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Interactive Map Help

Click on the area on the screen below for further information:

Sample Map

Search Get Reports Build Map Zoom In Zoom Out Zoom to a particular scale Pan Select Measure Clear Measure Print Go to Local Council Zoom to... Search by Address Search by Lot on Plan Search by Melway / Vicroads Search by Coordinates Address Search Input Fields Highlighted Property Scale of Current Map Copyright North Point Map Coordinates of Current Cursor Position Search by Crown Description Directory On / Off Legend

Search: Address | Coordinates | Crown Description | Lot on Plan | Melway / Vicroads
Additional search types (not available on all maps)
Address PFI | Council Property No. | Heritage Register | Lot on Street | Parcel PFI | Parcel SPI | Parcel VIEW_PFI | Property PFI | Property VIEW_PFI | Survey Label | Survey Mark
Tabs: Search | Get Reports | Build Map | Legend
Tools: Zoom In | Zoom Out | Zoom Scale | Pan | Select | Measure | Measure Area | Clear Highlight | Print | Save Image | Save Image Georeferenced | Go to Local Council | Zoom to...

  Browser problems: Internet Explorer 10 compatibility mode


 

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Search by Address

Enter the address (e.g. 10 Leighton Crescent, Deer Park) in the appropriate fields.
If this search is not successful you can enter a partial address.
When a search is successful, the map will zoom to the property, street or area. However, if the search critera is not unique, you will be given a list of matching results.
The following list shows some possible combinations, and the results:

Example Result
10 Leighton Crescent, Deer Park Map zooms into property
10 Leighton Crescent List of localities containing a 10 Leighton Crescent : DEER PARK, FAWKNER
10 Leighton List of localities containing a 10 Leighton : This list contains Leighton Avenues, Courts, Crescents and Roads.
Leighton List of localities containing a Leighton. This list contains Leighton Avenues, Courts, Crescents and Roads.
Leighton, Deer Park Map zooms into extent of street
10 Leighton, Deer Park Map zooms into property
Deer Park Map zooms into extent of Locality
10 Leighton, Deer Map zooms into property. There is enough of the locality typed to make this unique
10 Lleyton Crescent, Deer Park Not found. Street name misspelled.
10 Leighton Crescent, Burnside Not found. Locality incorrect (Burnside has the same postcode as Deer Park)
10 L*ton Crescent, Deer Park Map zooms into extent of street. L*ton uses a "wild card" where * matches any number of characters

Further Hints

  • Don't include apostrophes (e.g. ONeill instead of O'Neill)
  • Include hyphens where applicable (eg Bacchus Marsh-Balliang Road)
  • Street names without a street type (eg The Esplanade) should be typed in the Street Name field, with the Street type left blank eg
    type in Street Name field
  • Streets with alternate names can be entered as either (eg Ballarat Road / Western Highway)
  • Not all Street Types are listed as there are nearly 200 in use - leave this blank if the type you want is not in the list
  • A street suffix is not common - an example is Doveton Street North and Doveton Street South in Ballarat
  • Be wary of Mount and Saint - Mount may be MOUNT or MT, and Saint may be SAINT or ST
  • Try less of the locality name if you are unsure of the spelling (eg Bruns)
  • Be wary of North, South, East, West in localities - it often goes after the name (eg Brunswick West, Brunswick East) but can go before (eg North Melbourne, South Melbourne)
  • Wild cards in street and locality names
  • You can use ? to match a single character, and * to match any number (including 0) of characters
  • BAL? will find BALA, BALI, BALL      and B?LL will find BALL, BELL, BILL, BULL
  • BAL* will find the same BALA, BALI and BALL, but also BALACLAVA, BALAKA, BALALA - everthing starting with BAL
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Search by Coordinates

Coordinate Search fields

This allows you to zoom directly to a point anywhere in Victoria.
Select the coordinate type (projection)
Type in the coordinates for the point you are searching for. Either Easting and Northing or Latitude and Longitude.
Select the map radius
The result will be a map with your point in the centre.

