A Deposited Plan (DP) is one of the registered survey plans that define land parcels in Australia; the name is used in New South Wales and Western Australia, and other states use other plan types. Whether you are reviewing a contract of sale, designing an architectural extension, or querying spatial APIs, understanding how DP numbers work is essential.
\n\nA Deposited Plan (DP) is a formal cadastral survey diagram registered with a state land registry (such as NSW Land Registry Services, Landgate in WA, or Titles Queensland). It defines the legal boundaries, dimensions, bearings, roads, and easements for parcels of land created by subdivision.
\nWhen an original parcel of land is divided into smaller residential allotments, a registered surveyor marks the physical boundaries on the ground, creates a plan of survey, and lodges it with the state authority. Once approved, the plan is deposited and assigned a unique sequential number.
\n\nWhen you look at your rates notice or contract of sale, you will see a title reference formatted like:
\nLot 14 in Deposited Plan 1045231\nTitle Identifier: 14/1045231Lot 2 Section 4 DP 1932.| Plan Type | \nPrefix | \nWhat is Subdivided | \nTypical Ownership | \n
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposited Plan | \nDP | \n Physical land and ground freehold | \nStandalone houses, commercial lots, rural acreage | \n
| Strata Plan | \nSP | \n Cubic airspace within a structure | \nApartments, townhouses, commercial suites with body corporate | \n
| Community Plan | \nVaries by state | \nMaster-planned community parcels | \nEstates with shared private roads, marinas, or recreational facilities | \n
Official deposited plans provide rich spatial data recorded by licensed surveyors:
\nSearch by lot and plan number. This search reads the parcels held for Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and Tasmania, and shows the parcel label and the area the source states, where it states one:
\n \nTitles offices charge for a copy of a registered plan: from 1 July 2026 NSW Land Registry Services' regulated fee for a DP or SP plan image, over the counter, is $18.70 including GST (NSW LRS 2026/27 fees). Information brokers who sell plans online set their own prices, and other states' fees differ. If you need to confirm boundaries, calculate lot dimensions, or verify zoning codes, Open Land Fabric maps the parcel boundaries it holds, free:
\nYou can query parcels by Lot and Plan directly through the Open Land Fabric API without registering an account or API key. New South Wales parcels are layer 12 of the ArcGIS FeatureServer and the OGC collection parcels-nsw:
curl -sG \"https://openlandfabric.org/arcgis/rest/services/OpenLandFabric/FeatureServer/12/query\" --data-urlencode \"where=lot='213' AND plan_type='DP' AND plan_number='1221076'\" -d outFields=* -d f=geojsonWhether building a new boundary fence, designing an extension, or resolving a boundary line question with a neighbour, knowing where your legal boundaries lie prevents costly disputes.
\n\nWhen neighbours erect a timber paling or Colorbond fence, they often align it with existing vegetation, garden beds, or previous old posts rather than locating original surveyor boundary pegs. Over decades, fences get replaced in the same offset position.
\nUnder Australian property law (governed by state dividing fences acts such as the Dividing Fences Act 1991 (NSW) or the Fences Act 1968 (VIC)), an existing fence does not by itself establish ownership. Torrens title does not rule out adverse possession everywhere: in New South Wales a person who has possessed Torrens land for at least 12 years can apply for possessory title (NSW LRS).
\n\nProperty owners and building professionals have several free tools available to inspect cadastral boundaries:
\n\nOpen Land Fabric puts the parcels it holds on one map with no login or paywall. On 29 September 2026 it held 14,506,853 parcels for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and Tasmania. Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory are not held, each for its own reason, listed at /reference:
\nType an Australian street address to see the matched G-NAF address, its coordinates and its legal parcel identifier, with a link to the map:
\n \nEach state and territory maintains an official public spatial viewer:
\nNote: Each state portal is the official source for its own state, and each covers only that state.
\n\n42 High Street Preston VIC) in the search bar.While digital cadastral maps are invaluable for planning, preliminary design, and due diligence, they are spatial representations whose accuracy varies by area; Queensland publishes its worst case as \u00b163 m (Business Queensland) and states that the digital cadastre is not the point of truth for the legal boundary (Queensland open data). You must engage a Licensed Cadastral Surveyor when:
\nSoftware developers can query parcel boundaries by coordinates or address via Open Land Fabric:
\nimport requests\n\nres = requests.get(\n \"https://openlandfabric.org/collections/parcels-vic/items\",\n params={\"bbox\": \"144.99,-37.81,145.00,-37.80\", \"limit\": 1}\n)\nfeature = res.json()[\"features\"][0]\nprint(\"Lot/Plan:\", feature[\"properties\"][\"lot\"], feature[\"properties\"][\"plan_type\"], feature[\"properties\"][\"plan_number\"])\nprint(\"Stated area m2 (None where the source states none):\", feature[\"properties\"][\"area_stated_m2\"])Validating Australian addresses is notoriously difficult. From dual street frontages and complex unit numbering to remote rural road markers, standard regex patterns and generic geocoders regularly fail.
\n\nAddresses are assigned under AS/NZS 4819:2011 Rural and urban addressing, and exchanged between systems under AS 4590.1:2017 Interchange of client information. An address in G-NAF's form comprises:
\n12-14), or alphanumeric suffix (e.g. 14A).ST, Road = RD, Avenue = AV, Parade = PDE).The Geocoded National Address File (G-NAF) is Australia's definitive address index. Built and maintained by Geoscape Australia, it matches three contributor datasets from state and territory land records and Commonwealth agencies, and is published quarterly (G-NAF product description).
\n\nADDRESS_DETAIL: The primary record containing parsed street numbers, confidence ratings, and link IDs.STREET_LOCALITY: Master gazetteer of recognized street names, types, and suffixes per suburb.LOCALITY: gazetted localities (suburbs) with a primary postcode. Their boundaries are not in G-NAF; they are in Geoscape's Administrative Boundaries product.PRIMARY_SECONDARY: Maps relationships between parent properties (e.g. a shopping center) and child addresses (individual shops or suites).Test real-time address validation, trigram matching, and parcel linking against the live Open Land Fabric engine:
\n \nThese three stages serve distinct architectural purposes:
\n| Stage | \nPurpose | \nPrimary Output | \n
|---|---|---|
| 1. Autocomplete | \nSpeeds up user input and eliminates typos as someone types into a form field. | \nDropdown list of predicted strings. | \n
| 2. Validation | \nVerifies that the address exists in official government registries. | \nA standardised address and a match score. | \n
| 3. Cadastral Linking | \nLinks the address point to its underlying legal title lot and cadastral boundary polygon. | \nLot/Plan ID, zoning, council, parcel GeoJSON. | \n
Open Land Fabric exposes a high-speed geocoding and address validation endpoint that performs trigram fuzzy matching over the G-NAF addresses it holds (16,088,283 rows on 29 September 2026).
\n\ncurl -s \"https://openlandfabric.org/geocode?q=10+Smith+St+Collingwood+VIC&limit=1\"Field names as returned by /geocode; values are elided here rather than invented.
{\n \"results\": [\n {\n \"address_id\": \"\u2026\",\n \"address\": \"\u2026\",\n \"locality\": \"\u2026\",\n \"postcode\": \"\u2026\",\n \"state\": \"VIC\",\n \"lon\": \u2026,\n \"lat\": \u2026,\n \"gnaf_confidence\": \u2026,\n \"legal_parcel_id\": \"\u2026\",\n \"parcel_id\": \"\u2026\",\n \"score\": \u2026,\n \"parcel\": {\"id\": \"\u2026\", \"href\": \"\u2026\"}\n }\n ],\n \"count\": 1,\n \"source\": \"G-NAF (Geocoded National Address File)\",\n \"licence\": \"CC-BY-4.0\",\n \"attribution\": \"\u2026\",\n \"use_restriction\": \"\u2026\"\n}When you buy an apartment, and often a townhouse or a commercial suite, you are usually buying a lot in a strata scheme rather than a piece of ground. In NSW the scheme is created by a registered strata plan (SP). Other states use their own names and plans; this guide uses the NSW terms.
\n\nA Strata Plan (SP) is a formal cadastral survey diagram registered with a state land registry (such as NSW Land Registry Services, Titles Queensland, or Land Use Victoria) that subdivides a physical building and its parent land parcel into individual cubic airspace lots and shared common property.
\nA strata lot has its own title, as a house lot does. The difference is that the lot is a defined space in or around a building, so many lots can sit one above another on the same piece of land.
