Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the

Toowoomba Region The Toowoomba Region is a local government area located in the Darling Downs part of Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and bey ...

of the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was general ...

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 , establishe ...

, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 Census was 142,163, having grown at an average annual rate of 1.45% over the previous two decades. Toowoomba is the second-most-populous inland city in the country after the national capital of Canberra and hence the largest city on the

, and it is among the largest regional centres in Queensland. It is also referred to as the capital of the Darling Downs. The Toowoomba region is the home of two main Aboriginal language groups, the Giabal whose lands extend south of the city and Jarowair whose lands extend north of the city. The Jarowair lands include the site of one of Australia's most important sacred Bora ceremonial ground, the ‘Gummingurru stone arrangement’ dated to c.4000 BC. The site marked one of the major routes employed by many Aboriginal tribes to the south and southeast to participate in the triennial bunya nut feast. The feast was Australia's largest Indigenous event, and of cultural and spiritual significance. The first European knowledge of the area was recorded when English botanist Allan Cunningham explored the region in 1827 and named it after Ralph Darling, then Governor of New South Wales. British drays began arriving from 1840, enticed by the rich pastoral lands, and established the settlement of Drayton in 1842. During the War of Southern Queensland, violent conflict erupted as Indigenous tribes attempted to force drays from encroaching on the Darling Downs, with the Battle of One Tree Hill being fought near Toowoomba. William Horton founded the Royal Bull's Head Inn in 1847, and in 1852 he invested in a new hotel in the area known as ‘The Swamp’. A rivalry between this newfound settlement (later renamed to Toowoomba) and the previously established town of Drayton eventually ended when Toowoomba outgrew and absorbed Drayton as time went on. The town elected its first mayor in 1861, former convict William Henry Groom, and by 1867 it was connected by rail to Ipswich, which was also the first over the Great Dividing Range. In 1904 Toowoomba was declared a city, and saw the

Austral Society The Austral Society was founded in 1903 due to the influence of The Toowoomba poet George Essex Evans to promote Australian Arts and Culture. The Society ceased in 1911. The Society purchased part of the closed Toowoomba Gaol grounds and let a t ...

founded there by the esteemed national poet George Essex Evans. Over the 20th century, Toowoomba expanded from a primarily agriculture-based economy to provide services with increasing demand such as advanced education and medical facilities. A university and cathedral city, Toowoomba is largely preserved of its Victorian era architecture and gardens of which there are more than 150 public parks including the historic Queens Park. The city hosts the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers each September and national championship events for the sports of mountain biking and

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

. Toowoomba is served by

Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport is an airport in Wellcamp, west from the CBD of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. It was known as Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport until November 2017. The airport and an associated aviation and business park is the ...

and the smaller Toowoomba City Aerodrome. In recent years Toowoomba has seen high rise developments built to accommodate high population growth in the region.

Geography

Toowoomba is on the crest of the Great Dividing Range, around above sea level. A few streets are on the eastern side of the edge of the range, but most of the city is west of the divide. The city occupies the edge of the range and the low ridges behind it. Two valleys run north from the southern boundary, each arising from springs either side of Middle Ridge near Spring Street at an altitude of around 680 m. These waterways, East Creek and West Creek, flow together just north of the CBD to form Gowrie Creek. Gowrie Creek drains to the west across the

and is a tributary of the

Condamine River The Condamine River, part of the Balonne River, Balonne catchment that is part of the Murray-Darling Basin, drains the northern portion of the Darling Downs, an area of sub-coastal southern Queensland, Australia. The river is approximately 500 k ...

, part of the

Murray–Darling basin The Murray–Darling basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, encompassing the drainage basin of the tributaries of the Murray River, Australia's longest river, and the Darling River, a right tributary of ...

. The water flowing down Gowrie Creek makes its way some to the mouth of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

near

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in South Australia. Rain which falls on the easternmost streets of Toowoomba flows east to

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

a distance of around . The rich

volcanic soil The soil composition of vineyards is one of the most important viticultural considerations when planting grape vines. The soil supports the root structure of the vine and influences the drainage levels and amount of minerals and nutrients that the ...

in the region helps maintain the 150 public parks that are scattered across the city. Jacaranda, camphor laurel and plane trees line many of the city streets. The city's reputation as 'The Garden City' is highlighted during the Australian Carnival of Flowers festival held in September each year.

Deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

trees from around the world line many of the parks, giving a display of autumn colour.