Further Hints

  • Geographical coordinates can be entered in several ways.
  • You can use degrees, minutes and seconds (leave a space between each) - eg latitude 37 48 56 and longitude 144 57 44
  • You can use degrees, minutes with decimals (leave a space between each) - eg latitude 37 48.9 and longitude 144 57.73
  • You can use degrees with decimals - eg latitude 37.816 and longitude 144.9623
  • Don't mix up latitude and longitude. Latitude is how far south of the equator, and longitude is how far east of Greenwich.
  • Use a small radius for urban areas, and large radius for rural areas
  • For conversion from one coordinate system to another, you can use AMGVG Conversion Software
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Search by Crown Description

Enter the description in the appropriate fields.
A Crown description is commonly one "level" - eg. Allotment 1.
It can also have two "levels" - eg. Allotment 3 Section 2.
In Mildura, there are often three "levels" - eg. Allotment 12 Section 32 Block E.
In some parishes, it can be Portion 3 Section 2, rather than Allotment 3 Section 2.

A Crown description must always have a Parish or Township name.
You can select this from the list - township names are followed by (T) - or start typing it in.
If you start typing in the Parish/Township Name field, the list above will change to show only those names starting with what you have typed in.
For example, if you type in A, the list will show all names starting wth A.
If you type in Ab, the list will show only one name - Aberfeldy (T).
If you type in Aba, there will be no names in the list, since no parish/township names start with Aba.
The name showing in the list will be the one used for the search - you do not have to click on the list to actually select the name.

When a search is successful, the map will zoom to the parcel or area. However, if the search critera is not unique, you will be given a list of matching results.
If this search is not successful you can enter a partial description.

Example Result
Allotment 8 Section 1 Darraweit Guim (T)zooms into parcel
Allotment 8 Darraweit Guim (T)List of sections with allotment 8
Section 1 Darraweit Guim (T)List of allotments in section 1
Darraweit Guim (T)zooms to township

Further Hints

  • If you cannot find Subdivision A, Allotment 1, try searching for Allotment 1A.
  • If you cannot find section 0 (zero) try section O (letter), or vice versa.
  • Use numbers, not Roman numerals - eg. 22 not XXII.
  • Leave the Section field blank if searching for "NO SEC".
  • The map shows only current Crown descriptions. An old title, eg. for Grandpa's farm, may show a Crown description, but the land has been subdivided since. In this case, a Crown description search will not be successful.
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Search by Lot on Plan

Lot Plan Search fields

Enter the Lot number (if applicable), plan type and plan number. Do not enter the "check letter" after the plan number - eg. type in 400001 and not 400001U.
The following list shows the various plan types and the valid range.

Plan Type Description Valid Number Range Date Range
rough guide only.
LP Lodged Plan - Plan of Subdivision
Before Subdivision Act 1988
A subdivision of one block of land into two or more blocks
1 - 99999 1860s - 1973
110000 - 149999 1973 - 1985/6
200000 - 222655 1985/6 - 1997
PS Plan of Subdivision
After Subdivision Act 1988
A subdivision of one block of land into two or more blocks
Can also include common property and multi-level
300001 - 350000 1990 - 1996
400001 - 450000 1996 - 2001/2
500001 - (<550000) 2001/2 - 2007
600001 - (<650000) 2007 - 2013
700001 - (<750000) 2012 - 2017
800001 - (<850000) 2017 -
CP Consolidated Plan
Before Subdivision Act 1988
A consolidation of two or more blocks of land into one block
Plans of this type do not have a lot number
100000 - 109999 1969 - 1979/80
150000 - 199999 1979/80 - 1995
PC Plan of Consolidation
After Subdivision Act 1988
A consolidation of two or more blocks of land into one block
Plans of this type do not have a lot number
350001 - (<400000) 1990 -
TP Title Plan
A plan created by the Land Titles Office where no plan previously existed.
Any Title without a unique lot/plan description would get a TP
eg part lot, crown allotment, closure of government road, general law land brought under the Land Act
1 - 1989 -
RP / SP Strata Plan
Before Subdivision Act 1988
Can include common property
Can be multi-level
Boundaries are defined by buildings/walls
RP 1 - 19926 1967 - 1983
SP 19927 - 37825 1983 - 1990
CS Cluster Subdivision
Cluster Titles Act 1974
Superseded by Subdivision Act 1988
CS 1000 - 1785 1976 - 1993