\n\nIn NSW a strata plan has administration sheets and plan drawing sheets (NSW Land Registry Services, Strata plans preparation guide). The parts a buyer reads are these three:
\nThe unit entitlement shown for your lot on the strata plan affects two things (NSW Government, Buying a strata property):
\n| Dimension | \nDeposited Plan (DP / Plan of Subdivision) | \nStrata Plan (SP) | \n
|---|---|---|
| Subdivision Type | \nHorizontal ground & land parcels | \nVertical 3D cubic airspace & shared building structures | \n
| Ownership Scope | \nOwner of the whole lot and the buildings on it, subject to what the title records | \nAirspace inside unit; structural fabric owned collectively | \n
| Maintenance Responsibility | \nProperty owner responsible for all maintenance and repairs | \nOwners corporation maintains and repairs the common property (NSW Government, Strata repairs and maintenance) | \n
| Common Property | \nNone (unless a shared easement or right of way exists) | \nLobbies, stairs, lifts, external facades, foundations, roofs, driveways | \n
| Legal Identifier | \nLot 14 DP 1045231 | \n Lot 8 SP 84210 | \n
Look up a strata lot by its plan number. The search covers the parcels this service holds, in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT, and each result links to the property report, which shows the zoning:
\n \nWhen purchasing an off-the-plan apartment before construction finishes, the Strata Plan does not yet legally exist in the state land registry. Buyers enter contracts based on a draft proposed strata plan.
\nKey risks to inspect in off-the-plan contracts before signing:
\nSoftware developers and property researchers can query strata parcels and parent cadastre boundaries directly via Open Land Fabric:
\ncurl -sG \"https://openlandfabric.org/arcgis/rest/services/OpenLandFabric/FeatureServer/12/query\" --data-urlencode \"where=plan_type='SP' AND plan_number='84210'\" -d outFields=* -d f=geojsonThat is New South Wales (layer 12). Queensland strata plans are in /collections/parcels-qld/items.
Before you bid at auction or sign an unconditional contract of sale in Australia, physical building inspections only tell half the story. The legal and spatial encumbrances registered on the title can make or break your property investment.
\n\nAn easement is a registered legal interest that grants an external entity (such as a local council, water utility, electricity distributor, or neighboring land owner) the right to use a designated portion of your private land for a defined purpose.
\nEven though you own the freehold title to the land, an easement restricts what you can build on that specific strip.
\n\nIf you are buying with a pool or a granny flat in mind, find out before you commit whether an easement or a pipe crosses the part of the yard you meant to use. Found after settlement, it leaves the decision with the council and the water authority.
\nZoning codes establish the statutory framework for permissible land use within each Local Government Area (LGA). Each state names its zones differently: in each row below the first code is Victoria's and the second is from the NSW Standard Instrument. NSW replaced its business zones, such as B2 and B4, with employment zones on 26 April 2023 (NSW Planning, Employment zones reform).
\n| Zone Code | \nTypical Classification | \nPermitted Uses & Built Form | \n
|---|---|---|
GRZ / R1 | \n General Residential | \nHouses, dual occupancies and townhouses; in Victoria, a minimum garden area of 25 to 35 per cent on lots of 400 m² or more (Clause 32.08-4) | \n
NRZ / R2 | \n Neighbourhood Residential / Low Density Residential | \nVictoria: unless the schedule sets otherwise, a 9 metre and 2 storey maximum, and a minimum garden area (Clause 32.09). NSW: dual occupancies permitted with consent since 1 July 2024 (NSW Planning) | \n
MUZ / MU1 | \n Mixed Use | \nMulti-storey apartments with ground-floor commercial shops or restaurants | \n
C1Z / E1 | \n Commercial 1 / Local Centre | \nShops, offices and local services | \n
FZ / RU1 | \n Farming / Primary Production | \nAgriculture; a dwelling may need a permit or consent | \n
Overlays operate alongside zoning and trigger mandatory planning permit requirements from municipal town planners:
\nEnter an Australian address to see the matched address and, where this service holds that state's parcels, the parcel identifier, with a link to the property report:
\n \nAutomate property due diligence checks in software applications using the open spatial API:
\ncurl -s \"https://openlandfabric.org/geocode?q=42+High+Street+Preston+VIC&limit=1\"The answer carries the G-NAF address, its coordinates and the parcel it falls in, where the service holds that state's parcels.
\n","id":"opf-guide-05","meta_description":"Complete property due diligence checklist for Australian buyers. How to inspect easements, council zoning, planning overlays, and title covenants before you sign.","meta_title":"Property Due Diligence: Easements, Zoning & Overlays in Australia","primary_tag":{"name":"Due Diligence","slug":"due-diligence"},"published_at":"2026-09-05T00:00:00.000Z","reading_time":8,"slug":"property-due-diligence-easements-zoning","tags":[{"name":"Due Diligence","slug":"due-diligence"},{"name":"Planning","slug":"planning"}],"title":"Property Due Diligence: Easements, Zoning & Overlays in Australia","updated_at":"2026-09-09T00:00:00.000Z"},{"authors":[{"name":"Intelligible Spatial Engineering","slug":"intelligible"}],"excerpt":"How to check if an Australian property is in a flood zone or Bushfire Prone Area (BAL rating). Inspect council overlays and insurance hazard maps for free.","faqs":[{"answer":"In Victoria, check the council planning scheme maps for the Land Subject to Inundation Overlay (LSIO), which applies to flooding from waterways and coastal areas, and the Special Building Overlay (SBO), which marks land prone to overland flooding when the drainage system's capacity is exceeded (Melbourne Water, Flood planning controls explained: https://www.melbournewater.com.au/building-and-works/flooding-information-and-advice/flood-planning-controls-explained). In NSW, a section 10.7 planning certificate shows constraints including flooding (NSW Planning Portal, section 10.7 planning certificates: https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/development-and-assessment/post-consent-certificates/online-section-107-planning-certificate-service). The Open Land Fabric property report lists each flood layer it checked at the address and each it could not; it holds flood layers for only some states and councils, so a report with no flood layer found is not an answer that the land does not flood.","question":"How do I check if my house is in a flood zone in Australia?"},{"answer":"Under AS 3959, BAL-29 is a high risk: increasing ember attack and burning debris, with radiant heat between 19 and 29 kW/m\u00b2 (WA Building and Energy, Building in bushfire-prone areas: https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/building-and-energy/building-bushfire-prone-areas). The construction requirements for each level are set out in AS 3959 itself. No public source found gives what BAL-29 adds to a build; the cost depends on the design, so ask a builder to price the plans at that level.","question":"What does a BAL-29 rating mean for building costs?"},{"answer":"Usually yes, but the price reflects the risk: the Insurance Council of Australia says property owners with a high risk of flood will pay a higher premium, and that flood cover is offered in different ways \u2014 included as standard, included unless you opt out, or not included unless you opt in (Insurance Council of Australia, Flood insurance explained: https://insurancecouncil.com.au/resource/flood-insurance-explained/). Read whether a quote includes flood before relying on it.","question":"Can you get home insurance on a property with a flood overlay?"},{"answer":"No public source found measures this across Australia, so it is not stated here as a rule. What can be checked for a given property is what the overlay requires: in Victoria, both the LSIO and the SBO require a planning permit for buildings and works (Melbourne Water, Flood planning controls explained: https://www.melbournewater.com.au/building-and-works/flooding-information-and-advice/flood-planning-controls-explained), and the insurance premium reflects flood risk (Insurance Council of Australia, Flood insurance explained: https://insurancecouncil.com.au/resource/flood-insurance-explained/). A valuer can say what either means for a particular sale.","question":"Does a council flood overlay automatically reduce property value?"},{"answer":"Riverine flooding is water that has escaped the normal confines of a river, creek or other natural watercourse; that is the standard insurance definition of flood (Insurance Council of Australia, Flood insurance explained: https://insurancecouncil.com.au/resource/flood-insurance-explained/). Overland flow is run-off that travels over the land during heavy rainfall, and can occur very quickly and for short durations (Brisbane City Council, Understanding flood likelihood and impact: https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/community-support-and-safety/natural-disasters-and-emergencies/flooding-in-brisbane/understanding-flood-likelihood-and-impact); Victoria's Special Building Overlay maps it where the drainage system's capacity is exceeded (Melbourne Water: https://www.melbournewater.com.au/building-and-works/flooding-information-and-advice/flood-planning-controls-explained).","question":"What is the difference between riverine flooding and overland flow?"}],"html":"\nFlood and bushfire maps decide what can be built on a lot and feed into what it costs to insure. Insurers price flood risk into the premium (Insurance Council of Australia), and in a designated bushfire prone area the building code's deemed-to-satisfy solution is construction to AS 3959, or for houses the NASH standard (WA Building and Energy).