Suburbs

The City of Toowoomba includes the following suburbs: * Centenary Heights * Cotswold Hills² * Cranley * Darling Heights * Drayton * East Toowoomba * Glenvale² *

Harlaxton Harlaxton is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the edge of the Vale of Belvoir and just off the A607, south-west from Grantham and north-east from Melton Mowbray. History A ...

* Harristown * Kearneys Spring * Middle Ridge * Mount Kynoch *

Mount Lofty Mount Lofty (, elevation AHD) is the highest point in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges. It is located about east of the Adelaide city centre, within the Cleland National Park in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia. The mountain's s ...

* Newtown * North Toowoomba * Prince Henry Heights * Rangeville * Redwood * Rockville * South Toowoomba * Toowoomba City (the city centre) * Torrington² * Wilsonton * Wilsonton Heights ² - from former Shire of Jondaryan

History

StateLibQld 1 118556 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba, Queensland, ca

Traditional owners

Giabal and Jarowair are recognised as the two main Aboriginal language groups of the Toowoomba with Giabal extending south of the city while Jarowair extends north of the city. The Jarowair (also known as Yarowair, Yarow-wair, Barrunggam, Yarrowair, Yarowwair and Yarrow-weir) language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Toowoomba Regional Council, particularly Toowoomba north to Crows Nest and west to Oakey. This traditional landscape changed dramatically with the settlement of Drayton in the 1840s and the pastoral expansion west. Those

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

that survived the frontier conflict of this time were pushed to the fringe of society in camps and later moved to missions such as Deebing Creek, Durundur and later Barambah (now Cherbourg). There is evidence that local Aboriginal Australians were working on the properties to the west of Toowoomba in this contact period. Ceremonies such as the Bonye Bonye festival remained active until the late 19th century – groups from south east and south west Queensland as well as northern

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 , es ...

gathered at Gummingurru, near

Gowrie Gowrie ( gd, Gobharaidh) is a region in central Scotland and one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It covered the eastern part of what became Perthshire. It was located to the immediate east of Atholl, and originally included t ...

(west of Toowoomba) prior to attending the festival. The Gummingurru site is being restored and remains an important ceremonial place for not only the traditional groups but neighbouring groups.

European exploration and settlement

Toowoomba's colonial history traces back to 1816 when English botanist and explorer Allan Cunningham arrived in Australia from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and in June 1827 discovered of rich farming and grazing land, which became known as the

, bordered on the east by the Great Dividing Range and west of the settlement of

. Thirteen years later when George and

Patrick Leslie Patrick Leslie (25 September 1815 – 12 August 1881) was a Scottish settler in Australia. Leslie and his two brothers (Walter and George) were the first to settle on the Darling Downs, and he was the first person to buy land in Warwick ...

established Toolburra Station south-west of Toowoomba the first settlers arrived on the Downs and established a township of bark-slab shops called The Springs which was soon renamed Drayton. Land for the town was first surveyed in 1849, then again in 1853. Towards the end of the 1840s Drayton had grown to the point where it had its own newspaper, general store, trading post and the Royal Bull's Head Inn, which was built by William Horton and still stands today. Horton is regarded as the true founder of Toowoomba despite not being the first European person to live there. Drovers and wagon masters spread the news of the new settlement at Toowoomba. By 1858 Toowoomba was growing fast. It had a population of 700, three hotels and many stores. Land selling at in 1850 was by then . Governor Bowen granted the wish of locals and a new municipality was proclaimed on 24 November 1860. The first town council election took place on 4 January 1861 and William Henry Groom won. The railway from Ipswich was opened in 1867, bringing with it business development. In 1892, the Under Secretary of Public Land proclaimed Toowoomba and the surrounding areas as a township and in 1904 Toowoomba was declared a city. Pastoralism replaced agriculture and dairying by the 1900s. In July 1902, 80 subdivided allotments of "The Lilley Estate" owned by the late Sir Charles Lilley, were advertised to be auctioned by Scholefield & Godsall. A map advertising the auction shows that the estate was bordered by Bridge, Mary and Lindsay Streets and overlooking and adjoining the Royal Agricultural Society's Showgrounds. The Rotary Club of Toowoomba was established in 1930. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Toowoomba was the location of RAAF No.7 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 29 August 1944. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000). Toowoomba was named as Australia's Tidiest Town in 2008. On 10 January 2011, Toowoomba suffered a catastrophic flash flood. Unusually heavy rainfall had occurred in the preceding days, causing the city's waterways to become swollen. Around midday, an intense storm moved in from the northeast, completely overwhelming East Creek and West Creek which run through the CBD. fell in one day with rainfall peaking at over one 10-minute interval. The flood caused damage to properties and infrastructure, and resulted in the deaths of 2 people in Toowoomba. At the , the Urban Centre of Toowoomba recorded a population of 100,032 people. Of these: * Age distribution: Residents had a similar distribution of ages to the country overall. The median age was 38 years, the same as the national median of 38 years. Children aged under 15 years made up 19.1% of the population (national average is 18.7%) and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.1% of the population (national average is 10.7%). * Ethnic diversity : 79.1% were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 66.7%; the next most common countries of birth were England 1.9%, New Zealand 1.4%, India 1.2%, Philippines 0.8% and South Africa 0.6%. At home, 84.6% of residents only spoke English; the next most common languages spoken at home were Arabic 0.8%, Mandarin 0.8%, Dinka 0.4%, Tagalog 0.3% and Punjabi 0.3%. * Finances: The median household weekly income was $1,206, compared to the national median of $1,438. This difference is also reflected in real estate, with the median mortgage payment being $1,517 per month, compared to the national median of $1,755. * Housing: The majority (76.3%) of occupied private dwellings were separate houses, 16.1% were semi-detached (row or terrace houses, townhouses etc.), and 6.4% were flats, units or apartments. The average household size was 2.4 people. * Transport: On the day of the Census, 0.8% of employed people travelled to work on public transport, and 77.9% by car (either as driver or as passenger).

