Bushfield VIC 3281
Located in Victoria, Bushfield sits 252 km from Melbourne CBD, around 3 hours 10 minutes by car. The suburb has 596 residents, a median age of 43, and a median household income of $110,500 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the top 40% nationally. Population grew 4.4% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $350 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,625. The area shows no recorded bushfire exposure and no recorded flood exposure. Walkability is low.
Is Bushfield a good suburb?
Bushfield scores a B (58/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on safety and community, weaker on transit.
Car-dependent
Walkability 0/100 · 252.1 km · 188 min drive to Melbourne
Median available
Median $842K
Low all-round risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 14/100 · Flood 0/100
Advantaged
SEIFA decile 8/10 · median age 43 · 596 residents
Liveability Rating
58 / 100 · Ranked #297 in VICEach bar is Bushfield's rank among VIC suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 4 of 5 factors: no school data, so the other factors carry its weight.
How do you rate the liveability in Bushfield?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
58 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataThe median house sale price in Bushfield sits at $842,000, broadly flat year-on-year. That said, only four sales settled in the quarter, so the median is a noisy signal — treat it as a direction rather than a level.
$842,500
Based on only 4 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Short-Stay Rentals
2 active Airbnb listings: 2 whole homes and 0 rooms. Whole homes are about 1.0% of the suburb's homes.
Airbnb only, as at Jun 2026; other platforms are not included. Active means reviewed in the past 12 months. The share is against private dwellings at the 2021 Census.
Is Bushfield safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Bushfield sits in the low band, with 8 incidents recorded in 2026 — down roughly 33% on the prior year.
8 offences
33.3% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20251 crash
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the suburb carries people passing through; this is not a measure of risk to residents. Roads are listed with 3 or more serious crashes.
Schools
Walkability
Bushfield is very car-dependent on foot — at 0/100, nearly all errands require a car.
We hold no public transport timetable data for this area, so public transport is not rated here and the score is spread across the remaining components. It is not counted as zero.
NBN connectivity
The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Bushfield.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 0%
- Premises covered
- 217
NBN Co fixed-line and fixed-wireless premises, as at 30 December 2025. Higher-quality technologies (full fibre) score above copper, wireless, and satellite. Actual speeds depend on your plan.
Amenities
Warrnambool: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this suburb alone — this suburb's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
Bushfield is home to 596 residents, with a median age of 43, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $110,000 a year, with unemployment at 1.7%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
596
Median Age
43
Median Household Income
$110,500/yr
Census Median Rent
$350/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,625/mo
Avg Household Size
3.0
Median Personal Income
$43,108/yr
Unemployment Rate
1.7%
Unoccupied Dwellings
4.7%
Total Dwellings
192
Owner-Occupier Rate
96.3%
Houses
101.0%
Rental Stress
16.5%
Mortgage Stress
17.6%
Work From Home
13.5%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 93.1%
- English Spoken at Home
- 94.3%
- Employment Rate
- 69.4%
- Completed Year 12
- 37.6%
Occupations
Religion
Country of Birth (overseas)
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
1% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (3 of 333).
City centre: the ABS area around each capital's CBD, such as Sydney Inner City or Perth City (which takes in Subiaco and Leederville). 2021 Census place of work.
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $2,162 a year through Warrnambool based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Rural and farming 92%
- Residential 6%
- Infrastructure and transport 2%
- Zones under 1% 1%
Rezoned since Oct 2025
- Farming Zone → Rural Living Zone · C216warr, Dec 2025 0.7 ha
and 4 smaller changes
Land in this suburb moved from one zone to another by a planning scheme amendment (Vicmap Planning, CC BY 4.0). Exhibited amendments are proposals and can change or lapse.
Zoning sets what may be built, not what is there today. A single address can sit in a different zone to the suburb around it — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Warrnambool
In the year to August 2026, 388 new dwellings were approved across Warrnambool. That mix is 330 houses and 58 units. Approvals are down 22.2% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
The Registered Aboriginal Party for this area is Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation (appointed 2013).
Registered Aboriginal Parties are appointed by the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 as the primary guardians, keepers and knowledge holders of Aboriginal cultural heritage for their area. They are the body to contact about cultural heritage here.
Climate & Setting
from Port Fairy AWS, 25.7 kmModerate rainfall — warm summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 52 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 8.0 km
- Annual rainfall
- 699 mm
- 111 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 22.5°C
- 5 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 7.2°C
- 0 frost days ≤ 0°C
Elevation is the ground at the suburb centre, from Geoscience Australia's National Digital Elevation Model. Approximate — it reads high in dense built-up areas. It is a measure of height above sea level and not an indicator of flood risk, which depends on height above nearby waterways.
EV adoption
In postcode 3281, 6 of 1,825 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 1.6% (29 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 1.9%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3281, 349 rooftop-solar systems totalling 2.9 MW have been installed since 2001, against 657 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 27 went up in the last year.
