Colac VIC 3250
Located in Victoria, Colac sits 152 km from Melbourne CBD, around 1 hour 55 minutes by car. The town has 9,243 residents, a median age of 44, and a median household income of $57,616 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the bottom 20% nationally. Population grew 2.2% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $260 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,213. The area shows high flood risk and high crime risk. Of 9 schools within the town boundary, 3 rank above the state average, and walkability is low.
Is Colac a good town?
Colac scores a D (27/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — weaker on transit, safety, and community.
Mixed results
9 schools · 3 above peer schools
Car-dependent
Walkability 4/100 · 151.9 km · 115 min drive to Melbourne
Around the state median
Median $500K · Cheaper than 89% of VIC
High crime risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 83/100 · Flood 99/100
Highly disadvantaged
SEIFA decile 1/10 · median age 44 · 9,243 residents
Liveability Rating
27 / 100 · Ranked #755 in VICEach bar is Colac's rank among VIC suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better).
How do you rate the liveability in Colac?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
27 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataColac's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $500,000, about 7% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$500,000
Based on 254 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 36 days — median across 112 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 31 sales $420K
- 3 bed 172 sales $500K
- 4 bed 40 sales $620K
- 5 bed 8 sales $698K
Units
$415,000
Based on 38 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 28 days — median across 18 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 21 sales $350K
- 3 bed 14 sales $518K
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Colac are currently listed at around $525,000 on average. Based on 124 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$525K
124 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$455K
15 units listed in the last 6 months.
139 of the suburb's 3,874 dwellings (3.6%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Colac rent for around $575 a week on average, based on 43 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$575/wk
43 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$405/wk
4 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
47 rentals advertised against an estimated 1,213 rented homes (3.9%) in the last 6 months.
Rental affordability
June quarter 2025109 Moderately unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 28% of its income on the median rent in postcode 3250.
SGS Rental Affordability Index: a score of 100 means rent takes 30% of income, the usual housing-stress line; lower scores are less affordable. "Region" is the capital city or the rest of the state.
Gross rental yield
Indicative$575/week ($30,000 a year) on a $525,000 median
$405/week ($21,000 a year) on a $455,000 median
Based on a small sample (4 listings) — indicative only.
Gross yield — before strata, rates, management, insurance and vacancy. Calculated from median advertised rents and median asking prices over the last 6 months. How we calculate.
Short-Stay Rentals
7 active Airbnb listings: 6 whole homes and 1 room. Whole homes are about 0.1% of the town'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 Colac safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Colac sits in the high band, with 920 incidents recorded in 2026 — down about 2% on the prior year.
920 offences
2.0% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202526 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
Where they happened
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the town carries people passing through; this is not a measure of risk to residents. Roads are listed with 3 or more serious crashes.
Schools
Nine schools serve Colac, and results are mixed — some outperforming peer-suburb schools, some below. Colac Secondary College and St Mary's School lead the pack.
- • 1,923 students across 7 schools (avg 275)
- • Sectors: 6 Government, 3 Catholic
- • ICSEA 899-1025, median 948 (below the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Trinity College Colac (744 students)
Primary
Secondary
Combined
Walkability
Colac is very car-dependent on foot — at 4/100, nearly all errands require a car. Within the town there are 4 supermarkets, 20 parks and 13 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
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.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Colac.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 29.2 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 31.4 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 13.2 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 15.3 hours
- Direct to CBD (peak)
- 668 min wait
Scheduled service only, based on the 21 October 2026 timetable. Reliability (delays, cancellations) not measured.
NBN connectivity
The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Colac.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 40%
- Premises covered
- 5,207
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
Colac Otway: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this town alone — this town's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
The ABS scores 26 small areas inside this town and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 5 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this town rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Colac is home to about 9,200 residents, with a median age of 44, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $58,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.2%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
9,243
Median Age
44
Median Household Income
$57,616/yr
Census Median Rent
$260/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,213/mo
Avg Household Size
2.2
Median Personal Income
$34,372/yr
Unemployment Rate
3.2%
Unoccupied Dwellings
9.9%
Total Dwellings
3,874
Owner-Occupier Rate
68.7%
Houses
85.9%
Rental Stress
23.5%
Mortgage Stress
25.3%
Work From Home
6.5%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
214 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 42 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 1,165 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 82.9%
- English Spoken at Home
- 86.3%
- Employment Rate
- 52.1%
- Completed Year 12
- 30.8%
Occupations
Religion
Country of Birth (overseas)
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.