Climate

Toowoomba has a warm humid subtropical climate (with warm summers and cool winters). Compared to other parts of Queensland, Toowoomba experiences more frequent high winds, hail, frost and fog and is considered cooler than many other towns and cities in Queensland. The city is rather sunny, receiving 107.2 clear days annually. Daily maximum temperatures in Toowoomba average in summer and in winter. Unlike most of inland Queensland, summer temperatures above are uncommon, whilst winter days rarely warm above . Winter nights seldom drop below

freezing Freezing is a phase transition where a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. In accordance with the internationally established definition, freezing means the solidification phase change of a liquid ...

; however, in a situation unique among Queensland cities,

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

has been reported on the higher parts of the city on several occasions. Light frost will be experienced several nights each winter in the city centre, more often in the western suburbs. According to the

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together ...

, the highest temperature ever recorded in Toowoomba was on 12 February 2017, while the lowest was on 12 July 1965. Average annual rainfall, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, is , which peaks in the warm season. Rainfall in the eastern suburbs along the Great Dividing Range nudges per year. The majority of Toowoomba's rain falls from November to March, with January and February being the peak rainy months. Like most of south-east Queensland, severe

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...

s can be a threat and Toowoomba may occasionally be affected by ex-tropical cyclones.

Architecture and Heritage

Toowoomba's history has been preserved in its buildings. Examples of architecture drawing from the city's wealthy beginnings include Toowoomba City Hall which was Queensland's first purpose-built town hall, the National Trust Royal Bull's Head Inn and many examples in the heritage-listed Russell Street. Immediately to the east of the CBD is the Caledonian Estate, an area of turn-of-the-20th-century housing, ranging from humble workers cottages to large stately homes, in the classic wooden Queenslander style. Toowoomba is also home to the Empire Theatre, which was originally opened in June 1911, as a silent movie house. In February 1933, fire broke out, almost completely destroying the building. However, the Empire was rebuilt and reopened in November 1933. The architectural styling of the new Empire Theatre was

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

, in keeping with the trend of the 1930s. After years of neglect, the Empire Theatre was extensively renovated in the late 1990s, but retains much of its art deco architecture and decorations, especially the proscenium arch. Able to seat approximately 1,500 people, the Empire Theatre is now the largest regional theatre in Australia. The city also is home to the Cobb & Co Museum, hailing to the famous mail company's beginnings as a small mail run in the 1800s to transport mail and passengers to

and beyond. It also houses Australia's largest collection of horse-drawn vehicles. The museum has undergone a A$8 million redevelopment before reopening in September 2010.

Heritage listings

Toowoomba has many heritage-listed sites, with over fifty on the Queensland Heritage Register in addition to listings on other local heritage registers.

