What is being approved to build — every council in Australia

Residential building approvals for 526 local government areas across all eight states and territories, over the 12 months to 2025-06. 187,896 dwellings, $108bn of work.

This is the one layer here that covers the whole country. Development applications, heritage and zoning on this site are New South Wales only, because NSW is the only state publishing those on terms that allow reuse. Building approvals come from the ABS on identical definitions for every council in Australia, so this is the fair way to compare states.
187,896Dwellings approved
$108bnValue of work
526Councils
12 monthsTo 2025-06

By state and territory

StateDwellings approvedValue of workShare of dwellings
Victoria56,649$33bn30.1%
New South Wales49,488$30bn26.3%
Queensland38,411$24bn20.4%
Western Australia22,944$12bn12.2%
South Australia14,524$6.6bn7.7%
Australian Capital Territory2,838$1.1bn1.5%
Tasmania2,340$1.2bn1.2%
Northern Territory702$513M0.4%

By council

#CouncilDwellings approved ▾Value of work
61Cessnock886$345M
62Monash871$825M
63Fairfield866$379M
64Yarra Ranges805$432M
65Whitehorse799$656M
66Wollondilly786$340M
67Marion767$287M
68Moonee Valley749$612M
69Sutherland Shire745$650M
70Inner West724$929M
71Georges River721$423M
72Shoalhaven715$445M
73Salisbury712$225M
74Darebin705$478M
75Gosnells704$256M
76Ballarat702$372M
77Cairns699$371M
78Knox697$404M
79Banyule667$472M
80Shellharbour653$294M
81Mornington Peninsula640$938M
82Hobsons Bay636$335M
83Brimbank632$284M
84Mount Barker623$253M
85Baw Baw609$289M
86Scenic Rim609$283M
87Port Macquarie-Hastings599$305M
88Kingston (Vic.)589$409M
89Glen Eira574$609M
90Gympie572$280M
91Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional568$308M
92Mackay550$326M
93Ku-ring-gai544$646M
94Tea Tree Gully531$193M
95Northern Beaches523$875M
96Joondalup518$358M
97Mid-Coast512$311M
98Canning503$233M
99Murray502$215M
100Greater Dandenong489$242M
101Dubbo Regional480$196M
102Fremantle480$334M
103Greater Shepparton478$246M
104Alexandrina475$208M
105Busselton470$332M
106Manningham460$416M
107Campbelltown (SA)454$210M
108West Torrens427$201M
109Subiaco426$242M
110Burnside415$330M
111Augusta Margaret River397$215M
112Belmont396$174M
113Hornsby393$310M
114Bass Coast388$267M
115Serpentine-Jarrahdale381$165M
116Melville376$305M
117Maroondah355$251M
118Hawkesbury355$216M
119Port Stephens353$192M
120Victor Harbor351$144M

A building approval is not a development application — it is one step further along, after planning consent. Values are the ABS figure converted from the $’000 the API returns. Source: ABS Building Approvals by Local Government Area (BA_LGA2024), Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.