Brisbane

Brisbane is named after the Brisbane River, which in turn was named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, the governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825. The name is derived from the Scottish Gaelic "bris", meaning "to break or smash" and the Old English word "ban" meaning "bone".

Popular nicknames for the city include "Brissie", "Brisvegas" and the "River City".^[31] An historic nickname for Brisbane was "Queen City".^[32]

Modern-day Brisbane sits on land known also as Meanjin, the name used in the Turrbal language of one group of traditional owners.^[33][34] Meanjin means "place shaped as a spike", referencing the shape of the Brisbane River along the area that Brisbane CBD now straddles.^[35][36][16]

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Brisbane River

Brisbane River

The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane in 1823. The penal colony of Moreton Bay later adopted the same name, eventually becoming the present city of Brisbane. The river is a tidal estuary and the water is brackish from its mouth through the majority of the Brisbane metropolitan area westward to the Mount Crosby Weir. The river is wide and navigable throughout the Brisbane metropolitan area.

Thomas Brisbane

Thomas Brisbane

Major General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet,, was a British Army officer, administrator, and astronomer. Upon the recommendation of the Duke of Wellington, with whom he had served, he was appointed governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825.

Governor of New South Wales

Governor of New South Wales

The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the Australian states perform constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level. The governor is appointed by the king on the advice of the premier of New South Wales, and serves in office for an unfixed period of time—known as serving At His Majesty's pleasure—though five years is the general standard of office term. The current governor is retired jurist Margaret Beazley, who succeeded David Hurley on 2 May 2019.

Scottish Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic, also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as both Irish and Manx, developed out of Old Irish. It became a distinct spoken language sometime in the 13th century in the Middle Irish period, although a common literary language was shared by the Gaels of both Ireland and Scotland until well into the 17th century. Most of modern Scotland was once Gaelic-speaking, as evidenced especially by Gaelic-language place names.

Old English

Old English

Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century. After the Norman conquest of 1066, English was replaced, for a time, by Anglo-Norman as the language of the upper classes. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English era, since during this period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into a phase known now as Middle English in England and Early Scots in Scotland.

Bone

Bone

A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, and enable mobility. Bones come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have complex internal and external structures. They are lightweight yet strong and hard and serve multiple functions.

Turrbal language

Turrbal language

Turrbal is an Aboriginal Australian language of Queensland. It is the language of the Turrbal people, who are often recognised as one of the traditional owners and custodians of Brisbane.

Pre-colonisation

Aboriginal Australians lived in coastal South East Queensland for at least 22,000 years, with an estimated population between 6,000 and 10,000 individuals before European settlement in the 1820s.^[37][38] Aboriginal groups claiming traditional ownership of the area include the Yugara, Turrbal and Quandamooka peoples.^[39][40][41] A website representing a Turrbal culture organisation claims that historical documents suggest that the Turrbal peoples were the only traditional owners of Meanjin when British settlers first arrived.^[42]

Archaeological evidence suggests frequent habitation around the Brisbane River, and notably at the site now known as Musgrave Park.^[43] The rivers were integral to life and supplied an abundance of food included fish, shellfish, crab, and prawns. Good fishing places became campsites and the focus of group activities. The district was defined by open woodlands with rainforest in some pockets or bends of the Brisbane River.^[44]

Being a resource-rich area and a natural avenue for seasonal movement, Meanjin and the surrounding areas acted as a way station for groups travelling to ceremonies and spectacles. The region had several large (200–600 person) seasonal camps, the biggest and most important located along waterways north and south of the current city heart: Barambin or "York's Hollow" camp (today's Victoria Park) and Woolloon-cappem (Woolloongabba/South Brisbane), also known as Kurilpa. These camping grounds continued to function well into colonial times, and were the basis of European settlement in parts of Brisbane.^[45]

18th and 19th centuries

In 1770, British navigator James Cook, sailed through South Passage between the main offshore islands leading to the bay, which he named after James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton, misspelled as "Moreton".^[46]

Matthew Flinders initially explored the Moreton Bay area on behalf of the British authorities. On 17 July 1799, Flinders landed at present-day Woody Point, which he named "Red Cliff Point" after the red-coloured cliffs visible from the bay.^[47]

In 1823 the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane, gave instructions for the development of a new northern penal settlement, and an exploration party led by John Oxley further explored Moreton Bay in November 1823.^[48]

The Old Windmill built in 1828, a site of convict punishments and executions, is the oldest surviving building in Queensland

Oxley explored the Brisbane River as far as Goodna, 20 km (12 mi) upstream from the present-day central business district of Brisbane.^[48] He also named it after the Governor of the time.^[48] Oxley also recommended Red Cliff Point for the new colony, reporting that ships could land at any tide and easily get close to the shore.^[49] The convict settlement party landed in Redcliffe on 13 September 1824 formally establishing the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement that would become Brisbane. The party was under the command of Lieutenant Henry Miller and consisted of 14 soldiers (some with wives and children) and 29 convicts. However, the settlers abandoned this site after a year and moved to an area on the Brisbane River now known as North Quay, 28 km (17 mi) south, which offered a more reliable water-supply. The newly selected Brisbane region was plagued by mosquitoes at the time.^[50]

After visiting the Redcliffe settlement, Sir Thomas Brisbane then travelled 45 km (28 mi) up the Brisbane River in December 1824. Governor Brisbane stayed overnight in a tent and often landed ashore, thus bestowing upon the future Brisbane City the distinction of being the only Australian capital city visited by its namesake.^[51] Chief Justice Forbes gave the new settlement the name of "Edenglassie" before it was named "Brisbane".^[52]

The penal settlement under the control of Captain Patrick Logan (Commandant from 1826 to 1830) flourished, with the numbers of convicts increasing dramatically from around 200 to over 1,000 men.^[53] He developed a substantial settlement of brick and stone buildings, complete with school and hospital. He formed additional outstations and made several important journeys of exploration. Logan became infamous for his extreme use of the cat o' nine tails on convicts. The maximum allowed limit of lashes was 50; however, Logan regularly applied sentences of 150 lashes.^[53]

During this period raids on maize fields were conducted by local Aboriginal groups in the Corn Field Raids of 1827-1828. These groups destroyed and plundered the maize fields in South Bank and Kangaroo Point, with the possible motive of extracting compensation from the settlers or warning them not to expand beyond their current area.^[54][55]

Edward Street looking west across the intersection with Queen Street, Brisbane, 1889

The Great Flood of 1893 was one of the worst disasters in the city's history, flooding in Queen Street

Between 1824 and 1842, almost 2,400 men and 145 women were detained at the Moreton Bay convict settlement under the control of military commandants.^[56] However, non-convict European settlement of the Brisbane region commenced in 1838 and the population grew strongly thereafter, with free settlers soon far outstripping the convict population.^[57] German missionaries settled at Zions Hill, Nundah as early as 1837, five years before Brisbane was officially declared a free settlement. The band consisted of ministers Christopher Eipper (1813–1894), Carl Wilhelm Schmidt, and lay missionaries Haussmann, Johann Gottried Wagner, Niquet, Hartenstein, Zillman, Franz, Rode, Doege and Schneider.^[58] They were allocated 260 hectares and set about establishing the mission, which became known as the German Station.^[59] Later in the 1860s many German immigrants from the Uckermark region in Prussia as well as from other German regions settled in the areas of Bethania, Beenleigh and the Darling Downs. These immigrants were selected and assisted through immigration programs established by John Dunmore Lang and Johann Christian Heussler and were offered free passage, good wages, and selections of land.^[60][61]

Scottish immigrants from the ship Fortitude arrived in Brisbane in 1849, enticed by Rev Dr John Dunmore Lang on the promise of free land grants. Denied land, the immigrants set up camp in York's Hollow waterholes in the vicinity of today's Victoria Park, Herston, Queensland. A number of the immigrants moved in and settled the suburb, naming it Fortitude Valley after the ship on which they arrived.^[62]

Free settlers entered the area from 1835, and by the end of 1840, Robert Dixon had begun work on the first plan of Brisbane Town, in anticipation of future development.^[63] The Roman Catholic church erected the Pugin Chapel in 1850, to the design by the gothic revivalist Augustus Pugin. Letters patent dated 6 June 1859, proclaimed by Sir George Ferguson Bowen on 10 December 1859, separated Queensland from New South Wales, whereupon Bowen became Queensland's first governor,^[64] with Brisbane chosen as the capital.^[65] Old Government House was constructed in 1862 to house Sir George Bowen's family, including his wife, the noblewoman Diamantina, Lady Bowen di Roma. During the tenure of Lord Lamington, Old Government House was the likely site of the origin of Lamingtons.^[66]

During the War of Southern Queensland, indigenous attacks occurred across the city, committing robberies and terrorising unarmed residents.^[67][68] "Reprisal raids" took place against the "Duke of York's clan" in Victoria Park in 1846 and 1849 by British soldiers of the 11th Regiment, however the clan had been wrongfully targeted as the attacks on Brisbane had not been committed by the Turrbal themselves but other tribes farther north.^[69][70] In 1855, Dundalli, a prominent leader during the conflict, was captured and executed by hanging at the present site of the GPO.

In 1864, the Great Fire of Brisbane burned through the central parts of the city, destroying much of Queen Street.^[71] The 1860s were a period of economic and political turmoil leading to high unemployment, in 1866 hundreds of impoverished workers convened a meeting at the Treasury Hotel, with a cry for "bread or blood", rioted and attempted to ransack the Government store.^[72]

The City Botanic Gardens were originally established in 1825 as a farm for the Moreton Bay penal settlement, and were planted by convicts in 1825 with food crops to feed the prison colony.^[73] In 1855, several acres was declared a Botanic Reserve under the Superintendent Walter Hill, a position he held until 1881.^[74][75] Some trees planted in the Gardens were among the first of their species to be planted in Australia, including the jacaranda and poinciana.^[76]

Charles Tiffin was appointed as Queensland Government Architect in 1859, and pursued an intellectual policy in the design of public buildings based on Italianate and Renaissance revivalism, with such buildings as Government House, the Department of Primary Industries Building in 1866, and the Queensland Parliament built in 1867. The 1880s brought a period of economic prosperity and a major construction boom in Brisbane, that produced an impressive number of notable public and commercial buildings. John James Clark was appointed Queensland Government Architect in 1883, and continuing in Tiffin's design for public buildings, asserted the propriety of the Italian Renaissance, drawing upon typological elements and details from conservative High Renaissance sources. Building in this trace of intellectualism, Clark designed the Treasury Building in 1886, and the Yungaba Immigration Centre in 1885.^[77] Other major works of the era include Customs House in 1889, and the Old Museum Building completed in 1891.

Fort Lytton was constructed in 1882 at the mouth of the Brisbane river, to protect the city against foreign colonial powers such as Russia and France, and was the only moated fort ever built in Australia.

The city's slum district of Frog's Hollow, named so for its location being low-lying and swampy, was both the red light district of colonial Brisbane and its Chinatown, and was the site of prostitution, sly grog, and opium dens. In 1888, Frog's Hollow was the site of anti-Chinese riots, where more than 2000 people attacked Chinese homes and businesses.^[78]

In 1893 Brisbane was affected by the Black February flood, when the Brisbane River burst its banks on three occasions in February and again in June in the same year, with the city receiving more than a year's rainfall during February 1893, leaving much of the city's population homeless. In 1896, the Brisbane river saw its worst maritime disaster with the capsize of the ferry Pearl, between the 80–100 people on board there were only 40 survivors.^[79]

20th century

Brisbane scene, "Under the Jacaranda" (1903), R.G. Rivers, City Botanic Gardens

St John's Cathedral ca. 1915

"Progress of civilization"
Tympanum of the City Hall, depicting an angel in centre, (sculptor Daphne Mayo)

When the colonies united in a federation in 1901, celebrations were held in Brisbane to mark the event, with a triumphal arch erected in Queen Street. In May that year, the Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V) laid the foundation stone of St John's Cathedral, one of the great cathedrals of Australia. The University of Queensland was founded in 1909 and first sited at Old Government House, which became vacated as the government planned for a larger residence. Fernberg House, built in 1865, became the temporary residence in 1910, and later made the permanent government house.