Governance

Toowoomba is the seat of the

local government area. The city is represented in the Parliament of Queensland by three seats: Toowoomba North, Toowoomba South and Condamine. In the Commonwealth Parliament, Toowoomba forms part of the Division of Groom, which is held by Garth Hamilton for the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other ...

. The current Mayor of Toowoomba is Paul Antonio, who was elected in 2012 and is currently serving his third term.

Crime

Toowoomba has had a large amount of crime over the past years, but is still on average less than other parts of Queensland. In 2018, the

Royal Automobile Club of Queensland The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland Limited (RACQ) is a mutual organisation and Queensland’s largest Club, providing services including roadside assistance, insurance, banking and travel to its approximately 1.75 million members. RACQ i ...

described Toowoomba as "one of Queensland's car theft hot spots", noting that there were insurance claims for over 3,000 cars stolen over a three-year period from Harristown alone.

Economy

The Australian Defence Force is also present in the local community, with the city providing housing and amenities for many of the personnel based at the Oakey Army Aviation Centre (in Oakey, NW of Toowoomba) and Borneo Barracks at Cabarlah to the city's North. The headquarters of Heritage Bank, which is Australia's largest mutual bank, FK Gardners and Wagners are located in Toowoomba.

Education

Toowoomba is a major education centre with a strong presence of boarders from Western Queensland attending Schools such as Toowoomba Grammar, Fairholme College, Downlands College and The Glennie School.

Primary

State * Darling Heights State School * Drayton State School is the oldest school in Toowoomba. * Fairview Heights State School * Gabbinbar State School * Glenvale State School * Harlaxton State School * Harristown State Primary School * Middle Ridge State School * Newtown State School * Rangeville State School * Rockville State School * Toowoomba East State School * Toowoomba North State School * Toowoomba South State School is the oldest school in Toowoomba proper. * Wilsonton State School Private/Religious * Christian Outreach College Toowoomba * Concordia Lutheran College (2 campuses) * Darling Downs Christian School *Downlands Sacred Heart College * Fairholme College * The Glennie School * Grammar Junior * Glenvale Christian School * Holy Name Catholic Primary School * Mater Dei * Our Lady of Lourdes School * Sacred Heart School * St Anthony's Primary School Toowoomba * St Thomas More's School * St Saviours Primary School * Toowoomba Anglican College and Preparatory School * Toowoomba Christian College

Secondary

State *

Centenary Heights State High School , motto_translation = Through Hard Work to the Top , established = 13 February 1968 , principal = Darren Cook , founder = Bob Dansie , president = Wayne Heading , enrolme ...

* Toowoomba Flexi School (annexe of Centenary Heights State High School) * Clifford Park Special School * Harristown State High School * Toowoomba State High School *

Wilsonton State High School Wilsonton is an urban locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wilsonton had a population of 5,891 people. Geography Wilsonton is located west of the Toowoomba central business district. History The suburb, officiall ...

Private/Religious * Christian Outreach College Christian co-educational school. * Concordia College * Darling Downs Christian School *

Downlands College , motto_translation = Strong in Faith , city = Toowoomba , state = Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Private, secondar ...

independent Catholic Co-educational Day and Boarding school * Fairholme College a Presbyterian Church of Queensland school. * The Glennie School- Anglican day and boarding school * St Joseph's College * St. Mary's College * St Saviour's, Toowoomba's oldest Catholic school * St Ursula's College Independent Catholic day and boarding school for girls * Toowoomba Anglican College and Preparatory School * Toowoomba Christian College *

Toowoomba Grammar School , motto_translation = Faithful in All Things , city = Toowoomba , state = Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent, day & boarding , denomination = Non-denominational , established = 18 ...

, independent grammar school (est.1875). * Mary Mackillop Secondary College- forms part of the existing primary campus in Highfields, opened in 2016

Tertiary

* University of Southern Queensland * TAFE Queensland South West (Formerly SQIT) has extensive campuses to the east of the CBD. *

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

has a small centre in Toowoomba. *

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian ...

has a small health training facility in Toowoomba.