Further Hints

  • If you do not type in the lot number, and there is more than one lot for this plan, you will get a list of these lot numbers. Choose any one, and the map will zoom to that lot - you can then use the toolbar navigation (zoom in/out, pan etc) to find the location of the property you are after.
  • Not all the plan numbers within the valid ranges listed above are in existence. Some may be superseded (such as a plan of consolidation being re-subdivided) or were withdrawn, or not approved.
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Search by Melway or Vicroads

Melway / Vicroads Search fields

Type in the map number (eg 77), grid reference (eg G5) and choose the directory (eg Vicroads)
The result if successful, will be a Melway (or Vicroads) grid square highlighted on the map.

Further Hints

  • For Melway, if you type just the page number, the result will be the centre of that map - approximately E7
  • For Vicroads, you must type a grid reference, as well as the map number.
  • The edition used for both Melway and Vicroads is shown.
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Additional Search types - not available on all maps

 

Search by Address PFI

PFI stands for Persistent Feature Identifier, and is the number used to identify an item in the database.

Enter the PFI number

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Search by Council Property No.

The local council allocates a Property Number to each property - this may be shown on the Coucnil's rates notice.
The rates notice may show an "assessment number". Commonly this is not the property number - instead it is the "invoice number" for that year's rates. This assessment number cannot be used for searching.

Enter the Property number
Select the council name from the list - or you can enter the code number instead

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Search by Heritage Register number

The Victorian Heritage Database allocates a number to each location in the database.

Enter the Heritage Register number

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Search by Lot on Street

The local council often does not allocate street address numbers until a house is constructed, although street names are generally shown on the plan of subdivision.
This option allows you to search for a lot number on a street.

Enter the lot number
Enter the street name, type and/or locality

Further Hints

  • Please see the information under Search by Address
  • Any parcels found will be listed with lot and plan number, and address
  • A search for Lot 1 may create a long list, as this lot number is common with Title Plans
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Search by Parcel PFI

PFI stands for Persistent Feature Identifier, and is the number used to identify an item in the database.

Enter the PFI number

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Search by Parcel SPI

SPI stands for Standard Parcel Identifier, and is a shorthand way to describe a parcel.

Enter the SPI

Further Hints

  • The SPI is created from the parcel description
  • For lot on plan, it is the lot number followed by the plan number
  • For Crown description, the "plan number" is created using a code number for the Parish or Township
  • Parish codes range from 2001 to 4005
  • Township codes range from 5001 to 5909
  • The list of codes can be seen at Vicmap Reference Tables (search for parish)
Parcel Description SPI Comments
Lot 43
PS 432097
43\PS432097 The simplest, and most common form - lot and plan number separated by \
Lot 11
Block 4
LP1713
11~4\LP1713 The subdivision was divided first into blocks or sections, each divided into lots
The tilde ~ separates the two "levels" (lot and block)
Crown Allotment 27B
Parish of Pakenham
27B\PP3363 The plan type is PP for Parish Plan
The code for Pakenham is 3363
Crown Allotment 27B
Section A1
Parish of Pakenham
27B~A1\PP3363 The plan type is PP for Parish Plan
The code for Pakenham is 3363
The tilde ~ separates the two "levels" (allotment and section)
Crown Allotment 2
Section 7
Township of Haines
2~7\PP5363 The plan type is PP for Parish Plan (as TP is used for Title Plan)
The code for Haines is 5363
The tilde ~ separates the two "levels" (allotment and section)
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Search by Parcel VIEW_PFI

PFI stands for Persistent Feature Identifier, and is the number used to identify an item in the database.
There are two separate tables in the database - PARCEL contains information about the parcel, while PARCEL_VIEW contains the linework needed to display the polygon.
Each PARCEL record has a VIEW_PFI value pointing to the PARCEL_VIEW table.
When we do not have the boundaries of individual parcels - eg. units in a block of flats - several parcels may have the same VIEW_PFI value.