In 1912, Tramway employees were stood down for wearing union badges which sparked Australia's first General strike, the 1912 Brisbane General Strike, which became known as Black Friday, for the savagery of the police baton charges on crowds of trade unionists and their supporters. In 1917, during World War I, the Australian Government conducted a raid on the Queensland Government Printing Office, with the aim of confiscating copies of Hansard that covered debates in the Queensland Parliament where anti-conscription sentiments had been aired.

Russian immigration took place in the years 1911–1914. Many were radicals and revolutionaries seeking asylum from tsarist political repression in the final chaotic years of the Russian Empire; considerable numbers were Jews escaping state-inspired pogroms. They had fled Russia via Siberia and Northern China, most making their way to Harbin, in Manchuria, then taking passage from the port of Dalian to Townsville or Brisbane, the first Australian ports of call.^[80]

Following the First World War, conflict arose between returned servicemen of the First Australian Imperial Force and socialists along with other elements of society that the ex-servicemen considered to be disloyal toward Australia.^[81] Over the course of 1918–1919, a series of violent demonstrations and attacks known as the Red Flag riots, were waged throughout Brisbane. The most notable incident occurred on 24 March 1919, when a crowd of about 8,000 ex-servicemen clashed violently with police who were preventing them from attacking the Russian Hall in Merivale Street, South Brisbane, which was known as the "Battle of Merivale Street".

RAAF recruits marching on Queen Street, 1940

Over 20 small municipalities and shires were amalgamated in 1925 to form the City of Brisbane, governed by the Brisbane City Council.^[82] A significant year for Brisbane was 1930, with the completion of Brisbane City Hall, then the city's tallest building and the Shrine of Remembrance, in ANZAC Square, which has become Brisbane's main war memorial.^[83]

These historic buildings, along with the Story Bridge which opened in 1940, are key landmarks that help define the architectural character of the city. Following the death of King George V in 1936, Albert square was widened to include the area which had been Albert Street, and renamed King George Square in honour of the King. An equestrian statue of the king and two Bronze Lion sculptures were unveiled in 1938.

In 1939, armed farmers marched on the Queensland Parliament and stormed the building in an attempt to take hostage the Queensland Government led by Labor Premier William Forgan Smith, in an event that became known as the "Pineapple rebellion".^[84]

During World War II, Brisbane became central to the Allied campaign, since it was the northernmost city with adequate communications facilities, when the AMP Building (now called MacArthur Central) was used as the headquarters for General MacArthur, until his headquarters were moved to Hollandia in August 1944. MacArthur had previously rejected use of the University of Queensland complex as his headquarters, as the distinctive bends in the river at St Lucia could have aided enemy bombers. Also used as a headquarters by the American troops during World War II was the T & G Building.^[85] About one million US troops passed through Australia during the war, as the primary co-ordination point for the South West Pacific.^[86] Wartime Brisbane was defined by the racial segregation of African American servicemen, prohibition and sly grog, crime, and jazz ballrooms.^[87][88]

In 1942, Brisbane was the site of a violent clash between visiting US military personnel and Australian servicemen and civilians, which resulted in one death and hundreds of injuries. This incident became known colloquially as the "Battle of Brisbane".^[89]

Post-war Brisbane had developed a "big country town" stigma, an image the city's politicians and marketers were very keen to remove.^[90] In the late 1950s, an anonymous poet known as The Brisbane Bard generated much attention to the city which helped shake this stigma.^[91][92] In 1955, Wickham Terrace was the site of a terrorist incident involving shootings and bombs, by the German immigrant Karl Kast. Despite steady growth, Brisbane's development was punctuated by infrastructure problems. The state government under Joh Bjelke-Petersen began a major programme of change and urban renewal, beginning with the central business district and inner suburbs. Trams in Brisbane were a popular mode of public transport until the network was closed in 1969, in part the result of the Paddington tram depot fire.

Between 1968 and 1987, Queensland was governed by Bjelke-Petersen, whose government was characterised by social conservatism, police corruption, and the brutal suppression of protest and has been described as a police state.^[93] However, during this time Brisbane developed a counterculture focused on the University of Queensland, street marches and Brisbane punk rock music.

In 1971, the touring Springboks were to play against the Australian Rugby team. This was met with plans for protests due to the growing international and local opposition to apartheid in South Africa. However, before their arrival Bjelke-Petersen declared a state of emergency for a month, citing the importance of the tour.^[94] This did not stop the protest however with violent clashes between protestors and police erupting when several hundred demonstrators assembled outside a Brisbane motel on Thursday, 22 July 1971, where the Springbok team was staying. A second protest saw a large number of demonstrators assembled once more outside the Tower Mill Motel and after 15 minutes of peaceful protest, a brick was thrown into the motel room and police took action to clear the road and consequently disproportionate violence was used against demonstrators.^[95]

The Nepalese Peace Pagoda at South Bank Parklands, a permanent exhibit retained from World Expo 88

In the lead up to the 1980s Queensland fell subject to many forms of censorship. In 1977 things had escalated from prosecutions and book burnings, under the introduction of the Literature Board of Review, to a statewide ban on protests and street marches. In September 1977 the Queensland Government introduced a ban on all street protests, resulting in a statewide civil liberties campaign of defiance.^[96] This saw two thousand people arrested and fined, with another hundred being imprisoned, at a cost of almost five million dollars to the State Government.^[97] Bjelke-Petersen publicly announced on 4 September 1977 that "the day of the political street march is over ... Don't bother to apply for a permit. You won't get one. That's government policy now."^[98] In response to this, protesters came up with the idea of Phantom Civil Liberties Marches where protesters would gather and march until the police and media arrived. They would then disperse, and gather together again until the media and police returned, repeating the process over and over again.^[99]

The end of the Bjelke-Petersen era began with the Fitzgerald Inquiry of 1987 to 1989, a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald investigating Queensland Police corruption. The inquiry resulted in the resignation of Premier Bjelke-Petersen, the calling of two by-elections, the jailing of three former ministers and the Police Commissioner Terry Lewis (who also lost his knighthood). It also contributed to the end of the National Party of Australia's 32-year run as the governing political party in Queensland.

In 1973, the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub in the city's entertainment district, was firebombed that resulted in 15 deaths, in what is one of Australia's worst mass killings.^[100] The 1974 Brisbane flood was a major disaster which temporarily crippled the city, and saw a substantial landslip at Corinda. During this era, Brisbane grew and modernised, rapidly becoming a destination of interstate migration. Some of Brisbane's popular landmarks were lost to development in controversial circumstances, including the Bellevue Hotel in 1979 and Cloudland in 1982. Major public works included the Riverside Expressway, the Gateway Bridge, and later, the redevelopment of South Bank. Starting with the monumental Robin Gibson-designed Queensland Cultural Centre, with the first stage the Queensland Art Gallery completed in 1982, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in 1985, and the Queensland Museum in 1986.

Brisbane hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games and World Expo 88. These events were accompanied by a scale of public expenditure, construction, and development not previously seen in the state of Queensland.^[101][102] Brisbane's population growth far exceeded the national average in the last two decades of the 20th century, with a high level of interstate migration from Victoria and New South Wales. In the late 1980s Brisbane's inner-city areas were struggling with economic stagnation, urban decay and crime which resulted in an exodus of residents and business to the suburban fringe, in the early 1990s the city undertook an extensive and successful urban renewal of the Woolstore precinct as well as the development of South Bank Parklands.^[103]

21st century

Riparian Plaza, completed in 2005, is among architect Harry Seidler's most notable skyscrapers.^[104]

Brisbane was impacted by major floods in January 2011 and February 2022. The Brisbane River did not reach the same height as the previous 1974 flood on either occasion, but caused extensive disruption and damage to infrastructure.^[105][106]

The Queensland Cultural Centre was also expanded, with the completion of the State Library and the Gallery of Modern Art in 2006, and the Kurilpa Bridge in 2009, the world's largest hybrid tensegrity bridge.^[107] Brisbane also hosted major international events including the final Goodwill Games in 2001, the Rugby League World Cup Final in 2008 and again in 2017, as well as the 2014 G20 Brisbane summit.

Population growth has continued to be among the highest of the Australian capital cities in the first two decades of the 21st century, and major infrastructure including the Howard Smith Wharves, Roma Street Parklands, Queens Wharf, the Brisbane Riverwalk, the Queen's Wharf casino and resort precinct, the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal, the Clem Jones, Airport Link, and Legacy Way road tunnels, and the Airport, Springfield, Redcliffe Peninsula and Cross River Rail railway lines have been completed or are under construction.

Brisbane will host the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.^[108][109]

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History of Brisbane

History of Brisbane

Brisbane's recorded history dates from 1799, when Matthew Flinders explored Moreton Bay on an expedition from Port Jackson, although the region had long been occupied by the Yugara and Turrbal aboriginal tribes. The town was conceived initially as a penal colony for British convicts sent from Sydney. Its suitability for fishing, farming, timbering, and other occupations, however, caused it to be opened to free settlement in 1838. The town became a municipality in 1859 and a consolidated metropolitan area in 1924. Brisbane encountered major flooding disasters in 1893, 1974, 2011 and 2022. Significant numbers of US troops were stationed in Brisbane during World War II. The city hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo 88, and the 2014 G20 Brisbane summit.

History of Indigenous Australians

History of Indigenous Australians

The history of Indigenous Australians began at least 65,000 years ago when humans first populated the Australian continental landmasses. This article covers the history of Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, two broadly defined groups which each include other sub-groups defined by language and culture.

Aboriginal Australians

Aboriginal Australians

Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as the peoples of Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands. The term Indigenous Australians refers to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders collectively. It is generally used when both groups are being discussed. Torres Strait Islanders are ethnically and culturally distinct, despite extensive cultural exchange with some of the Aboriginal groups. The Torres Strait Islands are mostly part of Queensland but have a separate governmental status.

History of Australia (1788–1850)

History of Australia (1788–1850)

The history of Australia from 1788 to 1850 covers the early British colonial period of Australia's history. This started with the arrival in 1788 of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson on the lands of the Eora, and the establishment of the penal colony of New South Wales as part of the British Empire. It further covers the European scientific exploration of the continent and the establishment of the other Australian colonies that make up the modern states of Australia.

Musgrave Park, Brisbane

Musgrave Park, Brisbane

Musgrave Park is a park in South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The park is bordered by Edmonstone, Russell, and Cordelia Streets, and Brisbane State High School, and has an area of 63,225 square metres (680,550 sq ft). The park is of cultural significance to Aboriginal Australians.

Kurilpa Bridge

Kurilpa Bridge

The Kurilpa Bridge is a A$63 million pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The bridge connects Kurilpa Point in South Brisbane to Tank Street in the Brisbane central business district. In 2011, the bridge was judged World Transport Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival.

European maritime exploration of Australia

European maritime exploration of Australia

The maritime European exploration of Australia consisted of several waves of European seafarers who sailed the edges of the Australian continent. Dutch navigators were the first Europeans known to have explored and mapped the Australian coastline. The first documented encounter was that of Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, in 1606. Dutch seafarers also visited the west and north coasts of the continent, as did French explorers.

Moreton Bay Penal Settlement

Moreton Bay Penal Settlement

The Moreton Bay Penal Settlement operated from 1825 to 1842. It became the city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Early Streets of Brisbane

Early Streets of Brisbane

The Early Streets of Brisbane is a heritage-listed archaeological site at sections of Albert Street, George Street, William Street, North Quay, and Queen's Wharf Road in Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1825 onwards. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 16 July 2010.

James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook was a British explorer, cartographer and naval officer famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and to New Zealand and Australia in particular. He made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.