Culture

Festivals

Toowoomba is nationally renowned for the annual Carnival of Flowers, held each year in September. Many of the city's major parks and gardens are especially prepared for the carnival, including an important home garden competition and parade of flower floats. Buses bring people from around the nation, and a popular way to arrive at the carnival from

is on chartered antique steam and diesel trains, which captures the yester-year aspect of travel to Toowoomba with 19th-century wooden carriages. In 1953 the Carnival of Flowers was the subject of a sponsored film produced by the Queensland Minister for Lands and Irrigation. The ''Carnival of Flowers'' depicts the floral parade, the home gardens competition and the crowning of the Floral Queen and is a wonderful portrait of life in 1950s Queensland. In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, Carnival of Flowers was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as an "Events and festivals". The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers received the Gold Award for Major Festival and Event at the Queensland Tourism Awards in 2015, 2016 & 2017, and Australian Tourism Awards in 2016 & 2017. In 2017, 255,639 people recorded as having attended the event Toowoomba also hosts 'First Coat Art and Music Festival'. First Coat is a street art festival, held annually in May. As a result of the festival, over 50 pieces of large-scale, public art exist throughout the Toowoomba CBD, which has led to a transformation of previously underutilised lane and alleyways, as well as a reduction in costs associated with graffiti management. Toowoomba was previously home to Easterfest (which was held annually over the Easter weekend.) The event has not continued after 2015. The "Food and Wine Festival", which usually spans for 3 days, happens every year at Carnival of flowers time. It provides entertainment, food and drinks and is a spectacle of the Carnival.

Food

Toowoomba is also home to the

Weis Bar Weis is an Australian brand owned by Unilever that produces frozen ice confectionery and frozen fruit desserts. They are most well known for their bar shaped fruit ice creams known as Weis Bars. They are sold at most Australian milk bars and s ...

(until 2020 when production ceases and moves to Minto, NSW)
Home Ice CreamHomestyle Bake
and possibly the Lamington. Toowoomba has a thriving cafe and restaurant scene that is often compared to Melbourne in its maturity and depth.

Sport

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

is a popular sport in Toowoomba. A team representing Toowoomba used to compete in the Bulimba Cup tournament. Toowoomba currently does not host a team in any of the major national competitions but was home to the

Toowoomba Clydesdales The Toowoomba Clydesdales are a rugby league football club based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The Clydesdales originally played in the Queensland Cup from the competition's inception in 1996 until 2006, and were the feeder club for the ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...

state league. The Clydesdales were the feeder team for

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL) from 1999 to 2006. The Clysedales dropped out of the Queensland Cup after the 2006 season due to financial difficulties and are no longer a feeder club for the Brisbane Broncos. In 2018 a game will be held between the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

and the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George, Sydney, St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since NR ...

on Sunday, 25 March at the Toowoomba Sports Ground. Toowoomba features a semi-professional football club, South West Queensland Thunder, that has a large following within the community. Toowoomba is the headquarters of

Football Darling Downs Football Queensland Darling Downs is a Football Queensland administrative zone encompassing the Darling Downs region and parts of South West Queensland. The zone administers major regional areas including Toowoomba, Dalby, Roma, Charleville, S ...

which administers football in Toowoomba and surrounding towns and regions. Toowoomba is home to 12 clubs including South West Queensland Thunder - Fairholme College, Garden City Raiders, Highfields, Rockville Rovers, St Albans, South Toowoomba Hawks, St Ursula's College, University of Southern Queensland, West Wanderers and Willowburn. Australian rules football is played by four senior teams in the AFL Darling Downs competition:

Coolaroo Coolaroo is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hume local government area. Coolaroo recorded a population of 3,193 at the 2021 census. History Coolaroo is th ...

, Toowoomba Tigers, University of Southern Queensland and South Toowoomba. The sport has gained popularity amongst juniors with eleven clubs in the region. The four Senior Toowoomba clubs compete with five other clubs in towns such as Dalby, Gatton,

Goondiwindi Goondiwindi () is a rural town and locality in the Goondiwindi Region, Queensland, Australia. It is on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. In the , Goondiwindi had a population of 6,355 people. Geography Goondiwindi is on the MacInt ...

, Highfields and Warwick. In 2006,

Brad Howard Brad Howard (born 21 December 1987) is an Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). AFL career Howard, from Toowoomba,http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2006/11/25/apn-ho ...

became the first draftee from Toowoomba to the Australian Football League. Toowoomba has clubs for other sports including

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

(Toowoomba Cricket Inc), archery, swimming, tennis, softball, baseball,

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

(Toowoomba Netball Association),

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

(Toowoomba Hockey Association), gridiron (Chargers) and basketball (Toowoomba Basketball Association). The city is also home to the

Toowoomba Mountaineers Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

basketball team, which participates in the Queensland Basketball League (QBL). Toowoomba also shares two prestigious golf courses;

Toowoomba Golf Club Middle Ridge The Toowoomba Golf Club Middle Ridge is one of two golf clubs in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia; the other being City Golf Club Toowoomba. Toowoomba Golf Club is situated in the suburb of Middle Ridge, and its address is 235–323 Rowboth ...