\n\nIn Australian town planning, flood planning controls are commonly based on the extent of the 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) flood, often called the \"1-in-100-year flood\" (Melbourne Water, Flood planning controls explained).
\nThe Critical Math: A 1% AEP does not mean a flood occurs only once every 100 years. It means there is a 1% chance each year that water will rise above that level, and several such floods can occur in a short period (Melbourne Water, What is a 1 in 100-year flood event?). Over 30 years, treating each year as independent, the chance of at least one such flood is 1 − 0.9930, about 26%.
\n\nIn a designated Bushfire Prone Area (BPA), the National Construction Code's deemed-to-satisfy solution for new houses (Class 1) and their associated Class 10a buildings and decks is compliance with Australian Standard AS 3959 (Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas) or the NASH standard; for apartments and other Class 2 and 3 buildings it is AS 3959. Some alterations and additions to existing buildings are exempt, and the rules on that differ between states (WA Building and Energy, Building in bushfire-prone areas).
\nYour property's Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) sets which AS 3959 construction requirements apply. The descriptions below are from WA Building and Energy (Building in bushfire-prone areas) and the heat-flux bands from Standards Australia's distributor (Intertek Inform, AS 3959 bushfire attack levels). No public source found gives the cost of building to each level.
\n\n| BAL Level | \nRadiant Heat Flux | \nRisk description | \nCost impact | \n
|---|---|---|---|
| BAL-LOW | \nNot assessed as a heat flux | \nThere is insufficient risk to warrant specific construction requirements. | \nNo specific construction requirements | \n
| BAL-12.5 | \n≤ 12.5 kW/m\u00b2 | \nRisk of radiant heat is considered low. Primarily risk of ember attack. | \nNo published figure; ask a builder to price the design | \n
| BAL-19 | \n≤ 19 kW/m\u00b2 | \nModerate. Increasing ember attack and burning debris ignited by windborne embers, with heat flux between 12.5 and 19 kW/m\u00b2. | \nNo published figure; ask a builder to price the design | \n
| BAL-29 | \n≤ 29 kW/m\u00b2 | \nHigh. Increasing ember attack and burning debris ignited by windborne embers, with heat flux between 19 and 29 kW/m\u00b2. | \nNo published figure; ask a builder to price the design | \n
| BAL-40 | \n≤ 40 kW/m\u00b2 | \nVery high. Increasing ember attack, burning debris and heat flux, with the increased likelihood of exposure to flames. | \nNo published figure; ask a builder to price the design | \n
| BAL-FZ | \n> 40 kW/m\u00b2 | \nExtreme. Direct exposure to flames from the fire front in addition to heat flux and ember attack. | \nNo published figure; ask a builder to price the design | \n
This box matches an address and links to its property report. The report checks the flood and bushfire layers Open Land Fabric holds for that place, which cover only some states and councils, and says which it could not check:
\n \nQuery cadastral parcel attributes and geographic intersection with hazard layers using Open Land Fabric:
\ncurl -s \"https://openlandfabric.org/report?lon=151.2093&lat=-33.8688&f=json\"The report lists each hazard layer it checked at that point, and separately each one it could not.
\n","id":"opf-guide-06","meta_description":"How to check if an Australian property is in a flood zone or Bushfire Prone Area (BAL rating). Inspect council overlays and insurance hazard maps for free.","meta_title":"Check Flood Risk & Bushfire Prone Land (BAL) in Australia","primary_tag":{"name":"Hazards","slug":"hazards"},"published_at":"2026-09-06T00:00:00.000Z","reading_time":8,"slug":"check-flood-risk-bushfire-prone-land","tags":[{"name":"Hazards","slug":"hazards"},{"name":"Insurance","slug":"insurance"}],"title":"Check Flood Risk & Bushfire Prone Land (BAL) in Australia","updated_at":"2026-09-09T00:00:00.000Z"},{"authors":[{"name":"Intelligible Spatial Engineering","slug":"intelligible"}],"excerpt":"How ABS ASGS Remoteness Areas define regional Australia. Learn how statistical boundaries impact first-home buyer grants, stamp duty concessions, and zoning.","faqs":[{"answer":"There is no single definition: each program sets its own area in its own rules. Victoria paid a $20,000 First Home Owner Grant for new homes up to $750,000 in regional Victoria for contracts from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2021 (State Revenue Office Victoria, Regional First Home Owner Grant: https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/about-us/our-organisation/closed-taxes-levies-and-grants/regional-first-home-owner-grant); the grant is now $10,000 for new homes up to $750,000 (State Revenue Office Victoria: https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/buying-property/first-home-owner-grant). In other states, read the revenue office's own eligibility rules for the program in question.","question":"What is considered regional for the First Home Buyer Grant?"},{"answer":"Remoteness Areas are derived from the Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+), produced by the University of Adelaide, which measures road distance from populated locations to five categories of service centre, using population as a proxy for service availability. The ABS averages ARIA+ over each SA1 to assign its class (ABS, ASGS Edition 3, Remoteness Areas: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/standards/australian-statistical-geography-standard-asgs-edition-3/jul2021-jun2026/remoteness-structure/remoteness-areas).","question":"How does the ABS determine Remoteness Areas?"},{"answer":"A Mesh Block is the smallest geographic area defined by the ABS, designed where possible to contain between 30 and 60 dwellings. Each has a land use category (Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Parkland, Education, Hospital/Medical, Transport, Primary Production, Water or Other), and Mesh Blocks build up into Statistical Areas (SA1 to SA4) (ABS, ASGS Edition 3, Mesh Blocks: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/standards/australian-statistical-geography-standard-asgs-edition-3/jul2021-jun2026/main-structure-and-greater-capital-city-statistical-areas/mesh-blocks).","question":"What is a Mesh Block in Australian property data?"},{"answer":"The RFHBG was a federal guarantee for regional buyers. On 1 October 2025 the Home Guarantee Scheme became the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, and the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee closed to new applicants; regional buyers now apply as first home buyers (minimum 5% deposit) or single parents and legal guardians (minimum 2%). Property price caps vary by location, and the scheme's postcode search tool gives the cap for a given place (firsthomebuyers.gov.au, 5% Deposit Scheme FAQs: https://firsthomebuyers.gov.au/australian-government-5-percent-deposit-scheme/5-percent-tools-and-resources/faqs).","question":"What is the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG)?"},{"answer":"The ABS publishes the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) after each Census; the current release, from the 2021 Census, came out on 27 April 2023 (ABS, SEIFA 2021: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/socio-economic-indexes-areas-seifa-australia/latest-release). Open Land Fabric does not carry SEIFA: it serves suburb, council, postcode and electorate boundaries, and a set of Census dwelling and household figures by suburb, and leaves out SEIFA on purpose. Get SEIFA from the ABS directly.","question":"Where can I find the SEIFA score for a suburb?"}],"html":"\nWhen a grant, concession or scheme is limited to \"regional\" buyers, whether a property qualifies depends on which side of a line it sits, and each program draws its own line.
\n\nThe Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) is the Australian Bureau of Statistics' classification of Australia into a hierarchy of statistical areas, used for releasing and analysing statistics (ABS, ASGS). Edition 3 (July 2021 to June 2026) remains current until Edition 4 is fully released; the ABS expects Edition 4's Remoteness Structure in March 2028.
\nOther classifications are built on it. The federal health department's Modified Monash Model, used to distribute the health workforce, is based on ASGS Remoteness Areas and town size, and runs from MM 1 (major city) to MM 7 (very remote) (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Modified Monash Model).