James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton

James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton

James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton, KT, FRS was a Scottish astronomer and representative peer who was president of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh from its foundation in 1737 until his death. He also became president of the Royal Society, and was a distinguished patron of science, and particularly of astronomy.

Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders

Captain Matthew Flinders was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to utilise the name Australia to describe the entirety of that continent including Van Diemen's Land, a title he regarded as being "more agreeable to the ear" than previous names such as Terra Australis.

Satellite image of Brisbane metropolitan area taken in 2019

New Farm Cliffs, formed from Brisbane tuff rock, behind Howard Smith Wharves

Scarborough Beach at Scarborough on the Redcliffe Peninsula

Brisbane is in the southeast corner of Queensland. The city is centred along the Brisbane River, and its eastern suburbs line the shores of Moreton Bay, a bay of the Coral Sea. The greater Brisbane region is on the coastal plain east of the Great Dividing Range, with the Taylor and D'Aguilar ranges extending into the metropolitan area. Brisbane's metropolitan area sprawls along the Moreton Bay floodplain between the Gold and Sunshine coasts, approximately from Caboolture in the north to Beenleigh in the south, and across to Ipswich in the south west.

Brisbane is sited on Meanjin ( /miˈændʒɪn/) land claimed by Aboriginal groups including the Turrbal peoples and Jagera people.^[110][111] The Brisbane River is a wide tidal estuary and its waters throughout most of the metropolitan area are brackish and navigable. The river takes a winding course through the metropolitan area with many steep curves from the southwest to its mouth at Moreton Bay in the east. The metropolitan area is also traversed by several other rivers and creeks including the North Pine and South Pine rivers in the northern suburbs, which converge to form the Pine River estuary at Bramble Bay, the Caboolture River further north, the Logan and Albert rivers in the south-eastern suburbs, and tributaries of the Brisbane River including the Bremer River in the south-western suburbs, Breakfast Creek in the inner-north, Norman Creek in the inner-south, Oxley Creek in the south, Bulimba Creek in the inner south-east and Moggill Creek in the west. The city is on a low-lying floodplain,^[112] with the risk of flooding addressed by various state and local government regulations and plans.^[113]

The waters of Moreton Bay are sheltered from large swells by Moreton, Stradbroke and Bribie islands, so whilst the bay can become rough in windy conditions, the waves at the Moreton Bay coastline are generally not surfable. Unsheltered surf beaches lie on the eastern coasts of Moreton, Stradbroke and Bribie islands and on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast to the north and south. The southern part of Moreton Bay also contains smaller islands such as St Helena Island, Peel Island, Coochiemudlo Island, Russell Island, Lamb Island and Macleay Island.

The city of Brisbane is hilly.^[114] The urban area, including the central business district, are partially elevated by spurs of the Herbert Taylor Range, such as the summit of Mount Coot-tha, reaching up to 300 m (980 ft) and Enoggera Hill. The D'Aguilar National Park, encompassing the D'Aguilar Range, bounds the north-west of Brisbane's built-up area, and contains the taller peaks of Mount Nebo, Camp Mountain, Mount Pleasant, Mount Glorious, Mount Samson and Mount Mee. Other prominent rises in Brisbane are Mount Gravatt, Toohey Mountain, Mount Petrie, Highgate Hill, Mount Ommaney, Stephens Mountain, and Whites Hill, which are dotted across the city.

Much of the rock upon which Brisbane is located is the characteristic Brisbane tuff, a form of welded ignimbrite,^[115] which is most prominently found at the Kangaroo Point Cliffs at Kangaroo Point and the New Farm Cliffs on the Petrie Bight reach of the Brisbane River. The stone was used in the construction of historical buildings such as the Commissariat Store and Cathedral of St Stephen, and the roadside kerbs in inner areas of Brisbane are still manufactured of Brisbane tuff.

Ecology

Jacaranda trees in bloom at New Farm Park

Brisbane is located within the South East Queensland biogeographic region, and is home to numerous Eucalyptus varieties. Common trees in Brisbane include the Moreton Bay fig, an evergreen banyan with large buttress roots named for the region which are often lit with decorative lights in the inner city, as well as the jacaranda, a subtropical tree native to South America which line many avenues and parks and bloom with purple flowers during October.^[116] Other trees common to the metropolitan area include Moreton Bay chestnut, broad-leaved paperbark, poinciana, weeping lilli pilli and Bangalow palm. Some of the banks of the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay are home to mangrove wetlands.

Brisbane is home to numerous bird species, with common species including rainbow lorikeets, kookaburras, galahs, Australian white ibises, Australian brushturkeys, Torresian crows, Australian magpies and noisy miners. Common reptiles include common garden skinks, Australian water dragons, bearded dragons and blue-tongued lizards. Common ringtail possums and flying foxes are common in parks and yards throughout the city, as are common crow butterflies, blue triangle butterflies, golden orb-weaver spiders and St Andrew's Cross spiders. The Brisbane River is home to many fish species including yellowfin bream, flathead, Australasian snapper, and bull sharks. The waters of Moreton Bay are home to dugongs, humpback whales, dolphins, mud crabs, soldier crabs, Moreton Bay bugs and numerous shellfish species.

Climate

Lightning over the Brisbane city centre, February 2020

Brisbane has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cwa/Cfa)^[117] with hot, wet summers and moderately dry, moderately warm winters.^[118][119] Brisbane experiences an annual mean minimum of 16.6 °C (62 °F) and mean maximum of 26.6 °C (80 °F), making it Australia's second-hottest capital city after Darwin.^[120] Seasonality is not pronounced, and average maximum temperatures of above 26 °C (79 °F) persist from October through to April.

Due to its proximity to the Coral Sea and a warm ocean current, Brisbane's overall temperature variability is somewhat less than most Australian capitals. Summers are long, hot, and wet, but temperatures only occasionally reach 35 °C (95 °F) or more. Eighty percent of summer days record a maximum temperature of 27 to 33 °C (81 to 91 °F). Winters are short and warm, with average maximums of about 22 °C (72 °F); maximum temperatures below 20 °C (68 °F) are rare.

The city's highest recorded temperature was 43.2 °C (109.8 °F) on Australia Day 1940 at the Brisbane Regional Office,^[121] with the highest temperature at the current station being 41.7 °C (107.1 °F) on 22 February 2004;^[122] but temperatures above 38 °C (100 °F) are uncommon. On 19 July 2007, Brisbane's temperature fell below the freezing point for the first time since records began, registering −0.1 °C (31.8 °F) at the airport station.^[123] The city station has never dropped below 2 °C (36 °F),^[124] with the average coldest night during winter being around 6 °C (43 °F), however locations in the west of the metropolitan area such as Ipswich have dropped as low as −5 °C (23 °F) with heavy ground frost.^[125]

In 2009, Brisbane recorded its hottest winter day (from June to August) at 35.4 °C (95.7 °F) on 24 August;^[126] The average July day however is around 22 °C (72 °F) with sunny skies and low humidity, occasionally as high as 27 °C (81 °F), whilst maximum temperatures below 18 °C (64 °F) are uncommon and usually associated with brief periods of cloud and winter rain.^[124] The highest minimum temperature ever recorded in Brisbane was 28.0 °C (82.4 °F) on 29 January 1940 and again on 21 January 2017, whilst the lowest maximum temperature was 10.2 °C (50.4 °F) on 12 August 1954.^[121]

Annual precipitation is ample. From November to March, thunderstorms are common over Brisbane, with the more severe events accompanied by large damaging hail stones, torrential rain and destructive winds. On an annual basis, Brisbane averages 124 clear days.^[127] Dewpoints in the summer average at around 20 °C (68 °F); the apparent temperature exceeds 30 °C (86 °F) on almost all summer days.^[124] Brisbane's wettest day occurred on 21 January 1887, when 465 millimetres (18.3 in) of rain fell on the city, the highest maximum daily rainfall of Australia's capital cities. The wettest month on record was February 1893, when 1,025.9 millimetres (40.39 in) of rain fell, although in the last 30 years the record monthly rainfall has been a much lower 479.8 millimetres (18.89 in) from December 2010. Very occasionally a whole month will pass with no recorded rainfall, the last time this happened was August 1991.^[121] The city has suffered four major floods since its founding, in February 1893, January 1974 (partially a result of Cyclone Wanda), January 2011 (partially a result of Cyclone Tasha) and February 2022.

Brisbane is within the southern reaches of the tropical cyclone risk zone. Full-strength tropical cyclones rarely affect Brisbane, but occasionally do so. The biggest risk is from ex-tropical cyclones, which can cause destructive winds and flooding rains.^[128]

The average annual temperature of the sea ranges from 21.0 °C (69.8 °F) in July to 27.0 °C (80.6 °F) in February.^[129]

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Geography of Brisbane

Geography of Brisbane

The Geography of Brisbane is characterised by its coastal location in the south eastern corner of the Queensland state of Australia. It is located precisely halfway up the Australian east coast with longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates of 27.5° south and 153° east. The city resides within the Moreton Bay Floodplain, stretching from Caboolture to the north, Beenleigh to the south and as far as Ipswich to the west whilst being bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east.

Brisbane tuff

Brisbane tuff

Brisbane tuff is a type of rock, formed as a result of a volcanic eruption. As the name suggests, it is a type of tuff found in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a form of welded ignimbrite. Brisbane tuff comes in a variety of colours: pink, green, blue (grey) and purple. The different colours are due to the extent of oxidation of iron and manganese.

Howard Smith Wharves

Howard Smith Wharves

Howard Smith Wharves is a heritage-listed wharf on the Brisbane River at Boundary Street, Brisbane City and Fortitude Valley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from c. 1934 to 1940s circa. It is also known as Brisbane Central Wharves. The 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) site is one of the most culturally and historically significant riverfront locations in Brisbane. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 4 February 1997.

Redcliffe Peninsula

Redcliffe Peninsula

The Redcliffe Peninsula is a peninsula located in the Moreton Bay Region LGA in the northeast of the Brisbane metropolitan area in Queensland, Australia. The area covers the suburbs of Clontarf, Kippa-Ring, Margate, Newport, Redcliffe, Rothwell, Scarborough and Woody Point.

Great Dividing Range

Great Dividing Range

The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs roughly parallel to the east coast of Australia and forms the fifth-longest land-based mountain chain in the world, and the longest entirely within a single country. It is mainland Australia's most substantial topographic feature and serves as the definitive watershed for the river systems in eastern Australia, hence the name.

D'Aguilar Range

D'Aguilar Range

The D'Aguilar Range is a mountain range near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The town of Dayboro is situated on the lower foothills midway along the range and the Sunshine Coast Hinterland town of Mooloolah lies at the northernmost point of the range. Many residential areas line its eastern slopes including the town of Samford and the suburb of Ferny Hills. In the west, numerous ridges and gullies are heavily forested and designated as state forest or national park.

Gold Coast, Queensland

Gold Coast, Queensland

The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately 66 kilometres (41 mi) south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nation's largest non-capital city, and Queensland's second-largest city after Brisbane. The city's Central Business District is located roughly in the centre of the Gold Coast in the suburb of Southport, with the suburb holding more corporate office space than anywhere else in the city. The urban area of the Gold Coast is concentrated along the coast sprawling almost 60 kilometers, joining up with the Greater Brisbane Metropolitan Area to the north and to the state border with New South Wales to the south.

Ipswich, Queensland

Ipswich, Queensland

Ipswich is a city in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River, it is approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of the Brisbane central business district. The city is renowned for its architectural, natural and cultural heritage. Ipswich preserves and operates from many of its historical buildings, with more than 6000 heritage-listed sites and over 500 parks. Ipswich began in 1827 as a mining settlement.

Jagera people

Jagera people

The Jagera people, also written Yagarr, Yaggera, and other variants, are the Australian First Nations people who speak the Yuggera language. The Yuggera language which encompasses a number of dialects was spoken by the traditional owners of the territories from Moreton Bay to the base of the Toowoomba ranges including the city of Brisbane.