Counts every system certified since 2001, so a roof re-fitted with a newer system is counted twice, and small commercial systems are included alongside houses — useful for comparing postcodes, not an estimate of how many homes have working panels today.
2026 covers part of the year only, to 2026-07.
First Home Owner Grant
FY2026-27$10,000 for new homes priced up to $750,000.
The separate First Home Buyer Duty Reduction (stamp-duty concession) runs alongside this grant.
0 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3281 in 2025-26. The most was 10, in 2001-02.
Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.
Mortgage repayments
Land transfer duty at the owner-occupier rate, and it excludes first home buyer concessions — those can cut it substantially or remove it entirely. Excludes legal, inspection and lender fees. Check with State Revenue Office Victoria
The First Home Owner Grant applies to newly built homes only, so it isn't available on an established purchase. A first home buyer building or buying new under $750,000 may qualify for $10,000 — see what qualifies with State Revenue Office Victoria.
At $842,500 this is $92,500 above the $750,000 First Home Owner Grant cap. A first home buyer may qualify for $10,000 on a newly built home — check eligibility with State Revenue Office Victoria.
A deposit under 20% usually attracts Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which this doesn't include.
Principal and interest over 30 years, fixed rate. Excludes fees, offset, redraw and LMI. Default rate is the median comparison rate across 1788 advertised products as at 2026-10-27 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.
Federal Electorate
Currently held by Dan Tehan Liberal
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Dan Tehan | 39.1% | 60.9% | -2.3 |
| 2022 | Dan Tehan | 40.9% | 59.1% | -1.1 |
| 2019 | Dan Tehan | 39.6% | 60.4% | +1.2 |
Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact suburb's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Roma Britnell Liberal
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Roma Britnell LP | 58.0% | 42.0% | 58.0% |
| 2018 | Roma Britnell LP | 52.3% | 47.7% | 52.3% |
| 2014 | Denis Napthine LP | 57.0% | 39.0% | 61.0% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2021, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this suburb's voters. Results: Victorian Electoral Commission, CC BY 4.0.
Looking at a specific address in Bushfield?
Every figure above is a suburb average, and an average smooths over the difference between a street of family homes and a block of flats. Look up one address and you get the census for the few hundred people around it, its own nearest schools and stops, and what the state has mapped for that block.
- The census for a few hundred neighbours, not all 596 residents
- Nearest and zoned schools, with the walk from that door
- Flood, bushfire and noise mapping, where the state publishes it
Free to look up. Subscribers see every section in full — $29/month.
Nearby suburbs
Compare Bushfield to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other VIC suburb — type a name and pick one.
Or jump straight to a nearby comparison:
Common questions about Bushfield
Is Bushfield a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Bushfield is low (14/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Bushfield?
Bushfield has no recorded bushfire history. No mapped flood overlay applies. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Bushfield a good place to live?
Bushfield has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (58/100), ranked against other VIC suburbs on school quality (25%), safety (25%), SEIFA socio-economic advantage (25%), walkability (15%) and CBD access (10%). Whether it suits you depends on what you weigh — each of those is on this page.
What is the population of Bushfield?
Bushfield, VIC had a population of 596 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Bushfield, VIC?
The postcode for Bushfield, VIC is 3281.
How far is Bushfield from Melbourne?
Bushfield is 252 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 188 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Bushfield?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Bushfield was $110,500 a year. It is the most recent suburb-level income figure until 2026 Census results are released in 2027.
What is the median weekly rent in Bushfield?
There are too few current rental listings in Bushfield for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $350, across all dwelling types.
What is the median age in Bushfield?
The median age of residents in Bushfield was 43 at the 2021 ABS Census.
What is the weather like in Bushfield?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Bushfield, Port Fairy AWS (25.7 km away), summer days average 22.5°C, winter nights 7.2°C, 699 mm of rain a year over 111 rainy days, and 5 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Bushfield?
First-home buyers in VIC may be eligible for $10,000 towards new homes with a purchase price up to $750,000. The grant is administered by State Revenue Office Victoria; confirm current eligibility before signing a contract — state rules and amounts can change.
What council does Bushfield belong to?
Bushfield sits within the Warrnambool local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Bushfield?
The average residential rates bill through Warrnambool is $2,162 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Bushfield?
Across Warrnambool, 388 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 22.2% on the same period a year earlier. These are LGA-level totals — every suburb in the council shares the same figure.
Which federal electorate is Bushfield in?
Bushfield sits within the federal Division of Wannon, currently held by Dan Tehan (Liberal).
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Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2024–25
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2026
- Road crashes · 2021–2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- Short-stay rentals · Jun 2026
- State electorate · 2022
- Amenities · Sep 2026
- Health & emergency facilities · Sep 2026
- Industrial emissions (NPI) · 2024/2025
- Coastal erosion · 1988–2025
- Aircraft noise · 2024
Vintages show when each source's data is from. See all data sources.
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Information shown is provided as-is from Australian government and commercial data sources.
Always verify with the relevant authority before making property decisions.
See Data Sources and How We Calculate for details.