How we decide what to publish.
A finding reaches your report only when a named source answered, the licence permits the use, a versioned rule turned the evidence into a result, and an automated release check passed every finding. No person reviews each report.
How the address is matched
We match the address to the block of land (the parcel) shown on government maps so planning and hazard records are checked against the right site. Zones, overlays, bushfire designations, heritage listings and easement lines are tested across the whole mapped site, and the report says when a control covers only part of it. Nearby places, transport and area records are searched around the address within the distance each item states.
The block on the map is not the title. The title search, which your conveyancer orders, is what records covenants and what an easement is for.
What the labels mean
- Check
- Looked up for this property’s site, such as the planning zone or a mapped easement line.
- Calculation
- A figure worked out from published rates and your answers, such as stamp duty or a registration fee.
- Area context
- About the suburb, council area or surroundings, never the property itself.
- Guide
- How to find something we do not determine, such as the school zone.
- Referral
- Work only a professional can do, such as a title search or a building inspection.
- Included in the report
- The item is in every report.
- A stated limit
- Shown instead of “included” when the item has a real limit, such as “Casey only” or “Area-level”.
- No record found
- The named source was checked within the stated search area and returned nothing. That is not proof of absence.
- Not checked
- The source did not answer or does not cover the address. The report says why and who can answer instead; it is never shown as clear.
Why some coverage depends on the address
The planning, property and hazard maps are statewide. Some costs and local records are not. Council rates and water charges are shown where we have captured the council’s and water corporation’s 2026–27 figures; otherwise the report says so and points to the rates notice.
Council rates
Each council adopts its own rates and waste charges every year, so each schedule is captured from the adopted budget and re-checked yearly (77 of 79 councils so far). A rates estimate also needs the capital improved value from the property’s rates notice; without it the report names the cost instead of guessing.
Water service charges
Fixed water, sewerage and drainage charges vary by water corporation, so they are captured from each corporation’s price list (15 so far). Water used depends on the household and is never included.
Planning applications
The report reads the City of Casey’s register, which Casey publishes as open data. Other councils need permission or a licensed feed, so outside Casey the report says applications were not checked.
Every source, and whether we may use it
Every source a report reads today, then the ones we do not read yet. Your report lists the sources it used and the date each was checked. A source not on this list is never quietly substituted with a nearby or similar dataset.
Vicmap Address - Address Point
State of Victoria (Department of Transport and Planning)
Address matched to the property
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Vicmap Property - Parcel Polygon
State of Victoria (Department of Transport and Planning)
Address matched to the property
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Vicmap Planning - Planning Scheme Zone Polygon and Overlay Polygon
State of Victoria (Department of Transport and Planning)
Planning zone and overlays; Flood-related planning controls; Bushfire designations
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Designated Bushfire Prone Area (BPA)
State of Victoria (Department of Transport and Planning)
Bushfire designations
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Vicmap Features of Interest (FOI point)
State of Victoria (Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action)
Everyday amenities
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Transport Victoria GTFS schedule
State of Victoria (Department of Transport and Planning)
Public transport
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Checked 2026-10-21
In use
EPA Victoria registers: PSR, PRSA, audit report and licence location points
State of Victoria (Environment Protection Authority Victoria)
EPA and landfill records nearby
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Vicmap Property - Easement Line
State of Victoria (Department of Transport and Planning)
Mapped easement lines
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Victorian Flood History, October 2022 event
State of Victoria (Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action)
Flood-related planning controls
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Victorian Coastal Inundation Sea Level Rise 2100 (0.8 m scenario, SLR82CM_2100)
State of Victoria (Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action)
Coastal sea-level rise (regional)
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: static extract, retrieved 23 October 2026
In use
Victorian Heritage Register and Heritage Inventory (mapped areas)
State of Victoria (Heritage Victoria)
Heritage registers
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Crime Statistics Agency, recorded offences by local government area and suburb
Crime Statistics Agency (State of Victoria)
Recorded offences in the area
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Geoscience Australia, Electricity Infrastructure: power lines of 66 kV and above
Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Power lines nearby
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Transport Victoria, Victoria road crash data (police-reported crashes)
Department of Transport and Planning (State of Victoria)
Road crashes nearby
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 Census General Community Profile, suburbs and localities
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Who lives in the suburb
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
State Capital Program 2026-27 (Budget Paper No. 4)
State of Victoria (Department of Treasury and Finance)
State-funded projects
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
City of Casey, Planning Permit Applications Register
City of Casey
Nearby planning applications
Licence: CC BY 3.0 AU
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Overture Maps Places (supermarkets and grocers, pharmacies, dentists)
Overture Maps Foundation; place data from Meta, Microsoft, Foursquare and AllThePlaces
Everyday amenities
Licence: CDLA-Permissive-2.0, Apache-2.0 and CC0-1.0, per place
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
NBN broadband service footprints (fixed line and fixed wireless), March 2024
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts; data © NBN Co
nbn footprint (area)
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
EPA Victoria Victorian Landfill Register (VLR), location points and polygons
State of Victoria (Environment Protection Authority Victoria)
EPA and landfill records nearby
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
State Revenue Office Victoria, land transfer duty current rates
State Revenue Office Victoria
Stamp duty
Licence: Published rate schedule, cited not reproduced in bulk
Date: Checked 2026-10-19
In use
Land Use Victoria, Transfer of Land Act fees 2026–27
State of Victoria (Land Use Victoria)
Registration fees
Licence: Published fee schedule, cited not reproduced
Date: Checked 2026-10-23
In use
Urban water corporation boundaries
State of Victoria (Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action)
Yearly charges
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Council rates 2026–27 from each council's adopted budget, and the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund rates
Victorian councils (the council for this address); State Revenue Office Victoria
Yearly charges
Licence: Published rates and charges, cited not reproduced
Date: Checked 2026-10-21
In use
Approved 2026–27 water prices for every Victorian urban water corporation and Melbourne retailer
Essential Services Commission; the water corporations
Yearly charges
Licence: Published charges, cited not reproduced
Date: Checked 2026-10-23
In use
Catchment management authority boundaries
State of Victoria (Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action)
Flood-related planning controls
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Date: Date recorded in each report
In use
Planning scheme amendments on exhibition
Department of Transport and Planning
Proposed zone and overlay changes for the site
Licence: Data CC BY 4.0; map service terms not yet confirmed
Date: —
Not in use: awaiting the Department’s answer
Council planning registers outside Casey
Each council
Nearby development applications
Licence: Per council
Date: —
Not in use
Find my School
Department of Education
The official school zone lookup, given to you to follow
Licence: Link only
Date: —
Route supplied
School zones
Department of Education
Published zone polygons
Licence: CC BY 4.0, with a reliance warning
Date: —
Not in use: lookup route only
What each item covers, in buyer terms, is on What we check.
Coordinates, stated plainly
Victoria has more than one coordinate system in active use, and they disagree by about 1.8 metres. In the middle of a site that changes nothing. On a block whose boundary runs beside a flood overlay it is the whole answer.
So published geometry is kept as published, analysis runs in GDA2020 MGA Zone 55, and a coordinate that does not say which system it belongs to is rejected rather than assumed.
When we get something wrong
A released report is a fixed snapshot. It is never edited after the fact. A correction creates a new version that records what changed, why, and which earlier statement it replaces, and the previous version stays readable.
If a finding looks wrong, tell us with your report number. We would rather reissue than have you rely on it.