\n\nRemoteness in Australia is calculated using the Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+), which measures road distance to five categories of service centre (ABS, Remoteness Areas). The ABS code is two digits: the state or territory, then the class (0 to 4). The town examples below were looked up in the ABS 2021 Remoteness Areas (ABS ASGS 2021 RA service) on 29 September 2026:
\n\n| ABS class digit | \nRemoteness Area (RA) | \nExamples (ASGS 2021) | \nModified Monash Model (health workforce) | \n
|---|---|---|---|
0 | \n Major Cities of Australia | \nSydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth; also Geelong, Newcastle and Wollongong | \nMM 1 (major city) | \n
1 | \n Inner Regional Australia | \nBallarat, Bendigo, Toowoomba, Mackay, Dubbo, Tamworth | \nWithin MM 2 to MM 7, which also weigh town size. Grant eligibility is set by each program, not by this class | \n
2 | \n Outer Regional Australia | \nCairns, Mount Gambier, Albany, Port Augusta | \nWithin MM 2 to MM 7, which also weigh town size | \n
3 | \n Remote Australia | \nAlice Springs, Broome, Cobar, Katherine, Esperance | \nWithin MM 2 to MM 7, which also weigh town size | \n
4 | \n Very Remote Australia | \nCoober Pedy, Tennant Creek | \nMM 7 is very remote | \n
This box matches an address and links to it on the map. It does not look up remoteness, Mesh Block category or grant eligibility: Open Land Fabric does not hold Remoteness Areas or Mesh Blocks. The ABS publishes Remoteness Areas as a web service (ABS ASGS 2021 RA):
\n \nAt the base of the ASGS hierarchy sits the Mesh Block—the smallest spatial unit defined by the ABS. ASGS Edition 3 contains 368,286 Mesh Blocks covering the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps (ABS, Mesh Blocks).
\nThe ABS calculates Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) after each Census; the current release is from the 2021 Census (ABS, SEIFA 2021):
\nOpen Land Fabric serves suburb, council, postcode and electoral boundaries from the ABS ASGS. It does not serve Remoteness Areas, Mesh Blocks or SEIFA:
\ncurl -s \"https://openlandfabric.org/collections/suburbs/items?bbox=144.3606,-38.1500,144.3608,-38.1498\"The same query against /collections/lgas/items, /collections/postcodes/items or /collections/state-divisions/items returns those boundaries.
Land parcels mark where one property ends and the next begins. Yet because land administration is constitutionally separated across eight states and territories, finding and searching parcels has meant using a separate government mapping portal for each state and territory.
\n\nThe cadastre is the official spatial and legal register of land parcels, boundaries, and tenure. In modern GIS environments, it exists as a continuous spatial fabric of polygons where every parcel is tied to surveyed boundary marks on the ground.
\nState cadastral databases store millions of records:
\nEvery cadastral parcel is defined by three fundamental attributes:
\n\n| Component | \nData Format | \nFunction & Practical Importance | \n
|---|---|---|
| Spatial Boundary (Linework) | \nPolygon (GDA2020 / EPSG:7844) | \nThe geographic boundary coordinates surveyed by a licensed cadastral surveyor, calculating area in square metres and frontage perimeter. | \n
| Cadastral Identifier (Lot/Plan) | \nAlphanumeric (e.g. Lot 14 DP 8201) | \n The statutory survey plan identifier that uniquely names the parcel within the state land registry. | \n
| Torrens Title Instrument | \nVolume-Folio or Folio Identifier | \nThe legal certificate issued by the Registrar of Titles guaranteeing indefeasible ownership and recording mortgages, easements, and covenants. | \n
Enter an Australian address to see the matched G-NAF address, its coordinates and its legal parcel identifier:
\n \nOpen Land Fabric serves the cadastres it holds (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and Tasmania) through one interface:
\nLot 5 DP 104523 or Lot 12 SP 88401) to inspect boundary linework directly.Developers and spatial data teams can query parcels through standard OGC API - Features endpoints without downloading a whole state's file:
\ncurl -s \"https://openlandfabric.org/collections/parcels-vic/items?bbox=144.96,-37.82,144.97,-37.81&limit=5\"Victoria, Queensland, the ACT, Tasmania and New South Wales are the collections parcels-vic, parcels-qld, parcels-act, parcels-tas and parcels-nsw. New South Wales is also layer 12 of the ArcGIS FeatureServer at /arcgis/rest/services/OpenLandFabric/FeatureServer/12/query. The other states are listed at /reference with the reason each is not held.
This returns GeoJSON FeatureCollections from an OGC API - Features service, ready for direct ingestion into QGIS, ArcGIS Pro, Mapbox, or custom WebGL pipelines.
\n","id":"opf-guide-08","meta_description":"How Australian cadastral parcel data works across state registries. Learn how to search lot boundaries, download spatial cadastre layers, and query parcels.","meta_title":"Australian Cadastre Explained: Free Parcel Search & Spatial Data","primary_tag":{"name":"Cadastre","slug":"cadastre"},"published_at":"2026-09-09T00:00:00.000Z","reading_time":8,"slug":"australian-cadastre-parcel-search","tags":[{"name":"Cadastre","slug":"cadastre"},{"name":"Parcels","slug":"parcels"}],"title":"The Australian Cadastre Explained: National Parcel Search & Spatial Data","updated_at":"2026-09-09T00:00:00.000Z"},{"authors":[{"name":"Intelligible Spatial Engineering","slug":"intelligible"}],"excerpt":"Understand the differences between parcels, titles, and addresses in Australia. Learn how lot numbers, G-NAF address points, and land titles connect.","faqs":[{"answer":"Street addresses are assigned by addressing authorities, usually local councils, under AS/NZS 4819 (https://store.standards.org.au/product/as-nzs-4819-2011), and are indexed nationally in G-NAF. Legal property descriptions (such as Lot 14 on Deposited Plan 8201) are cadastral survey identifiers registered at the state titles office under the Torrens title system.","question":"Why does my street address differ from my legal property description?"},{"answer":"Yes. Merged residential blocks, historic subdivisions, or rural properties frequently comprise multiple survey parcels (e.g. Lot 101 and Lot 102) managed under a single street address and rate assessment.","question":"Can one house sit on two separate land parcels?"},{"answer":"Yes. In strata apartment complexes, dozens or hundreds of individual residential strata titles (airspace lots) sit on a single parent land parcel on the ground.","question":"Can multiple titles share a single cadastral parcel?"},{"answer":"Enter the address into Open Land Fabric. The geocoder returns G-NAF's legal parcel identifier for it and, for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and Tasmania, a link to the matching parcel held here. The match is made on that identifier, not by a spatial intersection. Western Australian, South Australian and Northern Territory parcels are not held.","question":"How do I find the Lot and Plan number for any Australian address?"}],"html":"\nWhen building proptech applications or conducting property due diligence, nothing causes more headaches than discovering that an address is not a parcel, a parcel is not a title, and a title is not a rates assessment. These four concepts represent completely different systems that happen to describe the same patch of Australian soil.
\n\nTo understand Australian land data, you must separate physical delivery from spatial geometry and legal ownership:
\n\n| Layer | \nPrimary Registry | \nCore Question It Answers | \nKey Entity Identifier | \n
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Physical Address | \nLocal Council / G-NAF | \nWhere does the postie deliver mail? | \nStreet number, Street name, Suburb, Postcode (G-NAF PID) | \n
| 2. Cadastral Parcel | \nState Spatial Authority | \nWhere are the surveyed ground boundaries? | \nLot number and Plan number (e.g. Lot 12 DP 4567) | \n
| 3. Land Title | \nState Land Titles Office (LRS) | \nWho legally owns the land and what encumbrances exist? | \nCertificate of Title / Folio Identifier (e.g. 12/4567) | \n
| 4. Municipal Assessment | \nLocal Council Revenue Dept | \nWho pays the rates and bin collection charges? | \nCouncil Assessment Number / Valuation Number | \n
Enter a property address to see the matched G-NAF address and its legal parcel identifier, with a link to the property report:
\n \nWhy do systems get confused? Consider these configurations. The addresses and plan numbers below are made up to illustrate them:
\n14 Smith St), but the property consists of two distinct surveyed parcels (Lot 101 DP 123 and Lot 102 DP 123). If the two lots still hold separate titles, selling one later needs no new subdivision plan, because both lots already exist.12 Ocean St and another on 14 Coastal Way. Both postal addresses resolve to the exact same cadastral survey parcel on the ground.SP 90214 CP).If you have an address and need the official Lot/Plan description for legal contracts or title searches:
\nlegal_parcel_id and a link to the parcel, whose lot, plan_type and plan_number give the plan. Zoning is not in the geocoder's answer; the property report gives it where a zoning layer is held.Automate entity disambiguation in Python or Node.js using Open Land Fabric's reverse geocoding and parcel lookups:
\ncurl -s \"https://openlandfabric.org/geocode?q=100+Barangaroo+Ave+Barangaroo+NSW\"The response includes the G-NAF address, its coordinates, and the legal parcel identifier with a link to the parcel held here. On 29 September 2026 this address returned 213/1221076.
GeoPy is a Python library that puts many geocoding services behind one interface; many of those services need an account or an API key. Open Land Fabric provides an ArcGIS-compatible GeocodeServer over G-NAF, Australia's national address file.