, and City Golf Club Toowoomba. These two clubs, as well as several other clubs in the district, conduct an annual Pennant season. Each club take on each other in Match play and in several different divisions to be crowned the Pennant winners of the Year. City Golf Club also hosted the Queensland PGA Championship from 2009 to 2013. Sport at both junior and senior level in Toowoomba and surrounding areas is promoted by Sports Darling Downs, a non-profit organisation based in Toowoomba. Toowoomba is home to Clifford Park Racecourse. Clifford Park Racecourse was acquired as a block in 1861. The Toowoomba Turf Club was formed in 1882 and the first recorded Toowoomba Cup was run in 1919. In 1992, the club made Australian racing history by staging the first race ever run under electric lights: the Fosters Toowoomba Cup, which was won by Waigani Drive. In 1996 the club staged the first night race meeting in Australia. Toowoomba has a number of rugby union teams, including University of Southern Queensland Rugby Union Club, Toowoomba Rangers Rugby Union Club, Toowoomba City Rugby Club, which compete in the Darling Downs Rugby Union competition, against such teams as the Roma Echidnas, the Condamine Cods, the Dalby Wheatmen, the Goondiwindi Emus, the Warwick Water Rats and the University of Queensland Rugby Union Club (Gatton Campus). Cycling is a popular sport in Toowoomba. The Tour of Toowoomba in 2010 became a round of the Subaru National Road Series and attracted 15 teams. A proposal to stage a National Road Series event in Toowoomba was first presented to the Toowoomba Cycling Club in late 2009 by John Osborne OAM, a lifelong cycling enthusiast. The inaugural FKG Tour of Toowoomba was won by Patrick Shaw riding for the Virgin Blue RBS Morgan team. Patrick was later named Cycling Australia's Road Cyclist of the Year – 2010. Founded in 1950, the Toowoomba Auto Club ran races at the nearby Leyburn Airfield and Lowood Airfield Circuits in the 1950s and 1960s, and also ran races on the streets of Middle Ridge as part of the Carnival of Flowers in 1958, 1960 and 1961, with the feature races won by Glynn Scott, Alec Mildren and

Arnold Glass Arnold may refer to: People * Arnold (given name), a masculine given name * Arnold (surname), a German and English surname Places Australia * Arnold, Victoria, a small town in the Australian state of Victoria Canada * Arnold, Nova Scotia Uni ...

respectively. The club built the Echo Valley facility, initially as a

hillclimbing Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the firs ...

venue officially opened on 18 September 1966, with the facility now operating as a

track. The Australian Hillclimb Championship was held on Prince Henry Drive in 1955 and 1961.

Community groups

The Toowoomba branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

meets at 263 Margaret Street and the Toowoomba City Business Women's branch meets at 161 Margaret Street. There are 6 Rotary clubs operating within Toowoomba. All are active within the community raising funds annually in excess of $200,000. The Rotary Cub of Toowoomba meets at Burke and Wills Hotel, 554 Ruthven Street.

Media

Print

* ''The Darling Downs Gazette'' (June 1858 to October 1922About us
. Toowoomba Chronicle. Toowoomba Newspapers. Retrieved 4 June 2014.) * ''The Chronicle'' (since July 1861) * ''High Country Herald'' * ''The Coffee Gazette'' (since October 2014) * ''Darling Downs Star'' (July 1955 to September 2003) * ''Toowoomba's Mail'' (since September 2003) * ''Toowoomba Telegraph'' (October 2012 to July 2013)

Television

Toowoomba is serviced by three commercial national network stations and two national non-commercial network stations. These are

Seven Queensland STQ is an Australian television station, licensed to, and serving the regional areas of Queensland. The station is owned and operated by the Seven Network from studios located in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast. The callsign STQ stands for ' ...

, SCA 10 (

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netw ...

( Nine Network), ABC Television and

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

. Each broadcasts television services in digital format, with analogue transmissions having been deactivated on 6 December 2011. *

(STQ), 7Two, 7mate,

7flix 7flix is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 28 February 2016. 7flix targets a variety of viewers and offers drama, comedy, reality, docusoap, and movies. History On 18 Decembe ...