Estuary

Estuary

An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments and are an example of an ecotone. Estuaries are subject both to marine influences such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water, and to fluvial influences such as flows of freshwater and sediment. The mixing of seawater and freshwater provides high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world.

Navigability

Navigability

A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a waterway, and is preferably with few obstructions against direct traverse that needed avoiding, such as rocks, reefs or trees. Bridges built over waterways must have sufficient clearance. High flow speed may make a channel unnavigable due to risk of ship collisions. Waters may be unnavigable because of ice, particularly in winter or high-latitude regions. Navigability also depends on context: a small river may be navigable by smaller craft such as a motorboat or a kayak, but unnavigable by a larger freighter or cruise ship. Shallow rivers may be made navigable by the installation of locks that regulate flow and increase upstream water level, or by dredging that deepens parts of the stream bed.

North Pine River

North Pine River

The North Pine River is a minor river located in South East Queensland, Australia.

The 777-metre Story Bridge, completed in 1940

Brisbane from Mount Coot-tha Lookout in the Taylor Range

The Brisbane central business district (CBD, colloquially referred to as "the city") lies in a curve of the Brisbane river. The CBD covers 2.2 km² (0.8 sq mi) and is walkable. Most central streets are named after members of the House of Hanover. Queen Street (named in honour of Queen Victoria) is Brisbane's traditional main street and contains its largest pedestrian mall, the Queen Street Mall. Streets named after female members (Adelaide, Alice, Ann, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Margaret, and Mary) run parallel to Queen Street and perpendicular to streets named after male members (Albert, Edward, George, and William).

The CBD's squares include King George Square, Post Office Square and ANZAC Square (home to the city's central war memorial).

Brisbane's metropolitan area is broadly and colloquially divided into the "northside" and the "southside", with the dividing line being the Brisbane River,^[131] as crossing one of the 15 bridges across the river is required to travel to the opposite side by land transport. This results in many areas which are south of the CBD being classified as located in the "northside", and vice versa, as a result of the river's winding trajectory. In addition to being classified as located on the "northside" or "southside" there are further broad and colloquial regions such as the "westside' for some areas to the southwest of the CBD and the "bayside" for areas located on the coast of Moreton Bay.

Greater Brisbane had a density of 159 inhabitants per square kilometre (410/sq mi) in 2021.^[2] Like most Australian cities, Brisbane has a sprawling metropolitan area which takes in excess of one hour to traverse either north to south or east to west by car without traffic.

From the 1970s onwards, there has been a large increase in the construction of apartment developments, including mid-rise and high rise buildings, which has quickened in the 21st century. At the 2021 census, 73.4% of residents lived in separate houses, 14.7% lived in apartments, and 11.4% lived in townhouses, terrace houses, or semidetached houses.^[2]

Parklands

Moreton Bay figs at the City Botanic Gardens

Brisbane's major parklands include the riverside City Botanic Gardens at Gardens Point, Roma Street Parkland, the 27-hectare Victoria Park at Spring Hill and Herston, South Bank Parklands along the river at South Bank, the Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Mount Coot-tha and the riverside New Farm Park at New Farm.

There are many national parks surrounding the Brisbane metropolitan area. The D'Aguilar National Park is a major national park along the northwest of the metropolitan area in the D'Aguilar Range. The Glass House Mountains National Park is located to the north of the metropolitan area in the Glass House Mountains and provides green space between the Brisbane metropolitan area and the Sunshine Coast. The Tamborine National Park at Tamborine Mountain is located in the Gold Coast hinterland to the south of the metropolitan area.

The eastern metropolitan area is built along the Moreton Bay Marine Park, encompassing Moreton Bay. Significant areas of Moreton, North Stradbroke and Bribie islands also covered by the Moreton Island National Park, Naree Budjong Djara National Park and the Bribie Island National Park respectively. The Boondall Wetlands in the suburb of Boondall include 1,100 hectares of wetlands which are home to mangroves and shorebirds as well as walking tracks.

Aerial view of inner Brisbane with landmarks marked

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

1 Walter Taylor Bridge (road) (left), Albert Bridge (rail) (centre), unnamed bridge (rail) (right), Jack Pesch Bridge (far right) 2 Eleanor Schonell Bridge (Green Bridge) (pedestrians, pedal cycles, buses) 3 Merivale Bridge (rail) 4 Grey Street Bridge (William Jolly Bridge) (road) 5 Victoria Bridge 6 Captain Cook Bridge 7 Story Bridge 8 Pacific Motorway 9 Suncorp Stadium (Lang Park) (Rugby league ground) 10 Norman Creek (Anglican Church Grammar School) 11 Oxley Creek 12 Brisbane River 13 Indooroopilly Shoppingtown 14 "The Gabba" (Brisbane Cricket Ground) 15 South Bank arts and recreation precinct 16 Central business district 17 University of Queensland (UQ) St Lucia Campus 18 City Botanic Gardens 19 Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Gardens Point Campus 20 Goodwill Bridge (pedestrians and pedal cycles) 21 The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital 22 Mater Private Hospital 23 Roma Street Rail Station 24 Roma Street Parkland 25 New Farm Park and Powerhouse 26 Victoria Park Golf Course 27 Brisbane Exhibition Ground 28 Brisbane Riverwalk 29 Inner City Bypass (rail) (left) (road) (right) 30 Indooroopilly Golf Course 31 Howard Smith Wharves 32 Eagle Street Pier 33 Queen Street Mall

Architecture

19th century sandstone Treasury Building

Brisbane has a number of heritage buildings, some of which date back to the 1820s, including The Old Windmill in Wickham Park, built by convict labour in 1824,^[132] which is the oldest surviving building in Brisbane, and the Commissariat Store on William Street, built by convict labour in 1828, which was originally used as a grainhouse, and is now the home of the Royal Historical Society of Brisbane and contains a museum.^{[133][134][135]} Other 19th and early 20th-century buildings of architectural significance include the Treasury Building, City Hall, Customs House, the Land Administration Building, MacArthur Chambers, The Mansions, the National Australia Bank Building and the Federation style People's Palace, a former temperance hotel on Edward Street.

Former temperance hotel, the People's Palace, was built in the Federation style between 1910–1911.

Queenslander-style housing is common in Brisbane. Queenslander homes typically feature timber construction with large verandahs, gabled corrugated iron roofs, and high ceilings. Most of these houses are elevated on stumps (also called "stilts"), traditionally built of timber, which allow for a void under the houses which aids in cooling. The relatively low cost of timber in south-east Queensland meant that until recently, most residences were constructed of timber, rather than brick or stone. Early legislation decreed a minimum size for residential blocks leading to few terrace houses being constructed in Brisbane. The high-density housing that historically existed came in the form of miniature Queenslander-style houses which resemble the much larger traditional styles, but are sometimes only one-quarter the size. These houses are most common in the inner-city suburbs.

Brisbane is home to several of Australia's tallest buildings. All of Brisbane's skyscrapers (buildings with a height greater than 150 metres) are located within the CBD, but the inner suburbs are also home to a number of high-density buildings. Brisbane's 91-metre City Hall was the city's tallest building for decades after its completion in 1930 and was finally surpassed in 1970, which marked the beginning of the widespread construction of high-rise buildings.

Brisbane's tallest building is currently Brisbane Skytower, which has a height of 270 metres.^[136] Architecturally prominent skyscrapers include the Harry Seidler-designed Riparian Plaza, One One One Eagle Street, which incorporates LED lighting resembling the buttress roots of the Moreton Bay fig, and 1 William Street, the executive headquarters of the Queensland Government.

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Mount Coot-tha Lookout

Mount Coot-tha Lookout

Mount Coot-tha Lookout & Kiosk is a heritage-listed lookout at Sir Samuel Griffith Drive, Mount Coot-tha, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. At 226 metres (741 ft) above sea level, it is the best known vantage point from which to view the city and surrounds. It was built from 1918 to c. 1950. It is also known as One-Tree-Hill. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 13 January 1995.

Brisbane central business district

Brisbane central business district

Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD" or "the city". It is located on a point on the northern bank of the Brisbane River, historically known as Meanjin, Mianjin or Meeanjin in the local Aboriginal Australian dialect. The triangular shaped area is bounded by the median of the Brisbane River to the east, south and west. The point, known at its tip as Gardens Point, slopes upward to the north-west where the city is bounded by parkland and the inner city suburb of Spring Hill to the north. The CBD is bounded to the north-east by the suburb of Fortitude Valley. To the west the CBD is bounded by Petrie Terrace, which in 2010 was reinstated as a suburb.

House of Hanover

House of Hanover

The House of Hanover, whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house originated in 1635 as a cadet branch of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg, growing in prestige until Hanover became an Electorate in 1692. George I became the first Hanoverian monarch of Great Britain and Ireland in 1714. At Queen Victoria's death in 1901, the throne of the United Kingdom passed to her eldest son Edward VII, a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The last reigning members of the House lost the Duchy of Brunswick in 1918 when Germany became a republic.

Adelaide Street, Brisbane

Adelaide Street, Brisbane

Adelaide Street is a major street in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It runs between and parallel to Queen Street and Ann Street.

Alice Street, Brisbane

Alice Street, Brisbane

Alice Street is a street in the Brisbane CBD, Queensland, Australia. It is the most southern major road in the city's central business district, running parallel to the other female-named streets in the city. It was named after Princess Alice of the United Kingdom.

Ann Street, Brisbane

Ann Street, Brisbane

Ann Street runs parallel to Adelaide Street and is the northernmost street in the Brisbane CBD in Queensland, Australia. The street is named for Anne, Queen of Great Britain, as part of the CBD street naming series of female British royalty. It is a major thoroughfare, linking as a four-lane one-way street the suburb of Fortitude Valley in the northeast with the Riverside Expressway in the southwest; house numbers run the opposite direction.

Charlotte Street, Brisbane

Charlotte Street, Brisbane

Charlotte Street is a road in the central business district of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The street is one of a number that were named after female queens and princesses of the royal family shortly after the penal colony was settled. Mary Street runs parallel to the south and Elizabeth Street is the next street to the north.

Elizabeth Street, Brisbane

Elizabeth Street, Brisbane

Elizabeth Street is a major street in the centre of the city in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The street was one of the earliest in Brisbane being established at the beginning of settlement in Brisbane as Moreton Bay penal settlement. Today, most of the street is fronted by low-level retail outlets, with an increase in mixed use skyscrapers being recently constructed.

Margaret Street, Brisbane

Margaret Street, Brisbane

Margaret Street is a major road in the central business district of Brisbane. The street is one of a number that were named after female members of the royal family shortly after the penal colony was settled.

Mary Street, Brisbane

Mary Street, Brisbane

Mary Street is a major road in the Brisbane central business district. The street is one of a number that were named after female queens and princesses of the royal family shortly after the penal colony was settled. Charlotte Street is positioned parallel to the north and Margaret Street runs next to the south.

Albert Street, Brisbane

Albert Street, Brisbane

Albert Street is a street in the Brisbane CBD, Queensland, Australia. It was named after Prince Albert, the Prince Consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Albert Street railway station is being built directly beneath the street and is expected to open in 2024. The station precinct includes partial road closures as planned in the 2014 City Centre Master Plan, for the creation of a new public space.

Edward Street, Brisbane

Edward Street, Brisbane

Edward Street is a busy thoroughfare in the Brisbane central business district, Queensland, Australia. It is a one-way street located between Albert Street and Creek Street, and runs from Upper Edward Street to Alice Street. It is named after Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

Brisbane's Chinatown. Chinese Australians are Brisbane's largest non-European ancestry.

St John's Cathedral, an Anglican cathedral

Brisbane's Greater Capital City Statistical Area includes the Local Government Areas of City of Brisbane, City of Ipswich, Moreton Bay Region, Logan City and Redland City, as well as parts of Lockyer Valley Region, Scenic Rim Region and Somerset Region, which form a continuous metropolitan area. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that the population of Greater Brisbane is 2,560,720 as of June 2020,^[11] making it the third-largest city in Australia.