\n\nBecause Open Land Fabric implements standard Esri REST specifications, you do not need a custom plugin or private credentials. Simply pass domain=\"openlandfabric.org\" to GeoPy's built-in ArcGIS geocoder.
Install GeoPy via pip or uv:
\npip install geopyThen run a forward geocode query:
\nfrom geopy.geocoders import ArcGIS\n\n# Point GeoPy directly to Open Land Fabric\ngeolocator = ArcGIS(domain=\"openlandfabric.org\", timeout=10)\n\nlocation = geolocator.geocode(\"100 Flinders Street, Melbourne VIC 3000\")\nprint(location.address)\nprint(f\"Latitude: {location.latitude}, Longitude: {location.longitude}\")\n# Output:\n# 100 FLINDERS STREET MELBOURNE VIC 3000\n# Latitude: -37.81605999, Longitude: 144.97143746When geocoding lists or CSVs in Pandas, wrap the geocoder in GeoPy's RateLimiter to pace requests and automatically retry transient network errors:
import pandas as pd\nfrom geopy.geocoders import ArcGIS\nfrom geopy.extra.rate_limiter import RateLimiter\n\ndf = pd.DataFrame({\n \"site_id\": [1, 2, 3],\n \"address\": [\n \"100 Flinders St Melbourne VIC\",\n \"1 Martin Place Sydney NSW\",\n \"100 Queen St Brisbane QLD\"\n ]\n})\n\ngeolocator = ArcGIS(domain=\"openlandfabric.org\", timeout=10)\n\n# Pace requests sequentially (min_delay_seconds=0.15) to respect concurrency limits\ngeocode = RateLimiter(geolocator.geocode, min_delay_seconds=0.15, max_retries=2)\n\ndf[\"location\"] = df[\"address\"].apply(geocode)\ndf[\"point\"] = df[\"location\"].apply(lambda loc: tuple(loc.point) if loc else None)\ndf[\"lat\"] = df[\"location\"].apply(lambda loc: loc.latitude if loc else None)\ndf[\"lon\"] = df[\"location\"].apply(lambda loc: loc.longitude if loc else None)\n\nprint(df[[\"site_id\", \"address\", \"lat\", \"lon\"]])The public limits, as /stats/usage reported them on 29 September 2026: 600 requests a minute with a burst of 900, counted per worker process, and at most 4 requests in flight at once per caller. They are the same with or without a key.
\nRateLimiter(min_delay_seconds=0.15) sends at most 400 requests a minute, one at a time, which stays inside both limits.Retry-After: 1.exact, high, moderate, review or no_match.Find the G-NAF address this service returns for a coordinate:
\nlocation = geolocator.reverse(\"-37.8164, 144.9702\")\nprint(location.address)\n# Output (29 September 2026): 2 RUSSELL STREET MELBOURNE VIC 3000GeoPy and Open Land Fabric give a Python geocoding stack for Australia with no credit card and no vendor lock-in, over openly licensed G-NAF addresses and the cadastres this service is permitted to serve.
\n","id":"fallback-post-10","published_at":"2026-09-09T12:00:00.000Z","reading_time":6,"slug":"geopy-australian-address-geocoding","tags":[{"name":"Developer","slug":"developer"},{"name":"Python","slug":"python"},{"name":"Geocoding","slug":"geocoding"}],"title":"How to Geocode Australian Addresses with GeoPy & Open Land Fabric"},{"authors":[{"name":"Intelligible Property Advisory","slug":"intelligible"}],"custom_excerpt":"The essential pre-auction and pre-purchase due diligence checklist for Australian home buyers. Avoid overland flow flood zones, sewer easements, bushfire BAL costs, and heritage restrictions.","excerpt":"The essential pre-auction and pre-purchase due diligence checklist for Australian home buyers. Avoid overland flow flood zones, sewer easements, bushfire BAL costs, and heritage restrictions.","faqs":[{"answer":"Check the registered easements on title, 1% AEP flood and overland flow overlays, bushfire prone land (BAL rating), municipal council zoning, heritage conservation overlays, and public school catchments. Never rely solely on the agent's marketing brochure or verbal assurances.","question":"What should I check before making an offer or bidding at auction in Australia?"},{"answer":"A building and pest inspector only assesses the physical structure (cracks, termites, damp, roof integrity). They do not inspect legal title encumbrances, underground sewer mains, overland flow flooding risk, or council planning scheme restrictions that govern what you can build, extend, or renovate.","question":"Why isn't a standard building and pest inspection enough?"},{"answer":"Overland flow paths occur when intense rainfall overwhelms local stormwater systems and sheets across properties on its way to creeks or drainage basins. Even if water never entered the habitable rooms, an insurer that rates the property as exposed to flooding can price the policy higher or leave flood out of the cover, so get a quote before you commit.","question":"Why does overland flow matter if the house has never flooded before?"},{"answer":"As a first screen, yes. A Property Report shows the planning zone, the mapped overlays and hazards, and the parcel boundary that this service holds for an address, and names each layer it could not check. It is not a planning certificate, and it does not replace a conveyancer's review of the contract.","question":"Can I get a property due diligence report before paying a conveyancer to review the contract?"},{"answer":"Open Land Fabric uses a strict three-state assessment: Affected, Not Affected, and Not Assessed. 'Not Assessed' (shown on the page as 'Not checked') means this service does not hold that map for this place, and the report gives the reason: the custodian may not publish it, may sell it, or may license it on terms that forbid redistribution. It protects you from mistaking an absence of data here for an all-clear.","question":"What does 'Not Assessed' mean on an Open Land Fabric report?"}],"feature_image":"/og-image.png","html":"\nWhen buying a home or investment property in Australia, buyers can spend weeks at open homes looking at kitchens and finishes. The problems that cost most rarely appear on a real estate flyer: an unmapped overland flow path, an underground sewer easement where you meant to put a pool, or a bushfire designation that raises the construction standard for any renovation.
\n\nMany buyers assume that because a property is nowhere near a river or creek, it cannot flood. Overland flow is stormwater that leaves the drainage system in heavy rain and runs across land; in Victoria the Special Building Overlay maps land in urban areas liable to it (Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 44.05). A property far from any creek can still be in its path.
\nIf you plan a pool, a deck or a secondary dwelling (granny flat), check before you buy whether a drainage or sewer easement, or a pipe without one, crosses the part of the block you meant to build on. The title search and the registered plan show easements; the water authority's records show its pipes.
\nIn NSW, bush fire prone land maps put a 100 metre buffer around the highest-risk vegetation (forest, woodland, heath) and a 30 metre buffer around lower-risk categories such as grassland (Data.NSW, NSW Bush Fire Prone Land). Other states map it their own way. AS 3959 is the Australian Standard for building in bushfire-prone areas, not planning legislation.
\nHeritage isn't just for 19th-century mansions. Heritage controls can cover a whole street or precinct: NSW councils map heritage conservation areas in their local environmental plans, and in Victoria a Heritage Overlay can apply to a precinct as well as a single building (Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 43.01).
\nGovernment school zones are set by the state education department, and a zone boundary can run down the middle of a street, so two houses facing each other can have different local schools. In Victoria, every eligible child has the right to attend their local school, zones can change each year, and the department says to check zones on its Find my School website rather than rely on agents or other websites (vic.gov.au, School zones).
\nIf a school zone is part of why you are paying the price, confirm the address is inside the zone with the department before you bid. The Property Report shows the government school zone for Victorian and NSW addresses, from the departments' published zone maps; it does not hold Queensland zones.
\n\nA block sloping down from the street introduces two significant costs:
\nConverted garages, ground-floor rumpus rooms, or detached studios advertised by agents as 'dual living' or 'fourth bedroom' can lack building approval, or fall short of the minimum ceiling height for a habitable room, which is 2.4 m under the National Construction Code (NCC 2022 Housing Provisions, Part 10.3). Councils can order unapproved work to be brought into line or removed.
\n\nVendor disclosure (the Section 32 statement in Victoria (Consumer Affairs Victoria), the documents attached to a NSW contract, including the council's Section 10.7 planning certificate (NSW Fair Trading), and the Form 1 in South Australia (Law Handbook SA, Form 1)) covers what the law requires and no more. A planning certificate reports what the council has mapped; it will not tell you about a risk nobody has mapped.
\nSee the zoning, the ground fall and the mapped planning overlays and hazards this service holds for an address, and the layers it could not check. It does not show easements, which are on the title.