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

owned channels. *

9Gem 9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network in September 2010. The channel provides general entertainment and movie programming, from which the original name "GEM" is derived. History Nine N ...

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, ani ...

9Life 9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. (previously Scripp ...

- Nine Network affiliated channels. * SCA 10,

10 Bold 10 Bold is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and events, but rebranded to One in April 2011 to ...

, 10 Peach,

10 Shake 10 Shake is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It launched on 27 September 2020 at 6am. The channel includes a mix of shows for people aged forty and under. It broadcasts programming for children fr ...

affiliated channels. *

, SBS,

SBS Viceland SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...

SBS Food SBS Food is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world. History SBS first revealed it would laun ...

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...

* ABC Television, ABC TV,

ABC TV Plus ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...

ABC Kids (Australia) ABC Kids is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's part-time channel, broadcasting shows between the hours of 5am and 7:30pm for children under 6 years old in each local Australian channel. It shares the same bandwidth as ABC TV Plus which b ...

ABC Me ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

Of the three commercial networks,

and

both air 30-minute local news bulletins at 6pm each weeknight, produced from newsrooms in the city but broadcast from studios in

Maroochydore Maroochydore ( ) is a coastal town in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was subdivided from the Cotton Tree reserve by Surveyor Thomas O'Connor in 1903. The land was acquired from William Pettigrew who had a timber de ...

and

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wa ...

respectively. Southern Cross Nine aired a regional Queensland edition of '' Nine News'' from Brisbane, featuring local opt-outs for Toowoomba and the Darling Downs from August 2017 to February 2019. Brisbane metropolitan commercial channels BTQ-7 (Seven Network),

QTQ-9 QTQ is an Australian television station, licensed to, and serving Brisbane, Queensland. It is owned by the Nine Entertainment Co., and is part of the Nine Network. It broadcasts on VHF Channel 8 (digital). QTQ began broadcasting on 16 August 19 ...

(Nine Network) and

TVQ-10 TVQ is the Brisbane television station of Network 10 in Australia. History In April 1964, the Postmaster-General's Department granted Universal Telecasters a broadcasting licence. The channel was allocated channel 0 (the 0 was pronounced as t ...

(Network Ten) broadcasting from transmission towers at

Mount Coot-tha Mount Coot-tha is a mountain and a suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , there were no residents in the suburb. Visible from much of the city, Mount Coot-tha is a popular bushland tourist destination including the Mou ...

can also be received in some parts of Toowoomba.

Infrastructure

Transport

There is a suburban bus service operated by Bus Queensland Toowoomba throughout the city. This is a TransLink service. Stonestreets Coaches operate many school services in the city. There are frequent inter-city bus services between Toowoomba and Brisbane, and other centres operated by Greyhound Australia and Murrays. Toowoomba was the headquarters for McCafferty's Coaches that operated a national long-distance coach network until its sale to Greyhound Australia in 2004. Toowoomba station has a twice-weekly rail service from Brisbane to

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** ...

and return on

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

's ''

The Westlander ''The Westlander'' is an Australian passenger train operated by Queensland Rail on the Main and Western lines between Brisbane and the outback town of Charleville. Background In the 1888 timetable the train from Brisbane to Roma was officia ...

''. Toowoomba is criss-crossed by several railway lines that are used for freight, and idle railway stations can be found in the suburbs (including Ballard, Drayton, Harlaxton and Harristown), dating to when these localities were separate centres. Toowoomba is served by

, which is serviced by QantasLink and Regional Express Airlines, with flights to Sydney and destinations west of the city, but there is potential for services to Mackay and overseas. Toowoomba City Aerodrome is located in Toowoomba's outer suburb of Wilsonton (). The city's former airport is now primarily used by the

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

, LifeFlight and the Darling Downs Aero Club.

Health

Toowoomba is serviced by four hospitals:

Toowoomba Base Hospital Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 202 ...

, which is a public hospital and one of the largest hospitals in regional Australia, this will soon be replaced via a redevelopment at the Baillie Henderson Hospital site; a specialist psychiatric hospital called Baillie Henderson Hospital; and two private hospitals:

St. Andrew's Toowoomba Hospital ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

and

St. Vincents Hospital ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

. There is also the Toowoomba Hospice which is a community-based private healthcare facility which provides palliative care to the terminally ill.