Ancestry and immigration

Brisbane population density

At the 2021 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:

The 2021 census showed that 20.7% of Brisbane's inhabitants were born overseas and 25.2% of inhabitants had at least one parent born overseas.^[138] Brisbane has the 26th largest immigrant population among world metropolitan areas. Of inhabitants born outside of Australia, the five most prevalent countries of birth were New Zealand, England, India, Mainland China and the Philippines.

The areas of Sunnybank,^[139] Sunnybank Hills,^[140] Stretton,^[141] Robertson,^[142] Calamvale,^[143] Macgregor,^[144] Eight Mile Plains,^[145] Runcorn^[146] and Rochedale,^[147] are home to a large proportion of Brisbane's Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong-born population, with Chinese being the most commonly-reported ancestry in each of these areas. The Vietnamese-born are the largest immigrant group in Inala,^[148] Darra,^[149] Durack,^[150] Willawong,^[151] Richlands^[152] and Doolandella.^[153] The Indian-born are the largest immigrant group in Chermside.^[154]

At the 2021 census, 3.0% of Brisbane's population identified as being Indigenous, which includes Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders.^{[N 4][138]}

Language

At the 2021 census, 77.3% of inhabitants spoke only English at home,^[138] with the next most common languages being Mandarin (2.5%), Vietnamese (1.1%), Punjabi (0.9%), Cantonese (0.9%) and Spanish (0.8%).^[138]

Religion

At the 2021 census, the most commonly cited religious affiliation was "No religion" (41.4%). Brisbane's most popular religion at the 2021 census was Christianity at 44.3%, the most popular denominations of which were Catholicism (18.6%) and Anglicanism (9.7%). Brisbane's CBD is home to two cathedrals – St John's (Anglican) and St Stephen's (Catholic).

The most popular non-Christian religions at the 2021 census were Hindu (2%), Buddhist (1.9%) and Muslim (1.8%).^[155]

Discover more about Demographics related topics

Demographics of Brisbane

Demographics of Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital of and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland, and the third most populous city in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that the population of Greater Brisbane is 2,462,637 as of June 2018, and the South East Queensland region, centred on Brisbane, encompasses a population of more than 3.6 million. The Brisbane central business district stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, about 15 kilometres from its mouth at Moreton Bay. The metropolitan area extends in all directions along the floodplain of the Brisbane River Valley between Moreton Bay and the Great Dividing Range, sprawling across several of Australia's most populous local government areas (LGAs), most centrally the City of Brisbane, which is by far the most populous LGA in the nation. The demonym of Brisbane is Brisbanite. Brisbane will be the host of the 2032 Olympics

Chinatown, Brisbane

Chinatown, Brisbane

Chinatown is a precinct in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia. It is centered on Chinatown Mall, a pedestrian street which occupies all of Duncan Street. The Mall runs parallel to Brunswick Street Mall, and connects Wickham Street and Ann Street. The precinct is the location of Chinese restaurants and shops, and is the venue for events including Chinese New Year and Valley Fiesta. Street signs in the area are written in both English and Chinese. It is also home to many restaurants offering Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese cuisines. Its pan-Asian nature is also emphasized through the hosting of many Asian festivals including the annual Indian festival, Diwali.

Chinese Australians

Chinese Australians

Chinese Australians are Australians of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Chinese diaspora, and are the largest Asian Australian community. Per capita, Australia has more people of Chinese ancestry than any country outside Asia. As a whole, Australian residents identifying themselves as having Chinese ancestry made up 5.5% of Australia's population at the 2021 census.

Anglican Church of Australia

Anglican Church of Australia

The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the Catholic Church. According to the 2016 census, 3.1 million Australians identify as Anglicans. As of 2016, the Anglican Church of Australia had more than 3 million nominal members and 437,880 active baptised members. For much of Australian history since the arrival of the 'First Fleet' in January 1788, the church was the largest religious denomination. It remains today one of the largest providers of social welfare services in Australia.

City of Brisbane

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 mainland state capitals, which are generally responsible only for the central business districts and inner neighbourhoods of those cities, the City of Brisbane administers a significant portion of the Brisbane metropolitan area, serving almost half of the population of the Brisbane Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA). As such, it has a larger population than any other local government area in Australia. The City of Brisbane was the first Australian LGA to reach a population of more than one million. Its population is roughly equivalent to the populations of Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory combined. In 2016–2017, the council administered a budget of over $3 billion, by far the largest budget of any LGA in Australia.

City of Ipswich

City of Ipswich

The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland, Australia, located within the southwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area, including the urban area surrounding the city of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas.

Lockyer Valley Region

Lockyer Valley Region

The Lockyer Valley Region is a local government area in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, between the cities of Ipswich and Toowoomba. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Gatton and the Shire of Laidley. It has an estimated operating budget of A$35m.

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Australian Bureau of Statistics

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments. The ABS collects and analyses statistics on economic, population, environmental and social issues, publishing many on their website. The ABS also operates the national Census of Population and Housing that occurs every five years.

List of cities in Australia by population

List of cities in Australia by population

These lists of Australian cities by population provide rankings of Australian cities and towns according to various systems defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, and mountain ranges in the south-east.

England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea area of the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

India

India

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area and the second-most populous country. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia.

The Golden Triangle financial precinct surrounding Eagle Street Pier in the CBD

Categorised as a global city, Brisbane is among Asia-Pacific cities with largest GDPs and is one of the major business hubs in Australia, with strengths in mining, banking, insurance, transportation, information technology, real estate and food.^[156]

Some of the largest companies headquartered in Brisbane, all among Australia's largest, include Suncorp Group, Virgin Australia, Aurizon, Bank of Queensland, Flight Centre, CUA, Sunsuper, QSuper, Domino's Pizza Enterprises, Star Entertainment Group, ALS, TechnologyOne, NEXTDC, Super Retail Group, New Hope Coal, Jumbo Interactive, National Storage, Collins Foods and Boeing Australia.^[157] Most major Australian companies, as well as numerous international companies, have contact offices in Brisbane.

Brisbane throughout its history has been one of Australia's most important seaport cities. The Port of Brisbane is located at the Brisbane River's mouth on Moreton Bay and on the adjacent Fisherman's Island, created by means of land reclamation. It is the 3rd busiest port in Australia for value of goods.^[158] Container freight, sugar, grain, coal and bulk liquids are the major exports. Most of the port facilities are less than three decades old and some are built on reclaimed mangroves and wetlands. The Port is a part of the Australia TradeCoast, which includes the Brisbane Airport along with large industrial estates located along both banks at the mouth of the Brisbane River.^[159]

White-collar industries include information technology, financial services, higher education and public sector administration generally concentrated in and around the central business district and satellite hubs located in the inner suburbs such as South Brisbane, Fortitude Valley, Spring Hill, Milton and Toowong.

Blue-collar industries, including petroleum refining, stevedoring, paper milling, metalworking and QR railway workshops, tend to be located on the lower reaches of the Brisbane River proximal to the Port of Brisbane and in new industrial zones on the urban fringe.

Tourism is an important part of the Brisbane economy, both in its own right and as a gateway to other areas of Queensland,^[160] as is international education, with over 95,000 international students enrolled in universities and other tertiary education institutions in the central City of Brisbane local government area alone in 2018.^[161]

Retail

The Queen Street Mall, Queensland's largest pedestrian mall

Retail in the CBD is centred around the Queen Street Mall, which is Queensland's largest pedestrian mall. Shopping centres in the CBD include the Myer Centre, the Wintergarden, MacArthur Central and QueensPlaza, with the last of these along with Edward Street forming the city's focus for luxury brands. There are historical shopping arcades at Brisbane Arcade and Tattersalls Arcade. Suburbs adjacent to the CBD such as Fortitude Valley (particularly James Street), South Brisbane and West End are also a major inner-city retail hubs.

Outside of the inner-city, retail is focused on indoor shopping centres, including numerous regional shopping centres along with six super regional shopping centres, all of which are among Australia's largest, namely: Westfield Chermside in the north; Garden City (officially Westfield Mt Gravatt) in the south; Westfield Carindale in the east; Indooroopilly Shopping Centre in the west; Westfield North Lakes in the outer-north; and Logan Hyperdome in the outer-south. Brisbane's major factory outlet centres are the Direct Factory Outlets at Skygate and Jindalee.

The 100 hectare Brisbane Markets at Rocklea are Brisbane's largest wholesale markets, whilst smaller markets operate at numerous locations throughout the city including South Bank Parklands, Davies Park in West End, Queensland and the Eat Street Markets at Hamilton.

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Economy of Brisbane

Economy of Brisbane

The economy of Brisbane consists mainly of several industries, including health care, professional services and retail trade. It holds a population of over 2.4 million people in broader urban centres and localities, with a mean age of 35 years. Brisbane's Gross Domestic Product was $170.5 billion in 2017–18, contributing to around half of Queensland's overall economy and 9.4% of national gross domestic product.

Eagle Street Pier ferry wharf

Eagle Street Pier ferry wharf

Eagle Street Pier ferry wharf is located on the northern side of the Brisbane River serving the Brisbane central business district in Queensland, Australia. It was served by Transdev Brisbane Ferries' CityHopper service and a cross-river service to Kangaroo Point .These services were suspended in July 2020 and formally cancelled to stop at this wharf in October 2020.

Brisbane central business district

Brisbane central business district

Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD" or "the city". It is located on a point on the northern bank of the Brisbane River, historically known as Meanjin, Mianjin or Meeanjin in the local Aboriginal Australian dialect. The triangular shaped area is bounded by the median of the Brisbane River to the east, south and west. The point, known at its tip as Gardens Point, slopes upward to the north-west where the city is bounded by parkland and the inner city suburb of Spring Hill to the north. The CBD is bounded to the north-east by the suburb of Fortitude Valley. To the west the CBD is bounded by Petrie Terrace, which in 2010 was reinstated as a suburb.

Globalization and World Cities Research Network

Globalization and World Cities Research Network

The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershire, United Kingdom. GaWC was founded by Peter J. Taylor in 1998. Together with Jon Beaverstock and Richard G. Smith, they create the GaWC's biennial categorization of world cities into "Alpha", "Beta" and "Gamma" tiers, based upon their international connectedness.

Global city

Global city

A global city is a city that serves as a primary node in the global economic network. The concept originates from geography and urban studies, based on the thesis that globalization has created a hierarchy of strategic geographic locations with varying degrees of influence over finance, trade, and culture worldwide. The global city represents the most complex and significant hub within the international system, characterized by links binding it to other cities that have direct, tangible effects on global socioeconomic affairs.

Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on the context, but it often includes countries in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania that border the Pacific Ocean. South Asia, Mongolia, Myanmar, and the Russian Far East are generally included in a wider Asia-Pacific region.

Insurance

Insurance

Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss.

Information technology

Information technology

Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve and exchange all kinds of data and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system is generally an information system, a communications system, or, more specifically speaking, a computer system — including all hardware, software, and peripheral equipment — operated by a limited group of IT users.

Food industry

Food industry

The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the world's population. The food industry today has become highly diversified, with manufacturing ranging from small, traditional, family-run activities that are highly labour-intensive, to large, capital-intensive and highly mechanized industrial processes. Many food industries depend almost entirely on local agriculture, animal farms, produce, and/or fishing.

Aurizon

Aurizon

Aurizon Holdings Limited is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National Limited and branded QR National. As of 2015 it was the world's largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland Government-owned company, it was privatised and floated on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in November 2010. The company was originally established in 2004–05 when the coal, bulk, and container transport divisions from Queensland Rail were brought under one banner as QR National.

Bank of Queensland

Bank of Queensland

The Bank of Queensland is an Australian retail bank with headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland. The bank is one of the oldest financial institutions in Queensland, having begun as a building society. It now has 163 branches throughout Australia, including 53 corporate branches and 103 "owner managed" branches.

Flight Centre

Flight Centre

Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) is an Australian travel agency. It was founded in 1982, and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia.