\n \nThe report is free to read. The 3D building envelope and the branded PDF need a plan or a single-property pass, and so does aerial imagery where a licensed imagery provider is connected; the pricing page has the prices and says whether imagery is available.
\nReal estate listings across Australia love promoting 'Huge Block with Granny Flat Potential' or 'Prime Dual-Occupancy / Duplex Site (STCA)'. Those four letters, STCA (Subject to Council Approval), mean the approval has not been given, and the planning controls on the lot may not allow what the listing suggests.
\n\nThe rules come from different instruments in each state: in NSW, the Housing SEPP and each council's local environmental plan; in Victoria, the planning scheme zones; in Queensland, each council's planning scheme. The table gives what the state sources say, checked on 29 September 2026; the council's own plan decides for a particular lot.
\n| Jurisdiction | \nSecondary Dwelling (Granny Flat) | \nAttached Duplex (Dual Occupancy) | \nDetached Duplex | \n
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales (NSW) | \n450 m² minimum lot for complying development; lot width and setbacks in Schedule 1 of the Housing SEPP (NSW Planning, Secondary dwellings) | \nPermitted with consent in R2 zones state-wide; in low and mid-rise housing areas, minimum 450 m² lot and 12 m width (NSW Planning, Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy) | \nSame Housing SEPP standards in low and mid-rise housing areas; elsewhere the council's local environmental plan sets the minimum lot size | \n
| Victoria (VIC) | \nSmall second dwelling up to 60 m²: no planning permit in most cases on a lot over 300 m² in the residential zones (Greater Dandenong City Council, Small second dwelling) | \nNo state minimum lot size; on a lot of 400 m² or more a minimum garden area of 25 to 35 per cent applies (Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 32.08-4) | \nSet by the zone and its schedule, including the garden area rule | \n
| Queensland (QLD) | \nSet by the council's planning scheme; check the scheme for the lot | \nSet by the council's planning scheme | \nSet by the council's planning scheme | \n
A lot's area is not the area you can build on. An easement along the back fence or down the side, and the required setbacks, both take space out of the building envelope.
\nIf a property is in a flood overlay, expect a minimum floor level. In Melbourne Water's area, councils set it by adding a freeboard, typically 300 to 600 mm, to the 1% AEP flood level (Melbourne Water, Property flood level certificate). A raised floor can change how the building is built, and some councils also require on-site stormwater detention.
\nThese requirements add to the cost of a build. Price them for the site before you work out a yield.
\n\nIn Victoria, a Vegetation Protection Overlay (VPO) requires a permit to remove, destroy or lop the vegetation its schedule protects (Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 42.02-2); other states and councils have their own tree controls. If a mature native eucalyptus tree sits in the rear yard where you planned to construct a secondary dwelling, council arborists may refuse tree removal permits. Removing protected vegetation without a permit is a breach of the planning scheme.
\n\nA map with no hazard drawn on it is not the same as a property with no hazard. Open Land Fabric gives every layer one of three answers:
\nBefore negotiating purchase price, making unconditional offers, or attending Saturday auctions:
\nCheck an address's zoning, boundary and mapped overlays in a Property Report, or inspect boundaries on the map, free. Each report names its sources and the layers it could not check.
\n \nOpen Land Fabric answers questions from four Commonwealth-published datasets through REST endpoints and MCP tools. This guide covers mobile coverage and nearby mobile sites from the ACCC's 2024 data, each site's link to the RFNSA (run by the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association for the Mobile Carriers Forum, not by ACMA), and native title matters from the National Native Title Tribunal.
\n\nQueries carrier coverage across Australia's major Mobile Network Operators (Telstra, Optus, and TPG Telecom / Vodafone) and finds the nearest mobile site in the ACCC's 2024 site list.
\n\nEndpoint: GET /api/telecom?lat={latitude}&lon={longitude}&radius_m={metres}
lat (float, required): WGS84 / GDA2020 latitude (e.g. -33.8839).lon (float, required): WGS84 / GDA2020 longitude (e.g. 151.2269).radius_m (float, optional): Search radius in metres for nearby base station telemetry (default 5000, set by the operator; values are clamped to between 100 and 50000).For lat=-33.8839&lon=151.2269, as returned on 29 September 2026, shortened (the nearby_towers and closest_towers lists are left out).
{\n \"status\": \"ok\",\n \"telecom\": {\n \"status_code\": \"5g\",\n \"status_label\": \"Inside the mapped 5G outdoor coverage (ACCC 2024)\",\n \"has_5g\": true,\n \"has_4g\": true,\n \"ea_required\": false,\n \"carriers\": {\n \"Telstra\": {\"name\": \"Telstra\", \"has_5g\": true, \"has_4g\": true, \"has_ea\": true, \"status_text\": \"5G outdoor and 4G outdoor\"},\n \"Optus\": {\"name\": \"Optus\", \"has_5g\": true, \"has_4g\": true, \"has_ea\": true, \"status_text\": \"5G outdoor and 4G outdoor\"},\n \"TPG\": {\"name\": \"TPG / Vodafone\", \"has_5g\": true, \"has_4g\": true, \"has_ea\": true, \"status_text\": \"5G outdoor and 4G outdoor\"}\n },\n \"nearest_tower\": {\n \"mno\": \"Optus\",\n \"rfnsa_id\": 2021021,\n \"rfnsa_url\": \"https://www.rfnsa.com.au/2021021\",\n \"distance_m\": 225,\n \"direction\": \"WSW\",\n \"bearing_deg\": 242,\n \"has_5g\": true,\n \"co_funded\": false\n },\n \"towers_radius_m\": 5000.0,\n \"towers_within_5km_count\": 1113,\n \"source\": \"ACCC Mobile Infrastructure & Coverage Audit 2024\"\n }\n}Queries the National Native Title Tribunal's custodial service to find whether a point falls within Federal Court determinations of native title, registered Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs), or active claimant applications.
\n\nEndpoint: GET /api/native-title?lat={latitude}&lon={longitude}
lat (float, required): Latitude of target property.lon (float, required): Longitude of target property.For lat=-17.96&lon=122.23 (Broome), as returned on 29 September 2026.
{\n \"status\": \"ok\",\n \"native_title\": {\n \"status_code\": \"determined\",\n \"status_label\": \"Determined: Rubibi Community\",\n \"source\": \"National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) Custodial Register\",\n \"has_determinations\": true,\n \"has_active_claims\": false,\n \"has_iluas\": false,\n \"determinations\": [\n {\n \"name\": \"Rubibi Community\",\n \"tribunal_id\": \"WCD2006/001\",\n \"fc_number\": \"WAD6006/1998, WAD223/2004\",\n \"date\": \"28 Apr 2006\",\n \"status\": \"In effect - Finalised\",\n \"outcome\": \"Native title exists in parts of the determination area\",\n \"rntbc_name\": \"Yawuru Native Title Holders Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC\"\n }\n ],\n \"claims\": [],\n \"iluas\": [],\n \"ratsib_body\": {\n \"jurisdiction\": \"WA\",\n \"name\": \"Kimberley\",\n \"organisation\": \"Kimberley Land Council\",\n \"type\": \"Native Title Representative Body\",\n \"url\": \"http://www.klc.org.au/\"\n },\n \"due_diligence_advice\": \"Native title was determined by the Federal Court (WAD6006/1998, WAD223/2004). Outcome: Native title exists in parts of the determination area. Prescribed Body Corporate: Yawuru Native Title Holders Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC. Whether native title survives on this land depends on its tenure history, which this service does not hold.\"\n }\n}Returns the local government area, suburb and postcode at a point in one request, from the Department of Infrastructure's KeyFreightRoutes Administrative Areas service.