When They Arrived
Share of all residents by the year they arrived in Australia. Periods cover different numbers of years, so compare the shape rather than the bar widths.
374 residents (4.0%) arrived since 2016. Australia’s borders were closed to most arrivals from March 2020, so the last two years of that period are much smaller than the ones before them — nationally 260,799 people arrived in 2019 against 28,521 in 2021.
Where New Residents Came From
Where residents aged five and over lived five years before the 2021 Census, for those who lived somewhere else.
3.4% of residents (298) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Melbourne (233).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 8,747 residents aged five and over. Areas are ABS statistical regions. Small counts are approximate: the ABS adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Languages Spoken at Home
Top languages other than English, 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 (26 of 4,050).
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 $2,023 a year through Colac Otway based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Parks and recreation 78%
- Residential 16%
- Infrastructure and transport 2%
- Rural and farming 2%
- Commercial 1%
- Industrial 1%
Rezoned since Oct 2025
- Public Use Zone → General Residential Zone · C132cola, Apr 2026 1.8 ha
Land in this town 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 town around it — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Colac Otway
In the year to August 2026, 226 new dwellings were approved across Colac Otway. That mix is 200 houses and 26 units. Approvals are up 64.5% 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 Colac (Shire Office), 3.3 kmModerate rainfall.
- Elevation
- 115 m
- above sea level, at the town centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 41.6 km
- Annual rainfall
- 607 mm
- 82 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- —
- Winter min (Jul)
- —
Elevation is the ground at the town 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.
Industrial Emissions Nearby
6 facilities within 5 km- 2.1 kmMeat ProcessingTop reported: Ammonia (total) · Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide
- 2.7 km
- 3.0 kmLog SawmillingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen
- 3.0 kmIce Cream ManufacturingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5)
- 3.6 kmTimber Resawing and DressingTop reported: Copper & compounds · Arsenic & compounds · Chromium (VI) compounds
EV adoption
In postcode 3250, 36 of 11,274 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.0% (222 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.3%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3250, 1,605 rooftop-solar systems totalling 10.3 MW have been installed since 2001, against 5,590 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 130 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.
13 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3250 in 2025-26, rank 72 of 298 Victorian postcodes. The most was 102, in 2008-09.
Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.
Mortgage repayments
1 mortgage broker is registered in this town.
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 $500,000 this is under 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 town's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Richard Riordan Liberal
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Richard Riordan LP | 51.8% | 48.2% | 51.8% |
| 2018 | Richard Riordan LP | 51.1% | 44.6% | 55.4% |
| 2014 | Terry Mulder LP | 55.4% | 39.4% | 60.6% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2021, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this town's voters. Results: Victorian Electoral Commission, CC BY 4.0.
Looking at a specific address in Colac?
Every figure above is a town 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 9,243 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 Colac 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 Colac
Is Colac a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Colac is high (83/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident). Offences against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the people who live here, so suburbs with large daytime or visitor populations rank higher than living there may feel.
What natural hazards affect Colac?
Colac has no recorded bushfire history. Flood overlays cover a high share of it (99/100). These are town-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Colac a good place to live?
Colac has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of D (27/100), 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 Colac?
Colac, VIC had a population of 9,243 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Colac, VIC?
The postcode for Colac, VIC is 3250.
How far is Colac from Melbourne?
Colac is 152 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 115 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Colac?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Colac was $57,616 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 Colac?
The median advertised rent in Colac is $575 a week for houses (43 listings) and $405 a week for units (4 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Colac?
The median age of residents in Colac was 44 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Colac?
There are 9 schools inside the Colac boundary: 3 above, 1 at, and 2 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Colac walkable?
Colac scores 4/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very car-dependent. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.
What is the weather like in Colac?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Colac, Colac (Shire Office) (3.3 km away), 607 mm of rain a year over 82 rainy days over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Colac?
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 Colac belong to?
Colac sits within the Colac Otway local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Colac?
The average residential rates bill through Colac Otway is $2,023 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Colac?
Across Colac Otway, 226 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 64.5% 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 Colac in?
Colac 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
- For-sale & rental market · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2024–25
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- 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.