The conversation

City of Melbourne is working with Melbourne Water to make sure all areas of our city have the most up-to-date flood maps.

Flood maps inform the design of drainage upgrades and other flood solutions. New flood maps will inform a future planning scheme amendment to make sure all new developments are designed with flooding in mind.

We provided a project overview on Participate Melbourne, which included details of the project and information about types of flooding.

Through this project, we were seeking:

  • local flood knowledge to inform new flood maps
  • community insights on what information they need to be better prepared for flooding.

Gathering insights

Between 13 June and 27 July, we asked the community to provide feedback through on online survey and map on Participate Melbourne. We also invited feedback at four community workshops held online and in person at Melbourne Town Hall, Kensington Town Hall and the Multicultural Hub.

Who we reached

Consultation consisted of a diverse range of engagement methods including:
1791 visitors to the Participate Melbourne page
33 survey responses on Participate Melbourne
20 workshop participants
68 contributions to the map (online and workshop)

What we heard

  • The most flood incidents were reported in Kensington.
  • The most preferred method for receiving flood risk information was through a digital portal that allows users to view details for a specific address.
  • Knowing how to receive flood alerts and where to call for help would make people feel more prepared for floods.

Examples of what we heard

Impact

Flood incidents reported through the online map and workshop activities will inform flood maps in areas that have not previously been mapped and inform flood mitigation works by City of Melbourne and Melbourne Water.

We will use feedback about preparing for floods to inform the design and delivery of City of Melbourne’s Prepared Communities program.

Next steps

Melbourne Water will lead further community consultation in October 2026 to validate the new flood maps. Final maps will be released in December 2026.

Read the engagement summary report

An accessible version of this document will be made available on request. Please contact City of Melbourne on 9658 9658.

Flood mapping in the City of Melbourne