Queensland Gallery of Modern Art

Queensland Performing Arts Centre

Brisbane is home to several art galleries, the largest of which are the Queensland Art Gallery and the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), which is the largest modern art gallery in Australia. GOMA holds the Asia Pacific Triennial (APT) which focuses on contemporary art from the Asia and Pacific in a variety of media from painting to video work. In addition, its size enables the gallery to exhibit particularly large shows.

Dramatic and musical theatre performances are held at the multiple large theatres located at Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). The Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm and the Judith Wright Arts Centre in Fortitude Valley also feature diverse programmes featuring exhibitions and festivals of visual art, music and dance. Brisbane is also home to numerous small theatres including the Brisbane Arts Theatre in Petrie Terrace, the La Boite Theatre Company which performs at the Roundhouse Theatre at Kelvin Grove, the Twelfth Night Theatre at Bowen Hills, the Metro Arts Theatre in Edward Street, and the Queensland Theatre Company's Bille Brown Theatre in West End.

The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) at South Bank, consists of the Lyric Theatre, the Concert Hall, the Cremorne Theatre and the Playhouse Theatre and is home to the Queensland Ballet, Opera Queensland, the Queensland Theatre Company, and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. The Queensland Conservatorium, a musical conservatorium in which professional music companies and conservatorium students also stage performances, is located within the South Bank Parklands. Numerous choirs present performances across the city annually. These choirs include the Brisbane Chorale, Queensland Choir, Brisbane Chamber Choir, Canticum Chamber Choir, Brisbane Concert Choir, Imogen Children's Chorale and Brisbane Birralee Voices.

Brisbane has maintained a constantly evolving live music scene, producing acts spanning genres including punk (see Brisbane punk rock), indie rock, electronic music, experimental music, noise rock, metal and post-punk. Brisbane's live music history is often intertwined with social unrest and authoritarian politics, as retold by journalist Andrew Stafford in Pig City: From The Saints to Savage Garden, Radical Brisbane: An Unruly History, edited by academics Raymond Evans and Carole Ferrier, and BNE – The Definitive Archive: Brisbane Independent Electronic Music Production 1979–2014, produced by record label director Dennis Remmer.^[162][163] There are also popular entertainment pubs and clubs within both the City and Fortitude Valley.^[164][165] The Brisbane Entertainment Centre at Boondall is an arena which hosts many musical concerts, with some of the largest being held at Lang Park.

Musicians from Brisbane include the Bee Gees (raised in Redcliffe and Cribb Island), Powderfinger (who met at Brisbane Grammar School and the University of Queensland), The Go-Betweens (after whom Brisbane's Go Between Bridge is named, and whose songs and albums, such as Spring Hill Fair, reflect the attitudes of 1980s Brisbane), The Veronicas (born and raised in Albany Creek), The Saints (based in Brisbane since 1974, one of the first punk rock bands), Savage Garden, Sheppard, Pete Murray, Ball Park Music, and TwoSet Violin. The city is featured in music including The Saints' "Brisbane (Security City)" (1978); The Stranglers' "Nuclear Device" (1979) about Joh Bjelke-Petersen; Midnight Oil's single "Dreamworld" (1987); and Powderfinger's album Vulture Street (2003).

Prominent writers from Brisbane include David Malouf (whose 1975 novel Johnno is set in Brisbane and at Brisbane Grammar School during World War II), Nick Earls (whose 1996 novel Zigzag Street is set at Zigzag Street in Red Hill), and Li Cunxin, author of Mao's Last Dancer and artistic director of the Queensland Ballet. Brisbane is a novel by Russian writer Yevgeny Vodolazkin. In the novel, the city serves as a metaphor of the promised land for the protagonist. The State Library of Queensland, the state's largest library, is located at the Queensland Cultural Centre.

Since the late 20th century, numerous films have been shot in Brisbane, and the popular children's animated television series Bluey was produced and set in Brisbane

Brisbane is home to over 6,000 restaurants and dining establishments,^[166] with outdoor dining featuring prominently. The most popular cuisines by number of dining establishments are Japanese,^[167] Chinese,^[168] Modern Australian,^[169] Italian,^[170] American,^[171] Indian,^[172] and Vietnamese.^[173] Moreton Bay bugs, less commonly known as flathead lobsters, are an ingredient named for the Brisbane region and which feature commonly in the city's cuisine, along with macadamia nuts, also native to the region.

Annual events

Riverfire at the Story Bridge

The Royal Queensland Exhibition (known locally as the Ekka), an agricultural exhibition held each August at the Brisbane Showgrounds in Bowen Hills, is the longest-running major annual event held in Brisbane. A public holiday is held for each local government area across Brisbane to enable widespread public attendance.

The Brisbane Festival is held each September at South Bank Parklands, the CBD and surrounding areas. It includes one of the nation's largest annual fireworks displays, called "Riverfire", which is attended by hundreds of thousands of residents.

The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) is held in July/August each year in a variety of venues around Brisbane. BIFF features new films and retrospectives by domestic and international filmmakers along with seminars and awards.

The Buddha Birth Day festival at South Bank parklands attracts over 200,000 visitors each year,^[174][175] and is the largest event of its type in Australia.

There are also many smaller community events such as the Paniyiri Greek Festival (held over two days in May), the Brisbane Medieval Fayre and Tournament (held each June), the Bridge to Brisbane charity fun run, the Anywhere Festival and the Caxton Street Seafood and Wine Festival.

Major events are often held at the 171,000 square metre Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre in South Brisbane.

Sport

Rugby league game at Lang Park

Cricket game at The Gabba

Brisbane has hosted several major sporting events including the 1982 Commonwealth Games and the 2001 Goodwill Games, as well as events during the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1992 Cricket World Cup, 2000 Sydney Olympics, 2003 Rugby World Cup, 2008 Rugby League World Cup, 2017 Rugby League World Cup and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. It will host the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.^{[108][109][176]} It holds the Brisbane International tennis competition every year.

Rugby league is popular in Brisbane and the city hosts the Brisbane Broncos and Dolphins, who play in the National Rugby League competition and the Queensland Maroons who play in the State of Origin series.

In rugby union the city hosts the Queensland Reds who play in the Super Rugby competition.

Cricket is popular in the Brisbane and the city hosts the Brisbane Heat who play in the Big Bash League and the Queensland Bulls who play in the Sheffield Shield and the Ryobi One Day Cup.

Brisbane also hosts an A-League soccer team, the Brisbane Roar FC; an Australian Football League team, the Brisbane Lions; a basketball team, the Brisbane Bullets; a baseball team, the Brisbane Bandits; a netball team, the Queensland Firebirds; a field hockey team, the Brisbane Blaze; and water polo teams the Brisbane Barracudas and Queensland Breakers.

The city's major stadiums and sporting venues include the Gabba (a 42,000 seat round stadium at Woolloongabba), Lang Park (a 52,500 seat rectangular stadium at Milton also known by its corporate name Suncorp Stadium), Ballymore Stadium, the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, the Sleeman Centre (swimming), the State Tennis Centre, the Eagle Farm Racecourse and the Doomben Racecourse. The city is also home to numerous golf courses, with the largest being the Indooroopilly Golf Club at Indooroopilly, Queensland, the Brookwater Golf and Country Club at Brookwater, the Keperra Country Golf Club at Keperra and the Royal Queensland Golf Club at Eagle Farm.

In addition to its flagship sport franchises, Brisbane and its regions and suburbs have numerous teams in secondary leagues including the Intrust Super Cup, National Rugby Championship, Queensland Premier Rugby, National Premier League Queensland, National Basketball League, ANZ Championship, Australian Baseball League, Hockey One, National Water Polo League and F-League.

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Culture of Brisbane

Culture of Brisbane

The culture of Brisbane derives from mainstream Australian culture and incorporates a strong history in the performing arts, music and sport.

Brisbane punk rock

Brisbane punk rock

Brisbane punk rock had its main impact between 1975 and 1984 as part of the overall punk rock scene in Australia. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, the Queensland capital provided "some of the most anarchistic bands" of that era whilst it was "arguably the most conservative city" in the country. The development of the local punk movement differed from other cities because of its relative geographic isolation from other similar trends. The Brisbane scene also received a greater scrutiny by local police where early punk bands formed as "an obvious backlash to an oppressed society". This generated antagonistic and individualistic groups or "snot" driven punk bands.

Cuisine of Brisbane

Cuisine of Brisbane

The cuisine of Brisbane derives from mainstream Australian cuisine, as well as many cuisines of international origin, with major influences from Asian cuisine, European cuisine and American cuisine that reflect the city's ethnic diversity, though Brisbane is represented by a wide range of other ethnic cuisines.

Brisbane Powerhouse

Brisbane Powerhouse

Brisbane Powerhouse is an arts and cultural hub located in a former power station in the Brisbane suburb of New Farm, Queensland, Australia. The venue offers an array of performing arts, visual arts, festivals, and free community events.

New Farm, Queensland

New Farm, Queensland

New Farm is an inner northern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, New Farm had a population of 12,454 people.

Judith Wright Arts Centre

Judith Wright Arts Centre

The Judith Wright Arts Centre, formerly the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, is a visual and performing arts centre in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, Queensland. The venue was renovated and re-opened as an arts centre in October 2001. The Centre is named after Judith Wright, who was a celebrated Queensland poet, an advocate for Indigenous rights, and an environmental activist. Wright was one of two Australian poets considered for the Nobel Prize for Literature. She died on 25 June 2000 in Canberra.

Fortitude Valley, Queensland

Fortitude Valley, Queensland

Fortitude Valley is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestrian malls at Brunswick Street Mall and Chinatown, and is one of the hubs of Brisbane's nightlife, renowned for its nightclubs, bars and adult entertainment.

Brisbane Arts Theatre

Brisbane Arts Theatre

Brisbane Arts Theatre refers to both an independent theatre company in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and the building in which it resides.

Petrie Terrace, Queensland

Petrie Terrace, Queensland

Petrie Terrace is an inner suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Petrie Terrace had a population of 1,124 people.

La Boite Theatre Company

La Boite Theatre Company

La Boite Theatre, founded as the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society, is an Australian theatre company based in Brisbane, Queensland. La Boite was established in 1925 and is Australia’s longest continuously running theatre company.

Kelvin Grove, Queensland

Kelvin Grove, Queensland

Kelvin Grove is an inner northern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Kelvin Grove had a population of 7,927 people.

Bowen Hills, Queensland

Bowen Hills, Queensland

Bowen Hills is an inner north-eastern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census Bowen Hills had a population of 3,226 people.

The Brisbane Riverwalk at New Farm

South Bank Parklands and the Wheel of Brisbane

Shorncliffe pier at Shorncliffe on Moreton Bay

D'Aguilar Range from Westridge Outlook in D'Aguilar National Park

Tourism plays a major role in Brisbane's economy, being the third-most popular destination for international tourists after Sydney and Melbourne.^[177] Popular tourist and recreation areas in Brisbane include the South Bank Parklands (including the Wheel of Brisbane), the City Botanic Gardens, Roma Street Parkland, New Farm Park, the Howard Smith Wharves, the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the Teneriffe woolstores precinct, Fortitude Valley (including James Street and Chinatown), West End, City Hall (including the Museum of Brisbane), the Parliament of Queensland, the Story Bridge and bridge climb; St John's Cathedral, ANZAC Square and the Queensland Cultural Centre (including the Queensland Museum, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Queensland Art Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art and the State Library of Queensland), the Kangaroo Point Cliffs and park, and the Queensland Maritime Museum.

Brisbane is notable for its Brisbane Riverwalk network, which runs along much of the Brisbane River foreshore throughout the inner-city area, with the longest span running between Newstead and Toowong. Another popular stretch runs beneath the Kangaroo Point Cliffs between South Brisbane and Kangaroo Point. Several spans of the Riverwalk are built out over the Brisbane River. Brisbane also has over 27 km (17 mi) of bicycle pathways, mostly surrounding the Brisbane River and city centre. Other popular recreation activities include the Story Bridge adventure climb and rock climbing at the Kangaroo Point Cliffs.