\n\nEndpoint: GET /api/identify?lat={latitude}&lon={longitude}
admin.lga: local government area name, label, state and PID.suburb: Official Locality name, label, and Locality PID.postcode: 4-digit postal code and Postcode PID.import requests\n\nBASE_URL = \"https://openlandfabric.org\"\nlat, lon = -33.8839, 151.2269\n\n# 1. Check 5G mobile coverage and nearest cell tower\ntelecom_resp = requests.get(f\"{BASE_URL}/api/telecom\", params={\"lat\": lat, \"lon\": lon}).json()\ntc = telecom_resp.get(\"telecom\", {})\nprint(f\"Mobile Status: {tc.get('status_label')}\")\nif tc.get(\"nearest_tower\"):\n tower = tc[\"nearest_tower\"]\n print(f\"Nearest Base Station: {tower['mno']} {tower['distance_m']}m {tower['direction']}\")\n\n# 2. Check Native Title determinations\nnt_resp = requests.get(f\"{BASE_URL}/api/native-title\", params={\"lat\": lat, \"lon\": lon}).json()\nnt = nt_resp.get(\"native_title\", {})\nprint(f\"Statutory Tenure: {nt.get('status_label')}\")\nasync function auditPropertyConnectivity(lat, lon) {\n const [telecomRes, nativeTitleRes] = await Promise.all([\n fetch(`https://openlandfabric.org/api/telecom?lat=${lat}&lon=${lon}`).then(r => r.json()),\n fetch(`https://openlandfabric.org/api/native-title?lat=${lat}&lon=${lon}`).then(r => r.json())\n ]);\n\n console.log(\"5G Readiness:\", telecomRes.telecom.status_label);\n console.log(\"Native Title:\", nativeTitleRes.native_title.status_label);\n}\nThe telecom and native title lookups also appear in the property report, as map layers, and as the MCP tools olf_telecom_audit and olf_native_title. The endpoints console linked below is for the service's operators and is hidden from other accounts.
Every Australian property transaction, subdivision assessment, and architectural design starts with basic due diligence: What is the registered Lot and Plan? What zoning controls apply? Is the land mapped as bushfire prone or flood affected? Here is how to search an address or a lot on plan and read the report, which names the source of each answer and says what was not checked. It is not a statutory planning certificate.
\n\nNavigate to the homepage at openlandfabric.org or open openlandfabric.org/report. On the homepage the search box sits under five example reports: Zoning, Collingwood VIC, Second dwelling, Cringila NSW, Lot size and slope, Brisbane, Sewer and water, Sydney and Bushfire and flood, Brunswick VIC. Each opens the report for that address at the section it names. /report on its own shows a plain address box.
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/01-homepage-search.png\")
\n\nThe search box takes a street address (e.g. 18 Hunter Street Parramatta NSW) or, for the parcels held in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT, a lot on plan like 14/DP1045231 or 52SP164185.
Start typing. After three characters, suggestions from the Geocoded National Address File (G-NAF) appear: addresses that match what you typed, marked Address, and streets, marked Street, with the number of addresses held on each and a note when the number you typed is not listed on it.
\n\n![\"4](\"/assets/guides/02-autocomplete-dropdown.png\")
\n\nClick a suggestion, or press Enter or Get report to search for what you typed, and the property report opens.
\n\nThe top of the report gives the matched address, then the lot and plan (legal land ID), the area in square metres, the perimeter, the council, the suburb or locality, the postcode and the state or territory.
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/03-property-report-header.png\")
\n\nThe toolbar above the report has, among others (Add to portfolio, Email report):
\nBelow the header, the report gives the planning zone and the overlays checked at the point, and the mapped maximum building height and floor space ratio where a layer held here publishes them (the NSW LEP maps). A layer not checked is said to be not checked.
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/05-zones-overlays-pip.png\")
\n\nThe At a glance card, headed Summary, sums up the report's own findings in three panels:
\nThe report's Map section draws the boundary as this service holds it (or as South Australia or Western Australia serves it), with each side's length in metres measured from that boundary. It is measured from the digital cadastre, not from a survey plan.
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/07-cadastre-map.png\")
\n\nThe buttons above it switch between Standard Map, Poles & lines (as each network publishes them) and 3D, which shows buildings, trees and poles and lines and needs a Professional or Developer plan. An Aerial button appears where the operator has turned it on.
\n\nSearch an Australian address for its report: the parcel where one is held, and the zone and overlays checked, each with its source.
\n \nPut the comparable sales you hold beside the property you are valuing. Every lot, the subject included, is measured from the same stored records, with the date each was measured, and the appendix is ready for your file.
\n\nFrom a property report, open More and choose Compare with sales, or open Comparable sales from your Portfolio. Set the valuation date; it starts at today.
\n\nPaste a table copied from your sales data or a spreadsheet, or choose a CSV file. The first row names the columns: an address, a price and a date. Dates are read day first, so 3/4/2025 is 3 April. Each row is matched to its lot before you save; an address that cannot be matched is kept and marked, never guessed. For a property in New South Wales you can also tick recorded sales near the subject.
\n\nEach comparable shows its sale, its age at the valuation date, its distance from the subject, and its measured lot: area, frontage, depth, slope, zone, controls and overlays. Columns of your own that you pasted show under the address. A figure this service does not hold says Not checked. A sale dated after the valuation date is flagged. Measure again reads a lot's latest stored measurement, the subject's included.
\n\nChoose Edit on a comparable to correct its sale price or date, or to add your own adjustments, as a percentage or an amount, with a note. The page shows your adjusted price, labelled as yours. The service does not suggest adjustments or values.
\n\nPrint the appendix to PDF from your browser, with your firm's branding where your plan includes it, or download the CSV. The workspace comes with the Professional plan and above: see the plans.
\n","id":"opf-tutorial-07","meta_description":"Put the comparable sales you hold beside a subject property. Every lot is measured from the same stored records, dated, with your adjustments and an appendix for your file.","meta_title":"Comparable sales workspace for valuers \u2014 Open Land Fabric","primary_tag":{"name":"Tutorial","slug":"tutorial"},"published_at":"2026-10-09T00:00:00.000Z","reading_time":3,"slug":"comparable-sales-workspace","tags":[{"name":"Tutorial","slug":"tutorial"},{"name":"Valuation","slug":"valuation"}],"title":"Comparable Sales: Your Evidence Beside the Property You Are Valuing","updated_at":"2026-10-09T00:00:00.000Z"},{"authors":[{"name":"Open Land Fabric Team","slug":"team"}],"excerpt":"Learn how to navigate Australia's national parcel fabric on the interactive map, inspect boundary vectors, check hazards and schools, and use GPS on site.","faqs":[{"answer":"No more accurate than the state's digital cadastre, which is a map of the titles, not a survey. The held states' boundaries are copies loaded from each state's published data and stored in GDA2020 (EPSG:7844); South Australia's and Western Australia's are drawn live from each state's own service.","question":"How accurate are the parcel boundaries?"},{"answer":"Yes. Tap Use my location. With the browser's permission the map centres on the position your device reports, says how accurate that is in metres, and selects a parcel nearby.","question":"Can I use the map in the field on a smartphone or tablet?"},{"answer":"Aerial imagery as the basemap where a licensed imagery provider is connected and your plan includes it, and, for the selected parcel or pin: whether a bushfire or flood area is mapped there, schools within 3 km (ACARA's school locations), the council, suburb, postcode and state, mobile towers nearby, sun and shadow, and native title determinations (NNTT).","question":"What map overlay layers are available?"}],"html":"\nThe map draws the parcel boundaries this service holds for NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT, and South Australia's and Western Australia's as each state serves them. Pan, click a boundary, and switch the basemap or hazard layers.
\n\nNavigate to openlandfabric.org/map. The map opens at street level (central Brisbane, unless the link names a place), with a search box and buttons for the layers.
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/map-01-initial-load.png\")
\n\nType an address or a street in the Find an address box. Suggestions come from G-NAF: addresses, marked Address, and streets, marked Street, with the number of addresses held on each.
\n\n![\"10](\"/assets/guides/map-02-autocomplete.png\")
\n\nChoosing a result centres the map on it at a view several hundred metres across and loads the parcel boundaries in view.
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/map-03-zoomed-parcels.png\")
\n\nClicking inside a parcel shows it in the Selected lot panel, address first:
\n1//DP1022883)![\"A](\"/assets/guides/map-04-parcel-details.png\")
\n\nThe map buttons turn on layers that are read for the selected parcel or pin. A Satellite button appears only where a licensed aerial imagery provider is connected and your plan includes it; otherwise Aerial imagery is listed under Paid map layers with See plans:
\nWhen conducting an on-site property inspection, tap Use my location (beside the layer buttons, or under the search box). With the browser's permission, the map centres on the position your device reports, says how accurate it is in metres, and selects a parcel nearby. Phone positions are often several metres out and the digital cadastre is a map of the titles, not a survey, so this cannot confirm where a fence or peg should be; a registered surveyor can.
\n\n![\"After](\"/assets/guides/map-06-gps-location.png\")
\n\nPan, zoom and click the parcels this service holds, and South Australia's and Western Australia's as each state serves them.
\nFind sites makes the parcels this service holds searchable by what can be built on them. Instead of inspecting properties one by one, you can query across whole councils for parcels meeting specific area, zoning, frontage, slope, and transit proximity criteria.
