Terms of Use

1. What SuburbCost is

SuburbCost is a free, independent cost-of-living comparison tool for suburbs in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. It estimates council rates, water, commute, electricity, insurance and other running costs so you can compare suburbs. SuburbCost is operated as a sole trader business based in Brisbane, Queensland.

2. Not financial, legal or professional advice

Nothing on SuburbCost — cost estimates, suburb reports, comparisons, rankings, or AI-generated recommendations — is financial, legal, insurance, credit, tax or property investment advice. SuburbCost is not a licensed financial adviser, credit provider, insurer or real estate agent. Don't rely on SuburbCost as the basis for a financial or property decision. Verify figures independently and get advice from an appropriately licensed professional (a financial adviser, mortgage broker, accountant, solicitor or conveyancer, as relevant) before you act.

3. Accuracy of information

We source council rates, water charges, school data and other figures from official government, council and utility sources where available, and update them periodically — see Data sources. Even so:

• Some figures — including insurance premiums and body corporate/strata levies — are estimates generated using AI and are labelled as such throughout the site. They are not quotes and won't match what you're actually charged.
• All figures, sourced or estimated, may be out of date, incomplete or inaccurate. They're provided "as is," without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including any warranty of accuracy, completeness, reliability or fitness for a particular purpose.
• Council rates, water charges and other costs change over time — typically annually — and can vary within a suburb based on land value, property type and other factors specific to your property.

You use everything on SuburbCost at your own risk, and you're responsible for independently verifying any figure before relying on it.

4. AI-generated content

Suburb reports may include content generated using AI (including Claude by Anthropic) from SuburbCost's underlying cost, risk and school data. AI-generated content — including any recommendation or verdict — is for general information only, may contain errors, and is not advice of any kind. Each report carries its own AI disclosure alongside this content.

5. Referral relationships

SuburbCost may receive a referral fee from mortgage brokers, buyer's agents or insurance comparison services if you choose to connect with them through links or forms on this site. This costs you nothing and doesn't affect the price, rate or terms you're offered. We're not a credit provider and aren't licensed to give credit, financial or insurance advice — any introduction is not a recommendation to use a particular product or provider. A broker, agent or service we refer you to is independently licensed and solely responsible for the advice, products and services they provide you. You're never obligated to proceed with a referral.

6. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent the law allows, SuburbCost and its operator exclude all liability for loss or damage — direct, indirect, incidental or consequential — arising from your use of, or inability to use, the site, or your reliance on any information, estimate, comparison, report or recommendation on it, whether that loss arises in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law, or any other law that can't lawfully be excluded.

7. Third-party links and services

SuburbCost links to and relies on data and services from third parties, including councils, government agencies, utilities, Mapbox, Google Analytics, Mailerlite, and mortgage brokers or other referral partners. We're not responsible for the content, accuracy, availability or practices of any third-party site or service. Using a third-party site or service is governed by its own terms and privacy policy.

8. Intellectual property

The SuburbCost name, logo, and the compilation, design and presentation of data on this site belong to SuburbCost or its licensors. You may view and share pages from the site for personal, non-commercial use. You may not scrape, copy, republish or commercially exploit SuburbCost's data or content without our prior written permission.

9. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the update. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia. Any dispute arising from your use of SuburbCost is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland, Australia.

11. Contact

Questions about these terms: contact@suburbcost.com.au

SuburbCost is operated as a sole trader business in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.