Moreton Bay and its marine park is also a major attraction, and its three primary islands Moreton Island, North Stradbroke Island and Bribie Island, accessible by ferry, contain popular surf beaches and resorts. Tangalooma resort on Moreton Island is popular for its nightly wild dolphin feeding attraction, and for operating Australia's longest running whale watching cruises. The Fort Lytton National Park including a colonial defence fort and museum is also a historical bayside attraction. Beachside suburbs such as those on the Redcliffe Peninsula, as well as Shorncliffe, Sandgate, Wynnum, Manly and Wellington Point are also popular attractions for their bayside beaches, piers, and infrastructure for boating, sailing, fishing and kitesurfing.

The Mount Coot-tha Reserve, including Mount Coot-tha, the Mount Coot-tha Lookout, the Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens and the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium is a popular recreational attraction for hiking and bushwalking.

There are many national parks surrounding the Brisbane metropolitan area which are popular recreational attractions for hiking and bushwalking. The D'Aguilar National Park runs along the northwest of the metropolitan area in the D'Aguilar Range, and contains popular bushwalking and hiking peaks at Mount Nebo, Camp Mountain, Mount Pleasant, Mount Glorious, Mount Samson and Mount Mee. The Glass House Mountains National Park is located to the north of the metropolitan area in the Glass House Mountains between it and that of the Sunshine Coast. The Tamborine National Park at Tamborine Mountain is located in the Gold Coast hinterland to the south of the metropolitan area. Moreton, North Stradbroke and Bribie islands are substantially covered by the Moreton Island National Park, Naree Budjong Djara National Park and the Bribie Island National Park respectively. The Boondall Wetlands in the suburb of Boondall are protected mangrove wetlands with floating walking trails.

Immediately to the south and north of Brisbane are the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast respectively, which are home to several of Australia's most popular swimming and surfing beaches, and are popular day and weekend destinations for Brisbanites.

In 2015, a competition by travel guidebook Rough Guides saw Brisbane elected as one of the top ten most beautiful cities in the world, citing reasons such as "its winning combination of high-rise modern architecture, lush green spaces and the enormous Brisbane River that snakes its way through the centre before emptying itself into the azure Moreton Bay".^[178]

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New Farm, Queensland

New Farm, Queensland

New Farm is an inner northern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, New Farm had a population of 12,454 people.

Shorncliffe pier

Shorncliffe pier

Shorncliffe Pier is a historic pier in Shorncliffe, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, situated near Saint Patrick's College and lower Moora Park. The pier with its white faded timber railings, colonial street lamps spaced out along the stretch of pier, and resting shelter towards the end was a much visited attraction for families, residents and tourists to the area. Reaching 351.5 metres (1,153 ft) out into Bramble Bay it is the largest timber pier in Brisbane and one of the longest recreational piers in Australia. The renewed pier was reopened to the public in March 2016.

Shorncliffe, Queensland

Shorncliffe, Queensland

Shorncliffe is a coastal north-eastern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is on the shore of Bramble Bay, part of Moreton Bay. In the 2016 census, Shorncliffe had a population of 1,870 people. The suburb attracts visitors to its historic Shorncliffe pier, and Lovers Walk, a walking path along the coastline between Shorncliffe and neighbouring Sandgate.

Moreton Bay

Moreton Bay

Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) 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 used by commercial operators who provide seafood to market.

D'Aguilar Range

D'Aguilar Range

The D'Aguilar Range is a mountain range near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The town of Dayboro is situated on the lower foothills midway along the range and the Sunshine Coast Hinterland town of Mooloolah lies at the northernmost point of the range. Many residential areas line its eastern slopes including the town of Samford and the suburb of Ferny Hills. In the west, numerous ridges and gullies are heavily forested and designated as state forest or national park.

D'Aguilar National Park

D'Aguilar National Park

D'Aguilar National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia. It contains the D'Aguilar Range and is located along the northwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area. The park is traversed by the winding scenic Mount Nebo Road and Mount Glorious Road.

City Botanic Gardens

City Botanic Gardens

The City Botanic Gardens is a heritage-listed botanic garden on Alice Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was also known as Queen's Park. It is located on Gardens Point in the Brisbane CBD and is bordered by the Brisbane River, Alice Street, George Street, Parliament House and Queensland University of Technology's Gardens Point campus. It was established in 1825 as a farm for the Moreton Bay penal settlement.

Roma Street Parkland

Roma Street Parkland

Roma Street Parkland covers 11 hectares in the centre of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Roma Street Parkland is adjacent to Brisbane Transit Centre and the Roma Street railway station from which it takes its name There is pedestrian access to the Roma Street Parkland from the Roma Street railway station, as well as from Albert Street, and from the section of the Parkland which was formerly called Albert Park, in Wickham Terrace.

New Farm Park

New Farm Park

New Farm Park is a heritage-listed riverfront public park at 137 Sydney Street, New Farm, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Albert Herbert Foster and built from 1914 to 1950 by Gladwin Legge & Co. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 7 February 2005.

Howard Smith Wharves

Howard Smith Wharves

Howard Smith Wharves is a heritage-listed wharf on the Brisbane River at Boundary Street, Brisbane City and Fortitude Valley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from c. 1934 to 1940s circa. It is also known as Brisbane Central Wharves. The 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) site is one of the most culturally and historically significant riverfront locations in Brisbane. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 4 February 1997.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is an 18-hectare (44-acre) koala sanctuary in the Brisbane suburb of Fig Tree Pocket in Queensland, Australia.

Fortitude Valley, Queensland

Fortitude Valley, Queensland

Fortitude Valley is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestrian malls at Brunswick Street Mall and Chinatown, and is one of the hubs of Brisbane's nightlife, renowned for its nightclubs, bars and adult entertainment.

City of Brisbane coat of arms

City of Brisbane flag

Unlike other Australian capital cities, a large portion of the greater metropolitan area, or Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA) of Brisbane is controlled by a single local government area, the City of Brisbane, which is the largest local government area (in terms of population and budget) in Australia, serving more than 40% of the GCCSA's population. It was formed by the merger of twenty smaller LGAs in 1925, and covers an area of 1,367 km² (528 sq mi). The remainder of the metropolitan area falls into the LGAs of Logan City to the south, Moreton Bay Region in the northern suburbs, the City of Ipswich to the south west, Redland City to the south east, and into the Somerset, Scenic Rim and Lockyer Valley regions on the urban periphery. Several of these are also among the nation's most populous LGAs.

Each LGA is governed under a similar structure, including a directly elected mayor (including the Lord Mayor of Brisbane), as well as a council composed of councillors representing geographical wards. Brisbane City Hall is the seat of the Brisbane City Council, the governing corporation of the City of Brisbane LGA, and the bulk of its executive offices are located at the Brisbane Square skyscraper.

Government House, Brisbane, home to the Governor of Queensland and Parliament House, home of the Parliament of Queensland

As the capital city of Queensland, Brisbane is home to the Parliament of Queensland at Parliament House at Gardens Point in the CBD, adjacent to Old Government House. Queensland's current Government House is located in Paddington. The bulk of the state government's executive offices are located at the 1 William Street skyscraper. The Queensland Supreme and District courts are located at the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law in George Street, while the Magistrates court is located at the adjacent Brisbane Magistrates Court building. The various federal courts are loced at the Commonwealth Law Courts building on North Quay.

The Australian Army's Enoggera Barracks is located in Enoggera, while the historic Victoria Barracks in Petrie Terrace now hosts a military museum. The Royal Australian Navy's HMAS Moreton base is located at Bulimba. The Royal Australian Air Force's RAAF Base Amberley is located in Amberley in the outer south-west of the metropolitan area.

Brisbane's largest prisons and correctional facilities, the Brisbane Correctional Centre, Brisbane Women's Correctional Centre, Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre and Wolston Correctional Centre are located at Wacol, while the city's main historical prison, the Boggo Road Gaol, is now a museum.

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City of Brisbane

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 mainland state capitals, which are generally responsible only for the central business districts and inner neighbourhoods of those cities, the City of Brisbane administers a significant portion of the Brisbane metropolitan area, serving almost half of the population of the Brisbane Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA). As such, it has a larger population than any other local government area in Australia. The City of Brisbane was the first Australian LGA to reach a population of more than one million. Its population is roughly equivalent to the populations of Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory combined. In 2016–2017, the council administered a budget of over $3 billion, by far the largest budget of any LGA in Australia.

Logan City

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 borders the Scenic Rim Region, the City of Ipswich, and Redland City LGAs. Logan City is divided into 70 suburbs and 12 divisions; a councillor is elected to each of the latter. The area had a population of 326,615 in June 2018.

Moreton Bay Region

Moreton Bay Region

The Moreton Bay Region is a local government area in the north of the Brisbane metropolitan city in South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it replaced three established local government areas, the City of Redcliffe and the Shires of Pine Rivers and Caboolture.

City of Ipswich

City of Ipswich

The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland, Australia, located within the southwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area, including the urban area surrounding the city of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas.

Redland City

Redland City

Redland City, better known as the Redlands and formerly known as Redland Shire, is a local government area and a part of the Brisbane metropolitan area in South East Queensland. With a population of 156,863 in June 2018, the city is spread along the southern coast of Moreton Bay, covering 537.2 square kilometres (207.4 sq mi). Its mainland borders the City of Brisbane to the west and north-west, and Logan City to the south-west and south, while its islands are situated north of the City of Gold Coast.

Scenic Rim Region

Scenic Rim Region

The Scenic Rim Region is a local government area in West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and beyond. The main town of the region is Beaudesert.

Coat of arms of Brisbane

Coat of arms of Brisbane

The coat of arms of Brisbane is a historic icon; symbolising aspects of not only the City but also the eponymous Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane.

Flag of Brisbane

Flag of Brisbane

The flag of Brisbane is based upon the arms of the Australian City of Brisbane. The two primary colours used are blue and gold, with blue representing the sea and the Brisbane River which flows through the city, and gold representing the sun and the city's warm climate.

Local government in Australia

Local government in Australia

Local government is the third level of government in Australia, administered with limited autonomy under the states and territories, and in turn beneath the federal government. Local government is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia, and two referendums in 1974 and 1988 to alter the Constitution relating to local government were unsuccessful. Every state/territory government recognises local government in its own respective constitution. Unlike the two-tier local government system in Canada or the United States, there is only one tier of local government in each Australian state/territory, with no distinction between counties and cities.

Lockyer Valley Region

Lockyer Valley Region

The Lockyer Valley Region is a local government area in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, between the cities of Ipswich and Toowoomba. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Gatton and the Shire of Laidley. It has an estimated operating budget of A$35m.

Lord Mayor of Brisbane

Lord Mayor of Brisbane

The Lord Mayor of Brisbane is the chief executive of the City of Brisbane, the capital of the Australian state of Queensland, and the head of the Brisbane City Council. Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner of the Liberal National Party was sworn in on 8 April 2019, following the resignation of Graham Quirk.

Brisbane City Hall

Brisbane City Hall

Brisbane City Hall, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is the seat of the Brisbane City Council. It is located adjacent to King George Square, where the rectangular City Hall has its main entrance. The City Hall also has frontages and entrances in both Ann Street and Adelaide Street. The building design is based on a combination of the Roman Pantheon, and St Mark's Campanile in Venice and is considered one of Brisbane's finest buildings. It was listed on the Register of the National Estate in 1978 and on the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992. It is also iconic for its Westminster chimes which sound on the quarter-hour.

Forgan Smith Building at the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus

Queensland University of Technology's Gardens Point campus with ferry wharf in the foreground

Brisbane hosts numerous university campuses.