\n\nNavigate to openlandfabric.org/site-finder (or /search), or choose Find sites in the menu; the page is headed Find sites. The sidebar holds the filters and the starting points under three views: Nearby places, Zoning and size and Similar parcels. The main area shows a map and a results table.
\n\n![\"Find](\"/assets/guides/sf-01-initial-load.png\")
\n\nEach starting point fills in a few filters, and its tooltip says which; it is not a planning requirement. The Zoning and size starting points are below. The first three read the NSW maps, which need a Developer plan or a pass; without one the page offers a pass.
\nSet the filters in the sidebar:
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/sf-02-filters-filled.png\")
\n\nPress Search and the matching parcels are listed under Results; how many rows you see depends on your plan (see /pricing). The table's columns are:
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/sf-03-results-scores.png\")
\n\n| Metric | \nWhat it Evaluates | \nDeveloper Benefit | \n
|---|---|---|
| Match / Closeness | \nLikeness to the parcels you shortlisted, or to a reference parcel | \nFilled in when you press Sort like my shortlist, or for Similar parcels; hover it for what was compared | \n
| Fall & Slope | \nFall relative to the street and slope (%), measured for the lot, or a regional estimate marked as such | \nShows whether the lot falls towards or away from the street; needs a Developer plan or a pass | \n
| Yield & Servicing | \nNSW LEP map findings: a dual occupancy prohibition or restriction area, the minimum lot size for it, lots at the mapped minimum, TOD area | \nSays what the maps show; the zone, the LEP and any SEPP still decide what is permitted | \n
| Overlays | \nThe overlay layers held here that touch the lot | \nShows which mapped constraints to look into; land a layer does not cover is not shown as clear | \n
Click a column heading to sort by it (area, zone, fall, yield and the others). On each row the star shortlists the lot and the cross rules it out; the tabs above the table are Results, Shortlist, Ruled out and All shown. Save search keeps the filters, the shortlist and the ruled-out lots, and Saved lists your saved searches; nothing watches a saved search for changes. Start again clears the shortlist and the ruled-out lots. The results or the shortlist can be exported:
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/sf-05-sort-controls.png\")
\n\nFilter the parcels this service holds by zone, area, slope and frontage.
\n \nCAD Studio draws a parcel, or several adjoining parcels as one site, so you can measure them, and exports the drawing as DXF for CAD and GIS software. It also opens a DXF of your own.
\n\nNavigate directly to openlandfabric.org/cad-studio, or use the CAD button on a Find sites row, CAD Studio under Property report for this parcel on the map, or Open in CAD Studio under More on a property report. Opened on its own, it says No drawing open and asks for an address under Open a property's boundary; Open a DXF opens one of your own.
\n\n![\"CAD](\"/assets/guides/cad-01-initial.png\")
\n\nWhen a parcel loads, CAD Studio draws its boundary as this service holds it, with the total area, perimeter and number of parcels above the drawing:
\n\n![\"One](\"/assets/guides/cad-02-parcel-loaded.png\")
\n\nThere is no maximise button. The drawing fills the page beside the sidebar; the browser's own full-screen mode gives it the whole screen. Pan, zoom and the coordinate readout work the same either way:
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/cad-03-maximized.png\")
\n\nThe switch on the canvas changes from 2D to 3D, a second viewer (mlightcad) that draws a DXF; it adds no terrain. It is empty until a DXF is open: one you imported, or the parcels' DXF where your plan includes the download. Without that, CAD Studio shows the parcels as a GeoJSON view, which the second viewer does not draw. Elevation comes as contour lines: where Geoscience Australia's 5 m elevation service answers, the drawing carries contours in metres AHD, and where it does not, the drawing says why.
\n\n![\"3D](\"/assets/guides/cad-04-3d-mode.png\")
\n\nClick Download DXF in the toolbar. It needs a Developer or Enterprise plan or a pass; without one, CAD Studio still draws and measures the parcels. The file is ASCII DXF R12 with these layers:
\nCONSTITUENT_LOTS: each parcel's boundary as a closed polyline.SUPER_LOT_ENVELOPE: the outline of the parcels combined.ELEVATION_CONTOURS: contours from the 5 m DEM, or a note saying why there are none; and BUILDING_ENVELOPE, a uniform inward offset, only when one is asked for and not the planning scheme's setbacks.METRICS_TEXT: the number of lots, area, zone, combined road frontage and coordinate system, as text.Save keeps the drawing in your account, under Saved drawings on your profile and in the account menu; opening one there brings it back here. View on Map lays the drawing over the map. Back returns you to the report, the Find sites list, the map or the portfolio you came from. Without a plan that includes the DXF, the parcels are still drawn and measured, and the Save, Download and 3D buttons say what they need.
\n\nDraw and measure parcel boundaries in your browser, and export them as GDA2020 / MGA DXF with a Developer or Enterprise plan or a pass.
\nThe Batch geocoding page geocodes a CSV of Australian addresses, matches each to its parcel where one is held, and grades every row. It does not add planning zones.
\n\nNavigate to openlandfabric.org/workspace, or choose Batch geocoding under Tools. The page lists your past runs under Your batches, with New batch below it for a new one. The enriched CSV itself is kept only in the browser that ran the batch.
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/ws-01-initial.png\")
\n\nDrag and drop your spreadsheet into the upload zone, or click browse to select a file from your computer. The file must be a standard .csv file. Load 10 sample addresses loads a sample file instead.
![\"New](\"/assets/guides/ws-02-create-task.png\")
\n\nAfter loading, the page previews the first 50 rows. Check the Address Column dropdown: it picks a column headed address (or containing address or street), and you can choose another. Only that column is sent, and it should hold the whole address:
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/ws-03-csv-config.png\")
\n\nPress Run Batch Geocode & Parcel Match. When it finishes, the run is listed under Your batches with its counts:
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/ws-04-history.png\")
\n\nolf_note.Click Download Enriched CSV for the address column you sent with these columns added: the grade, the matched address, longitude and latitude, the parcel id and lot/plan where a parcel is linked, suburb, state and postcode, the G-NAF address id, a score and a note. The file's other columns are not carried through, and no planning zones are added.
\n\nA web batch stops at 5,000 rows a job. For a script that runs on its own, GeoPy's ArcGIS geocoder works against this service when pointed at its domain; it sends one address per request, under the same rate limit as every caller:
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/ws-06-integrations.png\")
\n\nfrom geopy.geocoders import ArcGIS\nimport pandas as pd\n\n# Without domain=, GeoPy sends the address to Esri's geocoder, not this one\ngeolocator = ArcGIS(domain=\"openlandfabric.org\", timeout=10)\nlocation = geolocator.geocode(\"18 Hunter Street, Parramatta NSW\")\nprint(location.latitude, location.longitude)\nGeocode an address spreadsheet and match each row to its parcel, graded row by row.
\n \nYour account page holds your API keys, your plan and its monthly allowances, and your saved reports, portfolios and drawings.
\n\nNavigate to openlandfabric.org/profile, or press Sign in at the top of any page. Sign in with your username or email and a password, or create an account on the Create an account tab. Below the form, a read-only demo account can be opened without either.
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/prof-01-login-portal.png\")
\n\nThe top of the page shows your plan, the aerial images and batch rows used this month, and Plan and billing. The tabs down the side include API Keys, Saved Reports, Portfolios, Saved drawings, Batch geocoding, Your logo on reports, Plan and billing, and Referrals. It does not count your free Pip questions; Pip says when the day's are used up.
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/prof-02-dashboard.png\")
\n\nTo give a script, a GIS connection or an AI agent a key, open the API Keys tab, headed API keys:
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/prof-04-api-keys.png\")
\n\nAuthorization: Bearer olf_...; keys begin olf_. The REST API answers without a key too, under the same rate limit.https://openlandfabric.org/mcp.Visit openlandfabric.org/pricing to compare the Community, Professional, Developer and Enterprise plans:
\n\n![\"The](\"/assets/guides/prof-06-pricing-top.png\")
\n\nPrices are on the pricing page, read from the current plans; this guide does not repeat them, so it cannot go stale.
\n\n| Feature | \nCommunity | \nProfessional | \nDeveloper | \n
|---|---|---|---|
| Questions to Pip | \n5 a day | \nUnlimited | \nUnlimited | \n
| Your logo on PDF reports | \nNo | \nYes | \nYes | \n
| Batch address matching | \nSmall runs only | \nYes | \nYes | \n
| API and MCP rate limit | \nThe same for every caller, with or without a plan or a key. No plan buys priority. | \n
View your profile, generate API keys, or upgrade your plan.
\n \n