Enter the VIEW_PFI number

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Search by Property PFI

PFI stands for Persistent Feature Identifier, and is the number used to identify an item in the database.

Enter the PFI number

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Search by Property VIEW_PFI

PFI stands for Persistent Feature Identifier, and is the number used to identify an item in the database.
There are two separate tables in the database - PROPERTY contains information about the property, while PROPERTY_VIEW contains the linework needed to display the polygon.
Each PROPERTY record has a VIEW_PFI value pointing to the PROPERTY_VIEW table.
When we do not have the boundaries of individual properties - eg. units in a block of flats - several properties may have the same VIEW_PFI value.

Enter the VIEW_PFI number

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Search by Survey Label

There are several categories of survey labels - displayed in different colours.
These can be turned on/off separately - see Build Map.
"Superseded" labels are shown as <label> - the search checks for these as well.

Enter the Survey Label

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Search by Survey Mark

Survey Marks may be Permanent Marks (named by Parish) or other types (eg. PCMs).
As you type in the Mark Name field, the Parish list above displays the possible parish names for you to select.
Each mark has a nine-digit identifier which you can enter.
Some marks, eg Bench Marks, have a number stamped on the plaque which you can enter.

Enter one of the mark identifiers

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Get Reports

example of Get Reports panel

When you do a search, or you select a property from the map, the property will automatically be added to the Property List on the Get Reports panel.

To remove a listing, uncheck the box, then Refresh List.

To view the map of the property again, click on the (blue, underlined) address

Property Report

Make sure any listings for which you want a property report are selected (checkbox on the left hand side of the address)

Select the Next button

In the example, three addresses are selected. All of these will carry through.

Title

Select the Get Title link.

This will open a new window with the first page of the Title and Property Certificates process.

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Build Map

example of Build Map feature

This allows you to switch map layers on and off to give you a different look to your interactive map.
This can be used to clarify the area you are looking at, or to remove superfluous information.

To add or remove map layers from the map, check or uncheck the box for that layer, then use the "Refresh map" button.

Greyed out boxes mean the layer is not available at this scale.
Click on the red star next to the layer name, and the map will zoom to a scale suitable to show this layer.

The list of layers is dynamic, and you can close (or open) some of the folders by clicking on the folder symbol.

The following image shows two examples of the same area, but with different layers.

example of Build Map feature
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Legend

legend The legend shows the map symbology.

Where a symbol changes at different scales, both symbology is shown in the legend. eg Roads appear as thicker lines on small scale mpas (such as the whole of Victoria) and as a thinner line on medium scale maps (such as the Melbourne Metro area.)

Not all layers are available at all scales.

Some of these layers specifically need to be switched on with Build Map tool


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Tools

toggle overview mapToggle Map Overview

Toggle the Map overview on and off.

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zoom in Zoom in

Click on the map once to zoom in by a factor of 2.

To zoom in to a smaller area on the map, click on the top left corner of the area you want, and holding down the mouse button, drag the cursor to the bottom right of the area. A red rectangle shows the area you select.

Zoom in by clicking Zoom in by dragging a box
zoom in with one click
zoom in by dragging a box
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zoom out Zoom Out

Click on the map to zoom out by a factor of 2.
To zoom out by a larger factor, click and drag a box as with zoom in. The size of the box you create determines the final size and location of the existing map area. ie the whole existing map will fit inside the box you draw.

