Rural Property Numbering

Rural property numbering systems are determined by the distance from the starting point of the road to the property entrance, with the odd numbers on the left hand-side and even numbers on the right hand-side. Numbers must easily be read from the roadway to enable a property to be identified by emergency service vehicles and the general public.

Rural numbers are generally marked by a yellow steel post with the dark blue numbers attached on both sides. However, residents have the option to erect their own marker but it must comply with the standards specified on the guidelines below.

Property owners are responsible for the purchase, installation and maintenance of all rural property numbers. This provides for a level playing field between both rural property owners and urban property owners who are required to provide and maintain house numbers identifying their property. 

Why rural addressing is needed? 

The difficulty of locating un-numbered rural properties has previously caused delays and inconvenience for the emergency services. Previously, the emergency services and the general public have relied heavily on local knowledge. However this is incompatible with today's demands on addressing protocols as addresses must link to computer systems. It is particularly important that rural properties be numbered in a consistent and logical way to assist the emergency services.

This conforms to Australian Standard AS/NZ 4819:2011.