Water

Toowoomba's third water storage Cressbrook Dam was completed in 1983 and supplied water to Toowoomba in 1988. It has a full capacity of about bringing total capacity of the three dams, Cooby, Perseverance, and Cressbrook, to . The city also has underground supplies in fractured

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

of the rock unit known as the Main Range Volcanics. Toowoomba also sits above the eastern edge of the Great Artesian Basin and to the west underground water is available beneath unconsolidated

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. ...

. Rainfall during the period from 1998 to 2005 was 30% below the long term average, consistent with a prolonged drought; with this trend continuing through to the spring of 2007. In mid-2005, the water situation for the city was becoming critical with water supply levels below 30%. Environmental flows from Cressbrook Dam into Cressbrook Creek were allowed to cease as Toowoomba approached level five water restrictions. During March 2006 the surface water storage in the dams fell below 25% of full capacity, falling further to 12.8% on 10 March 2008 and reaching an all-time low of 7.7% in December 2009. The former Toowoomba Mayor Di Thorley proposed a controversial potable reuse project under the Toowoomba Water Futures plan which would result in water reclaimed from the Wetalla Sewage Treatment Plant being returned to Cooby Dam to provide 25% of the potable water supply for Toowoomba. Other water supply options include importing water from Oakey Creek Groundwater Management Area (average TDS 1660 mg/L), importing water from Condamine Groundwater Management Area (average TDS 740 mg/L), and water from coal seam gas production (TDS 1200–4300 mg/L). StateLibQld 1 67691 Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of York, visit Toowoomba, 1927

StateLibQld 1 67691 Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of York, visit Toowoomba, 1927

On 29 July 2006, Toowoomba City Council conducted a poll of Toowoomba residents on the proposal to use this multi-barrier filtration system for filtering sewage for drinking purposes. The poll question was: "Do you support the addition of purified recycled water to Toowoomba's water supply via Cooby Dam as proposed by Water Futures – Toowoomba?" 38% of voters supported the proposal and 62% opposed. This meant that despite dams reaching critical levels, the city rejected the use of recycled water in a plebiscite. Since the public rejection in 2006 of adding recycled sewage to the drinking water supply, water conservation measures have included harvesting stormwater for use in public parks and adding filtered groundwater to the town water supply. The city was under level 5 water restrictions as of 26 September 2006. This prohibits residents from using town water on their lawns, gardens or cars, and residents are strongly urged to cut down on water consumption. In 2007, the Toowoomba City Council commenced a bore drilling program to augment the dwindling dam supplies and constructed several subartesian bores across the city and one artesian bore at Wetalla in the city's north. Many of the subartesian bores provided potable water with a reliable yield and have been developed into production however the artesian bore's water quality was very poor, prohibiting development as a potable source. This was an expensive setback for the city as the cost was over A$2 million for drilling to over . In January 2008, yield testing had been stalled due to the unavailability of appropriate pumping equipment. The Toowoomba Regional Council began supplementing the city's water supply with bore water from the Great Artesian Basin in September 2009.

Groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...

has become a significant contributor to the city's water supply needs and now constitutes one third of the total volume of water treated for reticulated supply ( per week). The state government has built a $187 million pipeline from Wivenhoe Dam to Toowoomba. Water pumping along the pipeline to Cressbrook Dam began in January 2010.

People

Notable people

Sister cities

Toowoomba has

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

relations with three international cities:

Wanganui, New Zealand Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whanganu ...

; Takatsuki, Japan; and Paju, South Korea.

Religion

The 2021 Australian Census recorded the following statistics for religious affiliation in Toowoomba: No religion 32.5%; Catholic 20.2%; Anglican 14.2%; Other Christian 5.1%. Toowoomba Wesleyan Methodist Church is at 267 North Street, Wilsonton Heights (). It is part of the

Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia is a Christian denomination with its origins in Wesleyan Methodism. It is the organisational name for contemporary The Wesleyan Church in Australia. (The historic Wesleyan Methodist denomination in Aust ...

. Toowoomba Chinese Wesleyan Methodist Church is at 21 Kookaburra Court, Glenvale (). It is part of the

. Harrison (2006) has noted the appeal of Toowoomba as 'fertile ground' for fundamentalist Christian movements, particularly those with a religio-political outlook. This was exemplified by the Logos Foundation under the leadership of Howard Carter in the 1980s.Roberts, G., Sex Scandal Divides Bible Belt, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 October 1990