Zoom out by clicking Zoom out by dragging a box
zoom in with one click
zoom in by dragging a box
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zoom scaleZoom Scale

Fill in the box to the scale you want the map to be. eg for a map scale of 1:5,000, type in 5000

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pan Pan

Move around the map at the same scale. Click a point on the map, and drag it to where you want it moved to.

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select Select

Click on a property to highlight it. This property will automatically be added to the list under the Get Reports tab

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measure Measure

diagram: how to measure lines on map

Click on points around the shape. A red line will be drawn between the points.

"Total" is the cumulative distance of the red line. "Distance" is the distance between the points.

In the example, the first point is on the right (next to number 8).
The next 5 points are along the curve of the road, and the most recent point is on the back boundary.

The accuracy is dependent on the map data, and the scale of the map, and on how closely you click on the boundary of the property.
In the example, we have stylised the curve into short straight segments.
One advantage of this method is that you can measure several properties as if they are one.

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measure Measure Area

diagram: how to measure area on map

Click on points around the shape. A red line will be drawn between the points.
A line will be drawn from the first to last point to close the polygon (at least 3 points).

"Total" is the cumulative distance of the red line. "Area" is the area of the shape you have drawn.

The accuracy is dependent on the map data, and the scale of the map, and on how closely you click on the boundary of the property.
The shape cannot cross over itself - you will see a message "your polygon is not valid".
One advantage of this method is that you can measure several properties as if they are one.

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clear Clear

When you do a search for a property (using address, lot/plan, etc), the selected property is highlighted. This tool redraws the map without that highlight.

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print Print

The print tool will open a form which allows you to set the size and the scale of the map to create. It will then create a pdf file which will open in a new window. You can then save the file, or send it to your printer.
Note - the Print option in your browser will not print the map - you must use the Print tool above the map.

 

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save image Save Image

Unlike most web sites, you cannot "right-click" on the map image and save it - you must use this tool.
Click on the tool and a window will pop up asking you to Open or Save the image file.
The file name is made up from the site_name, the date and time, and the map projection - eg. interactive_0614_120710_vg.png
- the image is in png (Portable Network Graphics) format.
If the aerial photography layer is displayed (not available on all maps) the saved image will include this as well.

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save image georeferenced Save Image Georeferenced

Unlike most web sites, you cannot "right-click" on the map image and save it - you must use this tool.
A georeferenced file has a second "world" file which includes the coordinates and size of the image so another program can display the image in the correct location.
As the Vicgrid94 projection we use for our maps is not widely known, a copy of the image is rotated to the MGA (Map Grid of Australia) projection - this is explained in the "image_readme.txt" file included in the zip file.
Click on the tool and a window will pop up asking you to Open or Save the zip file.
The file name is made up from the site_name, the date and time, and the map projection - eg. interactive_0614_120710_vg.png
- the image is in png (Portable Network Graphics) format.
If the aerial photography layer is displayed (not available on all maps) the saved image will include this as well.

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Directory On/Off button Directory On/Off

Use this tool to quickly toggle between Vicmap and the directory (Melway or Vicroads). eg
Example use of Directory On/Off button

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Zoom To

Zoom to:

These buttons will zoom the map in or out to predefined scales. The actual scale will be dependant on the resolution of your screen, the map window shape (square/rectangle) and "bar-scale rounding". The actual scale is adjusted so the map shows a bar scale with a sensible figure (ie 1:2500 not 1:2487) This allows greater clarity of distances on the map.

State Resets the map back to the default map of the whole of Victoria
Property The scale appropriate for the majority of urban properties within Victoria.
>   >   >   >   > Regular steps in scale in between "State" and "Property".

The following diagram shows a typical urban 1/4 acre block and a large-acreage rural block of land at some of these scales. Note that "Property" scale shows nearly the whole street in the urban area, yet in the rural area, you need to be at the > about half way along, in order to see the whole block of land.

zoom to: scale results
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Local Council

local council

Selecting one of the Councils on the list will zoom the map to that council area.
This is a faster way of zooming in to a specific area.

