The City of Gold Coast is the
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory.
The phrase i ...
spanning the
Gold Coast,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, Australia and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774
[ it is the second most populous local government area in Australia (]City of Brisbane
The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainlan ...
being the largest).[ Its council maintains a staff of over 2,500. It was established in 1948, but has existed in its present form since 2008. It is on the border with New South Wales with the ]Tweed Shire
Tweed Shire is a local government area located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. It is adjacent to the border with Queensland, where that meets the Tasman Sea. Administered from the town of Murwillumbah, Tweed Shir ...
to the south in New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, e ...
.
History
Early history
By the late 1870s, the Government of Queensland
The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...
had become preoccupied with the idea of getting local residents to pay through rates for local services, which had become a massive cost to the colony and were undermaintained in many areas. The McIlwraith government initiated the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879'' which created a system of elected divisional boards covering most of Queensland. It was assented by the Governor on 2 October 1879, and on 11 November 1879, the Governor gazetted a list of 74 divisions which would come into existence. Four of these — Nerang, Coomera, Beenleigh
Beenleigh is a town and suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Beenleigh had a population of 8,252 people.
A government survey for the new town was conducted in 1866. The town is the terminus for the Beenlei ...
and Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, mapsize = 220px
, pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
— were in the Gold Coast region. Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish ...
was developed as both an administrative centre as well as a holiday destination with hotels and guesthouses to cater for visitors. Town dwellers had different needs to the rural landholders so Southport ratepayers lobbied the colonial government to create a separate Divisional Board so that rates monies raised by Southport landholders could be spent on town improvements. This resulted in the establishment of the Southport Division on 14 July 1883 by an amalgamation of part of Nerang Division and part of Coomera Division.
On 31 March 1903, following the enactment of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', the divisions became shires. On 12 June 1914, the Town of Coolangatta was created from part of the Shire of Nerang, and on 12 April 1918, Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish ...
became a town.
Development and growth
On 9 December 1948, as part of a major reorganisation of local government in South East Queensland
South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. ...
, an Order in Council created the Town of South Coast by amalgamating Town of Southport, Town of Coolangatta and coastal sections (around Burleigh Heads) of the Shire of Nerang, creating a narrow coastal strip. The same Order abolished all of the earlier Shires and amalgamated most of their area into the new Shire of Albert
The Shire of Albert was a local government area in Queensland, located south of the capital, Brisbane, and taking in areas to the north and west of the Gold Coast. It was named after the Prince Consort of the United Kingdom, and husband of Quee ...
, with the rest becoming part of the Shire of Beaudesert
The Shire of Beaudesert was a local government area located in South East Queensland, Australia, stretching from the New South Wales border, along the Gold Coast hinterland to the urban fringes of the cities of Brisbane and Ipswich. The Shire c ...
. The Order came into effect on 10 June 1949, when the first elections were held for the new councils.
On 23 October 1958, the Town of the South Coast adopted the name of Town of Gold Coast, and on 16 May 1959, the Town was proclaimed as the City of Gold Coast by the Governor of Queensland
The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial functi ...
, having met the requirements for city status. Most of what is now regarded as the Gold Coast urban area was at that time located within the Shire of Albert
The Shire of Albert was a local government area in Queensland, located south of the capital, Brisbane, and taking in areas to the north and west of the Gold Coast. It was named after the Prince Consort of the United Kingdom, and husband of Quee ...
, which had its administrative offices in Nerang-Southport Road, Nerang.
A regional authority
On 19 March 1992, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission
The Electoral and Administrative Review Commission (1989–1993) was an agency of the Government of Queensland, Australia to investigate the electoral system and public administration of the state and local government authorities of Queensland. ...
, created two years earlier, produced its report ''External Boundaries of Local Authorities'', and recommended a number of changes to local government boundaries and the amalgamation of some local governments. Although their recommendations only included boundary adjustments between the Gold Coast City and Albert Shire, the outcome following much public debate was a decision by the Queensland Government
The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...
to absorb Albert Shire into Gold Coast City. The ''Local Government (Albert, Beaudesert and Gold Coast) Regulation 1994'' was gazetted on 16 December 1994, resulting in the amalgamation of the Shire of Albert
The Shire of Albert was a local government area in Queensland, located south of the capital, Brisbane, and taking in areas to the north and west of the Gold Coast. It was named after the Prince Consort of the United Kingdom, and husband of Quee ...
into Gold Coast City at the 1995 local government elections.
In 2007, as part of a report recommending massive amalgamation of local government in Queensland, the Local Government Reform Commission recommended that the Beenleigh
Beenleigh is a town and suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Beenleigh had a population of 8,252 people.
A government survey for the new town was conducted in 1866. The town is the terminus for the Beenlei ...
- Eagleby region on the Gold Coast's northern border be transferred to Logan City
Logan City is a local government area situated within the south of the Brisbane metropolitan area in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated between the City of Brisbane to the north and the City of Gold Coast to the south, the City also bor ...
, on the basis that a common community of interest existed and that planning of the South East Queensland urban footprint would be made more efficient by the change. The area to be excised was estimated by the Commission to have an area of and a population of 40,148. The change took effect at 15 March 2008 local government elections.
Heritage listings
The Gold Coast has many heritage-listed
This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...
sites, including those at:
* Currumbin
* Main Beach
* Pimpama
* Numinbah Valley
Numinbah Valley is a rural locality in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Numinbah Valley had a population of 218 people.
Geography
The Numinbah Valley is a valley and locality in the Gold Coast hinterland in South Eas ...
* South Stradbroke Island
The South Stradbroke Island ( Indigenous: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''South Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, south of Brisbane and forms the northern end of Gold Coast. The islan ...
* Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish ...
