In short
Short answer: the Public Acquisition Overlay (PAO) is a Victorian planning overlay set out in clause 45.01 of the Victoria Planning Provisions and applied to land through each council's planning scheme. In the clause's own words, its first purpose is: “To identify land which is proposed to be acquired by a Minister, public authority or municipal council”. (Department of Transport and Planning (Victoria), verified 27 Sep 2026)
An overlay sits on top of the land's zone and adds controls for one issue, whatever the zone is; a lot can carry several.
What it typically means for a buyer (Delora editorial, not legal advice): Part or all of the land is reserved for possible future public acquisition by a named authority.
Check whether the Public Acquisition Overlay applies to an address with Address Check. For a decision on a specific property, the official record is a Planning Property Report from VicPlan, and the council's schedule sets the local detail.
What the clause says
Clause 45.01 of the Victoria Planning Provisions (Public Acquisition Overlay) states its purposes as: to identify land which is proposed to be acquired by a Minister, public authority or municipal council; to reserve land for a public purpose and to ensure that changes to the use or development of the land do not prejudice the purpose for which the land is to be acquired; and to designate a Minister, public authority or municipal council as an acquiring authority for land reserved for a public purpose. (Department of Transport and Planning (Victoria), verified 27 Sep 2026)
Ask your conveyancer: Which authority is named, how much of the land is affected, and is acquisition planned?
Shown on planning scheme maps as PAO.
How much of Victoria this covers
From the 2899 sample suburbs Address Check's export has processed so far — a lower bound, not a statewide total, until the export runs statewide.
6,322 land parcels and 16,871 addresses in the sample so far.
Councils with the most coverage
- Mornington Peninsula (680 lots)
- Hume (332 lots)
- Merri-bek (327 lots)
- Maribyrnong (322 lots)
- Casey (294 lots)
- Melton (268 lots)
Suburbs with the highest share
- Warrenheip — 23% of addresses checked (103)
- Mount Cottrell — 20% of addresses checked (111)
- Woodstock — 18% of addresses checked (19)
- Pakenham South — 15% of addresses checked (17)