Gowanbrae VIC 3043
Gowanbrae is a suburb in Victoria, 18 km from Melbourne CBD, around 25 minutes by car. Population is 2,971; the median age is 40 and the median household income is $114,816 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the top 20% nationally. Population grew 7.1% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $445 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,000. The area shows no recorded bushfire exposure. Walkability is moderate.
Is Gowanbrae a good suburb?
Gowanbrae scores a A+ (82/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, safety, and community.
Very walkable
Walkability 65/100 · 17.6 km · 25 min drive to Melbourne
Around the state median
Median $1.02M
Low all-round risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 24/100 · Flood 33/100
Very advantaged
SEIFA decile 9/10 · median age 40 · 2,971 residents
Liveability Rating
82 / 100 · Ranked #41 in VICEach bar is Gowanbrae'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 Gowanbrae?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
82 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataGowanbrae's house market is moving lower: the median sale price reached $1.02 million, roughly 10% below where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$1,020,000
19% above its 5 neighbours (median $855,000)
Based on 29 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 26 days — median across 10 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 16 sales $938K
- 4 bed 9 sales $1.25M
Units
$745,000
Based on only 3 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Gowanbrae are currently listed at around $945,000 on average. Based on 9 houses listed in the past six months.
$945K
9 houses listed in the last 6 months.
9 of the suburb's 1,058 dwellings (0.9%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Gowanbrae rent for around $695 a week on average, based on 5 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$695/wk
5 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
6 rentals advertised against an estimated 135 rented homes (4.4%) in the last 6 months.
Rental affordability
June quarter 2025123 Acceptable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 24% of its income on the median rent in postcode 3043.
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$695/week ($36,000 a year) on a $945,000 median
Based on a small sample (5 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
No active Airbnb listings (2 listed without a review in the past year).
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 Gowanbrae safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Gowanbrae sits in the low band, with 50 incidents recorded in 2026 — down roughly 19% on the prior year.
50 offences
19.4% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20254 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
Where they happened
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
Gowanbrae is somewhat walkable on foot — at 65/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Gowanbrae.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 31.8 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 12.6 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 7.5 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 13.0 hours
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 Gowanbrae.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 100%
- Premises covered
- 1,155
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
Merri-bek: 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
The ABS scores 6 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 4 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Gowanbrae is home to about 3,000 residents, with a median age of 40, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $115,000 a year, with unemployment at 4.5%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
2,971
Median Age
40
Median Household Income
$114,816/yr
Census Median Rent
$445/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,000/mo
Avg Household Size
2.7
Median Personal Income
$48,360/yr
Unemployment Rate
4.5%
Unoccupied Dwellings
4.1%
Total Dwellings
1,058
Owner-Occupier Rate
87.2%
Houses
69.1%
Rental Stress
20.2%
Mortgage Stress
20.9%
Work From Home
34.0%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 73.3%
- English Spoken at Home
- 68.3%
- Employment Rate
- 64.2%
- Completed Year 12
- 51.3%
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.
53 residents (1.8%) 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.
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 2,809 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
21% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (320 of 1,534).
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.
Local Jobs
People who work in this suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 159 people work here; 1,534 employed residents live here.
Mostly a place people commute from: 0.1 jobs per working resident. At least 89% of employed residents must work outside the suburb.
Counts are by place of work and place of usual residence. The ABS counts jobs in zones; where a zone spans several places, its jobs are shared out by land use. The ABS also adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,914 a year through Merri-bek based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 66%
- Parks and recreation 19%
- Infrastructure and transport 14%
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: Merri-bek
In the year to August 2026, 1,387 new dwellings were approved across Merri-bek. That mix is 300 houses and 1,087 units. Approvals are up 68.5% on the same period a year earlier.
New Homes Planned
New homes planned in this suburb: 15 homes
- Projects firmly planned 15 homes
From the Victorian Government's Urban Development Program: growth-area land and approved lots (metropolitan 2025, regional June 2024) and projects of 10 or more homes in Melbourne (2025), by stage. Lots and homes are counted as published; a lot usually becomes one home.
