How it works

Ideal Home helps you evaluate an address by showing nearby schools and, for government schools, whether a school is in the local enrolment area (also called a catchment) where official data is available.

1) You enter an address

We geocode the address to a latitude/longitude and infer the state/territory.

2) We look up catchment data (when available)

For supported states, we use official government catchment datasets (also called local enrolment areas, school intake areas, or school zones depending on the state) to match an address to local government schools. Availability differs by state.

3) We list nearby schools

We query our school database and show schools within your chosen radius, plus key context like sector, ICSEA percentile, and whether the school is in the local enrolment area (when catchment data is available).

Important notes

• Not enrolment advice. This is a first-pass address-to-area match. Always confirm with the school and the relevant education department.
• Catchments change. Published boundaries and policies can change year to year.
• No data means catchment data is unavailable for that state/year — not the same as N/A (non-government schools, where local enrolment area does not apply).
• Some states use different official names (e.g. ACT priority enrolment areas; VIC/SA school zones; TAS school intake areas).

WA and NT (No data, not No)

Nearby schools still work nationwide. For Western Australia and the Northern Territory we do not have official catchment polygons we can load, so government Local Enrolment Area stays No data. That is not the same as No (outside a catchment). We do not guess Yes.

• WA: check Schools Online (address search without the postcode) for local-intake areas, then confirm with the school. See the WA honesty page and FAQ.
• NT: check priority enrolment area maps, then confirm with the school. See the NT honesty page.

How we stay free

Core address checks and Local Enrolment Area answers stay free. Map and autocomplete are optional login extras so we can cap paid lookup costs — not a paywall on catchment data. Optional donations cover hosting and geocoding. We do not sell open government school data. See how we stay free.