Building approvals Australia — every council
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
| State | Dwellings approved | Value of work | Share of dwellings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 56,649 | $33bn | 30.1% |
| New South Wales | 49,488 | $30bn | 26.3% |
| Queensland | 38,411 | $24bn | 20.4% |
| Western Australia | 22,944 | $12bn | 12.2% |
| South Australia | 14,524 | $6.6bn | 7.7% |
| Australian Capital Territory | 2,838 | $1.1bn | 1.5% |
| Tasmania | 2,340 | $1.2bn | 1.2% |
| Northern Territory | 702 | $513M | 0.4% |
By council
| # | Council | Dwellings approved | Value of work ▾ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brisbane | 7,372 | $6.3bn |
| 2 | Gold Coast | 4,123 | $3.8bn |
| 3 | Melbourne | 3,903 | $2.4bn |
| 4 | Moreton Bay | 4,806 | $2bn |
| 5 | Sunshine Coast | 3,219 | $2bn |
| 6 | The Hills Shire | 3,702 | $2bn |
| 7 | Parramatta | 3,212 | $1.9bn |
| 8 | Wyndham | 4,571 | $1.8bn |
| 9 | Boroondara | 1,233 | $1.7bn |
| 10 | Melton | 4,564 | $1.7bn |
| 11 | Logan | 4,124 | $1.6bn |
| 12 | Casey | 3,674 | $1.6bn |
| 13 | Stonnington | 1,303 | $1.5bn |
| 14 | Hume | 3,780 | $1.5bn |
| 15 | Ipswich | 3,302 | $1.4bn |
| 16 | Wanneroo | 3,425 | $1.4bn |
| 17 | Greater Geelong | 2,595 | $1.3bn |
| 18 | Port Phillip | 2,020 | $1.3bn |
| 19 | Bayside (Vic.) | 1,460 | $1.2bn |
| 20 | Sydney | 1,751 | $1.2bn |
| 21 | Whittlesea | 3,157 | $1.2bn |
| 22 | Unincorporated ACT | 2,838 | $1.1bn |
| 23 | Blacktown | 2,487 | $1bn |
| 24 | Mornington Peninsula | 640 | $938M |
| 25 | Ryde | 1,423 | $931M |
| 26 | Inner West | 724 | $929M |
| 27 | Merri-bek | 1,663 | $927M |
| 28 | Liverpool | 2,240 | $913M |
| 29 | Northern Beaches | 523 | $875M |
| 30 | Bayside (NSW) | 1,526 | $868M |
| 31 | Yarra | 1,047 | $856M |
| 32 | Camden | 1,606 | $834M |
| 33 | Monash | 871 | $825M |
| 34 | Wollongong | 1,568 | $803M |
| 35 | Swan | 2,112 | $803M |
| 36 | Playford | 2,314 | $773M |
| 37 | Central Coast (NSW) | 1,224 | $739M |
| 38 | Canada Bay | 1,167 | $734M |
| 39 | Maribyrnong | 1,429 | $726M |
| 40 | Fraser Coast | 1,608 | $724M |
| 41 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 1,418 | $709M |
| 42 | Stirling | 1,076 | $677M |
| 43 | Lake Macquarie | 1,308 | $673M |
| 44 | Newcastle | 925 | $669M |
| 45 | Rockingham | 1,742 | $669M |
| 46 | Mandurah | 1,457 | $669M |
| 47 | Redland | 1,376 | $662M |
| 48 | Charles Sturt | 1,464 | $660M |
| 49 | Whitehorse | 799 | $656M |
| 50 | Sutherland Shire | 745 | $650M |
| 51 | Ku-ring-gai | 544 | $646M |
| 52 | Burwood | 1,110 | $619M |
| 53 | Moonee Valley | 749 | $612M |
| 54 | Glen Eira | 574 | $609M |
| 55 | Cardinia | 1,431 | $574M |
| 56 | Woollahra | 113 | $557M |
| 57 | Cumberland | 1,303 | $556M |
| 58 | Toowoomba | 891 | $544M |
| 59 | Armadale | 1,274 | $492M |
| 60 | Campbelltown (NSW) | 1,205 | $485M |
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.