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Map Area

Map

The main map area. When moving your cursor over the main map area, two sets of coordinates appear in the status bar of your browser. The first set is the VicGrid GDA94 Easting and Northing, and the second set is the Geographical (Latitude and Longitude) coordinates.

Depending on the scale of the map and the location in Victoria, you will either get Vicmap data, Melway or Vicroads directories. These data layers automatically switch on and off as you zoom in or out. You can however, use Build Map to change these defaults.

Urban and Rural areas

example of the rural / urban split

Boundaries from the Australian Bureau of Statistics determines whether properties are in "Built Up" areas. This is so property boundaries can be shown at different scales in different areas.
eg, generally, urban properties are small, and are visible at large scales (up to 1:5,000), while rural properties are large, needing to be visible at small scales (up to 1:100,000). When rural properties are displayed, the road pattern is shown in the adjoining urban areas, with a white (rather than pale yellow) background.

A property has been classified as "Urban" if any portion of that property is inside the ABS Built Up area, so many urban properties extend outside the actual Built Up Area boundaries.

You will need to zoom in on the urban area to see the actual properties.


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Highlighted Property

When you search for a property, or use the Select tool to select a property, it will appear highlighted in a different colour. The colour used may vary on different maps to make it obvious.
Any property highlighted will automatically be included on the list under the Get Reports tab.

Copyright

Copyright of materials present on the Victorian Government Web Site resides with the State of Victoria. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under copyright legislation, no part may be reproduced or reused for any commercial purposes whatsoever.

Bar Scale

The bar scale is 1/5 of the map width. The map scale will recalculate so the bar scale shows a rounded figure (eg 1:2500 rather than 1:2487) This is due to popular demand that the map and bar scale be measured easily.

North Point

North is grid north on a Vicgrid GDA94 projection. True north is approximately 3 degrees west of grid north at the South Australian border, equal to grid north in Melbourne, and is 3 degrees east of grid north at the extreme east of Victoria.

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Coordinates

Map coordinates

This shows the approximate coordinates of the current location of the cursor, rounded when appropriate for the scale of the map.
The coordinates are shown as MGA (Map Grid of Australia)(Easting/Northing), Geographical (Latitude/Longitude) and Vicgrid94 (Easting/Northing).
MGA coordinates can be zone 54 (approximately west of Ballarat) or zone 55 (east of Ballarat), but coordinates for both zones are shown near the zone boundary.
The datum is GDA94. To convert the coordinates to another projection you can download AMGVG Conversion Software

Note - if you do not see the coordinates, it is likely to be a setting on your browser which needs to be changed.

Internet Explorer

  • Version 7 or 8
    • Click on View and make sure Status Bar is ticked.
    • Click on Tools
  • Version 9 or 10
    • There is no Tools menu - click on the Tools icon (the cog wheel) instead.
    • Right-click on the Tools icon and make sure Status Bar is ticked.
    • Click on the Tools icon to see the menu
Click on Internet Options, Security, Internet. Click on Custom Level.
Down near the bottom of the list is an option under Scripting - Allow status bar updates by script. Tick this option.
Screen shots showing how to change settings for Internet Explorer - Step 1  Step 2  Step 3

Google Chrome and Firefox do not have a status bar.
For these browsers, the map is resized to create a "status" bar area for the coordinate display.

If you are using another browser, and the coordinate display is not visible, please contact us using the email link below.

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Browser Problems

Internet Explorer version 10

Compatibility view may cause problems when viewing the map
  • clicking on the map will identify the wrong property
  • the zoom in box will be drawn in the wrong location
  • the measure tools will draw lines in the wrong location
You can turn compatibility view on or off for a web page by using this button on your browser
compatibility view on
 
compatibility view off
 
You can turn compatibility off for a web site by using the Compatibility view option in the Tools menu
- you may need to display the menu bar before you can see the Tools menu
 
display menu bar tools menu
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