* Springbrook Springbrook may refer to:
Places Australia
* Springbrook, Queensland
** Springbrook National Park, Queensland
** Springbrook State School, a heritage-listed building in the park
** Springbrook Road, a heritage-listed road
Canada
* Springbrook, ...
* Surfers Paradise
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable ...
* Tallebudgera
Tallebudgera is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Tallebudgera had a population of 3,667 people.
Geography
The Tallebudgera Creek forms a part of the western and eastern border of Tallebudgera.
History
Th ...
* Willow Vale
Suburbs and localities
Elected representatives
Gold Coast City has been divided into 14 divisions, each electing one councillor at elections held every four years. The present mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...
is Cr Tom Tate who was first elected on 28 April 2012 and re-elected on both 19 March 2016 and 28 March 2020 with more than two thirds of the preferential vote.
The City of Gold Coast has a number of state electorates with the following people elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...
:
The City of Gold Coast has a number of federal electorates with the following people elected in the Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
The term of members of the ...
:
Australian Senators are elected on a state-wide basis so none are specifically associated with the City of Gold Coast.
Population
Populations are provided below for the Gold Coast (Southport/Coolangatta, South Coast, Gold Coast) and Albert entities. As Albert included the entire Logan City
Logan City is a local government area situated within the south of the Brisbane metropolitan area in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated between the City of Brisbane to the north and the City of Gold Coast to the south, the City also bor ...
area prior to 1978, figures are only provided from the 1976 census.
Demographics
Libraries
The first municipal library on the Gold Coast opened in the Southport Town Hall on 30 April 1958. Prior to this, a series of School of arts and private circulating libraries had supported the communities' and visitors' recreational and educational reading needs.
The City of Gold Coast has 12 libraries at Broadbeach (at Mermaid Waters
Mermaid Waters is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Mermaid Waters had a population of 12,045 people.
Geography
Mermaid Waters is primarily a residential suburb, featuring many homes built along artificial ...
), Burleigh Heads, Burleigh Waters, Coolangatta
Coolangatta is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is the Gold Coast's southernmost suburb and it borders New South Wales. In the , Coolangatta had a population of 5,948 people.
Geography
Coolangatta and its ...
, Elanora, Helensvale, Nerang, Palm Beach, Robina, Runaway Bay, Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish ...
and Upper Coomera. There is a special needs library within Nerang Library and a Local Studies Library (on the first floor of Southport Library). The council also operate a mobile library service.
In 2018, the mobile library provides a fortnight service to Alberton, Ashmore
Ashmore is a village and civil parish in the North Dorset district of Dorset, England, southwest of Salisbury.
The village is centred on a circular pond and has a church and several stone cottages and farms, many with thatched roofs. It is ...
, Benowa, Bonogin, Cedar Creek, Coomera, Currumbin Valley, Gilston
Gilston is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located a little over one mile north of the town of Harlow in the neighbouring county of Essex. Together with the nearby hamlet of Eastwick ...
, Jacobs Well, Mudgeeraba, Ormeau Ormeau may refer to:
* Ormeau, Queensland, a town on the Gold Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia
* Belfast Ormeau (UK Parliament constituency), 1918–1922
* Ormeau Road
Ormeau Road is a road in south Belfast, the capital of Northern ...
(4 visits), Paradise Point, Pimpama (3 visits), Tugun, Steiglitz, Tallebudgera Valley, and Woongoolba. The Gold Coast City Library is a member of the Queensland Public Libraries Association.
Key projects
* Gold Coast University Hospital
Gold Coast University Hospital (abbreviated GCUH or GCH, and sometimes Gold Coast Uni Hospital) is a major health facility offering tertiary level health care for the Gold Coast, Australia, completed in September 2013. The hospital was built on ...
* Tugun Desalination Plant
* Raising of Hinze Dam
The Hinze Dam is a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with an un-gated spillway across the Nerang River in the Gold Coast hinterland of South East, Queensland, Australia. The main purpose of the dam is for potable water supply of the Gold ...
* Southport Broadwater Parklands
* Gold Coast Rapid Transit System
* Gold Coast Ferry Service
* Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens
* Evandale Cultural Precinct including the Home of The Arts
Home of the Arts (HOTA), opened as the Keith Hunt Community Entertainment and Arts Centre in 1986 and subsequently renamed The Arts Centre Gold Coast (TAC) and Gold Coast Arts Centre, is a cultural precinct situated in Surfers Paradise, City of ...
cultural centre and a greenbridge from Evandale Parklands to Chevron Island
The Chevron Island is an urban island that lies in the Nerang River and is a neighbourhood within the suburb of Surfers Paradise in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
History
Chevron Island is a natural island previously known as ...
* Mermaid Waters Library
* Gold Coast Shoreline Management Plan
Notable personnel
Notable people who work for or who have worked for the City of Gold Coast include:
* Guillermo Capati
Guillermo "Bill" Capati, is an adjunct professor and chartered professional engineer in Australia in the field of civil and environmental engineering. Currently, Capati is an adjunct professor at the University of Queensland since December 20 ...
PSM, 1994 – 2017, managed the city's water and wastewater needs, long-term water planning and recycled water. Capati was awarded a Public Service Medal (PSM) during the 2013 Australia Day Honours for outstanding public service to the sustainable water future of the Gold Coast and broader South East Queensland
South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. ...
region.
See also
* Gold Coast Art Centre
* Gold Coast City Art Gallery
* List of Gold Coast suburbs
References
External links
City of Gold Coast
History of Gold Coast Council
Gold Coast Internet Exchange - OOL-IX
{{Coord, 28, 00, 04, S, 153, 25, 42, E, type:adm2nd_region:AU-QLD, display=title
*
Gold Coast
1948 establishments in Australia
City of Gold Coast