the top of this page, which is the ABS's later June 2025 estimate for the whole statistical area: a different measure on a different date. Schools are ACARA-registered schools whose published address falls inside the suburb boundary, which is not the same as the school your address is zoned to. Median house prices are the Valuer-General's figure for the suburb itself, over its most recent reporting period; a suburb with too few sales to publish shows a dash. Every other figure on this page - crime & safety, overlays, commute, amenities, projections, the Family-Fit score - is published for the whole statistical area and cannot be separated by suburb.

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing 2021, General Community Profile for Suburbs and Localities; ABS ASGS Edition 3 suburb boundaries; ACARA School Location 2025; Valuer-General Victoria median house prices.

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A note on this page. Nothing on this page is property, financial, legal or schooling advice - verify with primary sources before any decision.