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
The Registered Aboriginal Party for this area is Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation (appointed 2008).
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.
Air Quality
This station does not measure fine particles (PM2.5).
PM10 averaged 18.9 µg/m³. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 0.
From the Footscray monitoring station, 11.2 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Essendon Airport, 2.8 kmModerate rainfall — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 94 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 15.3 km
- Near high-voltage lines
- 9.5% of addresses
- 114 within 100 m of an overhead line of 110 kV or more
- Annual rainfall
- 534 mm
- 85 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 26.7°C
- 13 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 6.5°C
- 2 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.
Industrial Emissions Nearby
6 facilities within 5 km- 2.1 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Xylenes (individual or mixed isomers)
- 2.6 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · n-Hexane · Cyclohexane
- 3.5 kmSoft Drink, Cordial and Syrup ManufacturingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 4.1 kmHuman Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Product ManufacturingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 4.2 kmBasic Organic Chemical ManufacturingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Toluene (methylbenzene) · Acetone
EV adoption
In postcode 3043, 351 of 27,493 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 6.3% (1,730 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 7.6%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3043, 1,956 rooftop-solar systems totalling 15.8 MW have been installed since 2001, against 7,316 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 116 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.
6 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3043 in 2025-26, rank 120 of 298 Victorian postcodes. The most was 181, in 2001-02.
Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.
Mortgage repayments
2 mortgage brokers are registered in this suburb, 11 across postcode 3043.
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 $1,020,000 this is $270,000 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 Jo Briskey Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Jo Briskey | 62.6% | 37.4% | -0.4 |
| 2022 | Bill Shorten | 62.5% | 37.5% | -2.1 |
| 2019 | Bill Shorten | 61.2% | 38.8% | -0.8 |
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 Ben Carroll Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Ben Carroll ALP | 56.7% | 56.7% | 43.3% |
| 2018 | Ben Carroll ALP | 54.8% | 62.6% | 37.4% |
| 2014 | Ben Carroll ALP | 57.7% | 57.7% | 42.3% |
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 Gowanbrae?
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 2,971 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.
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Suburbs to avoid in Melbourne There is no list of bad suburbs, but there are hazards the state measures and publishes — recorded crime, bushfire exposure, flood overlays and aircraft noise. Melbourne suburbs ranked on them, with what the numbers do and don't mean.Nearby suburbs
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Common questions about Gowanbrae
Is Gowanbrae a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Gowanbrae is low (24/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Gowanbrae?
Gowanbrae has no recorded bushfire history. Flood overlays cover a low share of it (33/100). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Gowanbrae a good place to live?
Gowanbrae has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of A+ (82/100), 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 Gowanbrae?
Gowanbrae, VIC had a population of 2,971 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Gowanbrae, VIC?
The postcode for Gowanbrae, VIC is 3043.
How far is Gowanbrae from Melbourne?
Gowanbrae is 18 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 25 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Gowanbrae?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Gowanbrae was $114,816 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 Gowanbrae?
The median advertised rent in Gowanbrae is $695 a week for houses (5 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Gowanbrae?
The median age of residents in Gowanbrae was 40 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Gowanbrae walkable?
Gowanbrae scores 65/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it somewhat walkable. 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 Gowanbrae?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Gowanbrae, Essendon Airport (2.8 km away), summer days average 26.7°C, winter nights 6.5°C, 534 mm of rain a year over 85 rainy days, and 13 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Gowanbrae?
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 Gowanbrae belong to?
Gowanbrae sits within the Merri-bek local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Gowanbrae?
The average residential rates bill through Merri-bek is $1,914 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Gowanbrae?
Across Merri-bek, 1,387 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 68.5% 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 Gowanbrae in?
Gowanbrae sits within the federal Division of Maribyrnong, currently held by Jo Briskey (Australian Labor Party).
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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
- Air quality · 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.