Short answer
Redland is mainly detached owner-occupied houses on the mainland, plus North Stradbroke Island and the Southern Moreton Bay Islands, which are reached by ferry or barge. Island properties need a test plan that accounts for how samples are kept cool and logged on the way to the laboratory.
Tenure
- Rented
- 22.9%
- Owned with a mortgage
- 39.9%
- Owned outright
- 33.7%
Dwelling type
- Separate house
- 83.9%
- Townhouse / semi
- 11.4%
- Flat / apartment
- 4.4%
Share of occupied private dwellings. ABS 2021 Census QuickStats, Redland (LGA36250).
Island properties: planning around the crossing
Laboratory wipe samples should be kept cool where possible and carried under a chain-of-custody record until they reach the laboratory. For a property on Russell, Macleay, Lamb or Karragarra Island, or on Minjerribah, that journey includes a water crossing. Booking with the ferry or barge timetable in mind keeps the record continuous and avoids samples sitting for long periods before they are logged in.
If an island house has been let as a holiday home or has stood empty between owners, its recent history is harder to establish, which is a common reason to test.
Mainland buyers carrying a mortgage
Four in ten Redland homes were mortgaged at the 2021 Census, one of the highest rates in the region. For a buyer borrowing heavily, discovering contamination after settlement is a cost that lands on top of the loan. A screen inside the contract’s inspection window is how you avoid that; a laboratory follow-up on any positive gives the number your conveyancer needs.
Acreage and outbuildings around Thornlands and Redland Bay
The southern mainland still has larger blocks with sheds, workshops and second dwellings. Each structure has to be named in the scope to be sampled. If an outbuilding has been used as a separate living space, treat it as a dwelling and sample it as one.
Who regulates former drug-lab sites here?
Queensland Health says local governments regulate the health risks of former illicit drug laboratory sites under the Public Health Act 2005. For this area that is Redland City Council. Rental matters sit with the Residential Tenancies Authority.
Suburbs and towns in this council area
Cleveland · Capalaba · Alexandra Hills · Birkdale · Wellington Point · Ormiston · Thornlands · Victoria Point · Redland Bay · North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) · Russell Island · Macleay Island
Local questions
Can island properties be tested with laboratory samples?
Yes. The planning point is keeping samples cool and the chain-of-custody record continuous across the ferry or barge trip to the laboratory.
Should a granny flat be tested separately?
If it has been lived in, yes. Name it in the scope and it is sampled as its own dwelling.
Sources
- Redland (LGA36250) — 2021 Census QuickStats — Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Australian Voluntary Code of Practice: Assessment, remediation and validation — former clandestine drug laboratories and other methamphetamine contaminated properties (2019) — Environmental Health Australia
Facts on this page checked against these sources on 29 October 2026.