Three major universities are headquartered in Brisbane, namely:

• The University of Queensland (UQ), which is Queensland's oldest university and frequently ranks among the world's top 50,^{[179][180][181]} with campuses in St Lucia, Herston and Gatton
• Queensland University of Technology (QUT), with campuses in the central business district (Gardens Point) and Kelvin Grove
• Griffith University (GU), with campuses in Nathan, Mount Gravatt, South Bank and Meadowbrook

Two other major universities, which are not headquartered in Brisbane, have multiple campuses in the Brisbane metropolitan area, namely:

• The University of Southern Queensland (USQ), with campuses in Springfield and Ipswich
• The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), with campuses in Petrie and Caboolture

Other universities which have campuses in Brisbane include the Australian Catholic University, Central Queensland University and James Cook University.

Brisbane is a major destination for international students, who constitute a large proportion of enrolments in Brisbane's universities and are important to the city's economy and real estate market. In 2018, there were over 95,000 international students enrolled in universities and other tertiary education institutions in the central City of Brisbane local government area alone.^[161] The majority of Brisbane's international students originate from China, India and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.^[182]

There are biotechnology and research facilities at several universities in Brisbane, including the Institute for Molecular Bioscience and CSIRO at the University of Queensland and the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation at Queensland University of Technology.^[183]

There are three major TAFE colleges in Brisbane; the Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, the Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE, and the Southbank Institute of TAFE.^[184] Brisbane is also home to numerous other independent tertiary providers, including the Australian College of Natural Medicine, the Queensland Theological College, the Brisbane College of Theology, SAE Institute, Jschool: Journalism Education & Training, JMC Academy, and American College and the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts.

Many of Brisbane's pre-school, primary, and secondary schools are under the jurisdiction of Education Queensland, a branch of the Queensland Government.^[185] Independent (private), Roman Catholic and other religious schools also constitute a large share of Brisbane's primary and secondary schooling sectors, with the oldest such independent schools composing the memberships of the Great Public Schools Association of Queensland (GPS) for boys' schools and Queensland Girls' Secondary Schools Sports Association (QGSSSA) for girls' schools.

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Lists of schools in Queensland

Lists of schools in Queensland

The following lists cover state and non-state primary and secondary schools in Queensland, Australia.

Great Court, University of Queensland

Great Court, University of Queensland

Great Court is a heritage-listed university colonnade at the University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by John (Jack) Hennessy and built from 1937 to 1979. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 8 March 2002.

Queensland University of Technology

Queensland University of Technology

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The university in its current form was founded in 1989, when the Queensland Institute of Technology (QIT) was made a university through the Queensland University of Technology Act 1988, with the resulting Queensland University of Technology beginning its operations from January 1989. In 1990, the Brisbane College of Advanced Education merged with QUT.

Gardens Point, Brisbane

Gardens Point, Brisbane

Gardens Point is a peninsula in central Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located south of Alice Street and bounded by the Brisbane River on its other three sides.

College and university rankings

College and university rankings

College and university rankings order institutions in higher education based on factors that vary depending on the ranking. Some rankings evaluate institutions within a single country, while others assess institutions worldwide. Rankings are typically conducted by magazines, newspapers, websites, governments, or academics. In addition to ranking entire institutions, specific programs, departments, and schools can be ranked. Some rankings consider measures of wealth, excellence in research, selective admissions, and alumni success. Rankings may also consider various combinations of measures of specialization expertise, student options, award numbers, internationalization, graduate employment, industrial linkage, historical reputation and other criteria.

Herston, Queensland

Herston, Queensland

Herston is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Herston had a population of 2,215 people.

Gatton, Queensland

Gatton, Queensland

Gatton is a rural town and locality in the Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the locality of Gatton had a population of 7,101 people.

Kelvin Grove, Queensland

Kelvin Grove, Queensland

Kelvin Grove is an inner northern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Kelvin Grove had a population of 7,927 people.

Griffith University

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 studies.

Nathan, Queensland

Nathan, Queensland

Nathan is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, it had a population of 1,085.

Mount Gravatt, Queensland

Mount Gravatt, Queensland

Mount Gravatt is a southern suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and a prominent hill and lookout within this suburb. In the 2016 census, Mount Gravatt had a population of 3,366 people.

Meadowbrook, Queensland

Meadowbrook, Queensland

Meadowbrook is a mixed-use suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Meadowbrook had a population of 3,113 people. The Logan Hospital and a TAFE college are located in the suburb.

Transport

Brisbane has an extensive transport network within the city, as well as connections to regional centres, interstate and to overseas destinations. Like all Australian cities, the most popular mode of transport is private car.^[186] Public transport is provided by rail, bus and ferry services and is co-ordinated by TransLink, which provides a unified ticketing and electronic payment system (known as "go card") for South East Queensland. The region is divided into seven fare zones radiating outwards from the Brisbane central business district (CBD), with Brisbane's built-up area falling within zones 1–3. Bus services are operated by public and private operators whereas trains and ferries are operated by public agencies. The CBD is the central hub for all public transport services with services focusing on Roma Street, Central and Fortitude Valley railway stations; King George Square, Queen Street and Roma Street busway stations; and North Quay, Riverside and QUT Gardens Point ferry wharves.

Roads

Houghton Highway and Ted Smout Memorial Bridge crossing Bramble Bay, Queensland's longest bridges

Brisbane is served by a large network of urban and inter-urban motorways. The Pacific Motorway (M3/M1) connects the inner-city with the southern suburbs, Gold Coast and New South Wales. The Ipswich Motorway (M7/M2) connects the inner-city with the outer south-western suburbs. The Western Freeway and Centenary Motorway (M5) connect the city's inner-west and outer south-west. The Bruce Highway and Gympie Arterial Road (M1/M3) connect the city's northern suburbs with the Sunshine Coast and northern Queensland. The Logan Motorway (M2/M6) connects the southern and south-western suburbs. The Gateway Motorway is a toll road which connects the Gold and Sunshine Coast. The Port of Brisbane Motorway links the Gateway Motorway to the Port of Brisbane. The Inner City Bypass and Riverside Expressway serve as an inner ring freeway system to prevent motorists from travelling through the city's congested centre.^[187]

Brisbane also has a large network of major road tunnels under the metropolitan area, known as the TransApex network, which include the Clem Jones Tunnel between the inner-north and inner-south, the Airport Link tunnel in the north-east and the Legacy Way tunnel in the south-west. They are the three longest road tunnels in Australia.

Bridges

The Eleanor Schonell Bridge, a pedestrian and bus bridge between Dutton Park and the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus

The Brisbane River creates a barrier to road transport routes. In total there are sixteen bridges over the river, mostly concentrated in the inner city area. The road bridges (which usually also include provision for pedestrians and cyclists) by distance from the river mouth are the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges, the Story Bridge, the Captain Cook Bridge, the Victoria Bridge, the William Jolly Bridge, the Go Between Bridge, the Eleanor Schonell Bridge, the Walter Taylor Bridge the Centenary Bridge and Colleges Crossing. There are three railway bridges, namely the Merivale Bridge, the Albert Bridge and the Indooroopilly Railway Bridge. There are also three pedestrian only bridges: the Goodwill Bridge, the Kurilpa Bridge and the Jack Pesch Bridge.

The Houghton Highway (northbound) and Ted Smout Memorial Bridge (southbound) bridges, over Bramble Bay between Brighton, Queensland and the Redcliffe Peninsula, are the longest bridges in the state. The abutment arches of the original crossing The Hornibrook Bridge still remain in place.

Rail

Queensland Rail New Generation Rollingstock train at Roma Street station

The Queensland Rail City network consists of 154 train stations along 13 suburban and interurban rail lines and across the metropolitan area, namely: the Airport, Beenleigh, Caboolture, Cleveland, Doomben, Ferny Grove, Ipswich/Rosewood, Redcliffe Peninsula, Shorncliffe, and Springfield lines, as well as the Exhibition line which is used only for events at the Brisbane Showgrounds, as well as an inner-city bypass for freight and a turnback for long-distance services. The network extends to the Gold and Sunshine coasts, which are fully integrated into the network on the Gold Coast line and Sunshine Coast line. The Airtrain service which runs on the Airport line is jointly operated between the City of Brisbane and Brisbane Airport.

55 million passenger trips were taken across the network in 2018–19.^[188]

Construction of the network began in 1865^[189] and has been progressively expanded in the subsequent centuries. Electrification of the network was completed between 1979 and 1988.

The Cross River Rail project includes a twin rail tunnel (5.9 kilometres (3.7 mi) long) which will pass under the Brisbane River to link two new railway stations at Albert Street in the CBD and Wooloongabba; it is under construction and scheduled to be completed in early 2025.^[190]

Bus

Brisbane has a large dedicated bus rapid transit network, the Brisbane busway network. The network comprises the South East Busway, the Northern Busway and the Eastern Busway. The main network hubs are the King George Square, Queen Street, and Roma Street busway stations.

There are also numerous suburban bus routes operating throughout the metropolitan area, including the high-frequency Blue and Maroon CityGlider routes which run between Newstead and West End (Blue), and Ashgrove and Coorparoo (Maroon) respectively.

Brisbane Metro is a proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) project which will initially consist of two routes (Metro 1 and 2) running between Eight Mile Plains and Roma Street, and UQ St Lucia (UQ Lakes) and the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital respectively.

Ferry

CityCat ferry passing the City Botanic Gardens at Gardens Point

RiverCity Ferries operates three ferry services along the Brisbane River, CityCat, Cross River and CityHopper. Brisbane's ferries, and particularly its catamaran CityCats, are considered iconic to the city.^[191]

The CityCat high-speed catamaran ferry service, popular with tourists and commuters, operates services along the Brisbane River between the University of Queensland and Northshore Hamilton, with wharves at UQ St Lucia, West End, Guyatt Park, Regatta, Milton, North Quay, South Bank, QUT Gardens Point, Riverside, Sydney Street, Mowbray Park, New Farm Park, Hawthorne, Bulimba, Teneriffe, Bretts Wharf, Apollo Road and Northshore Hamilton.

The Cross River services operate smaller vessels for popular cross-river routes, namely: Bulimba–Teneriffe and Holman Street–Riverside.

The free CityHopper service operates smaller vessels along a route between North Quay and Sydney Street, stopping at South Bank, Maritime Museum, Riverside and Holman Street.

Pedestrian

An extensive network of pedestrian and cyclist pathways span the banks of the Brisbane River in the inner suburbs to form the Riverwalk network.^[192] In some segments, the Riverwalk is built over the river. The longest span of the Riverwalk connects Newstead in the east with Toowong in the west.

Airports

Domestic terminal at Brisbane Airport

Brisbane Airport (IATA code: BNE, ICAO code: YBBN) is the city's main airport, the third busiest in Australia after Sydney Airport and Melbourne Airport. It is located north-east of the city centre on Moreton Bay and provides domestic and international passenger services. In 2017, Brisbane Airport handled over 23 million passengers.^[193] The airport is an hub for Virgin Australia as well as a number of minor and freight airlines, and a focus city for Qantas and Jetstar. The airport is served by the Airtrain service which runs on the Airport line, providing a direct service to the CBD.

Archerfield Airport in Brisbane's southern suburbs, Redcliffe Airport on the Redcliffe Peninsula and Caboolture Airfield in the far north of the metropolitan area serve Brisbane as general aviation airports.

Brisbane is also served by other major airports in South East Queensland, including Gold Coast Airport at Coolangatta, Sunshine Coast Airport at Marcoola and Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport at Wellcamp.

Seaport

The Port of Brisbane, Australia's third-busiest seaport

The Port of Brisbane is located on the south side of the mouth of the Brisbane River on Moreton Bay and on the adjacent Fisherman's Island, an artificial island created by land reclamation. It is the third busiest port in Australia for value of goods.^[158] The port is the endpoint of the main shipping channel across Moreton Bay which extends 90 kilometres north near Mooloolaba. The port has 29 operating berths including nine deep-water container berths and three deep-water bulk berths as well as 17 bulk and general cargo berths.

There are two cruise ship terminals in Brisbane. Portside Wharf on the north side of the river at Hamilton is an international standard facility for cruise liners. Due to the height of the Gateway Bridge which must be passed to reach the terminal, the wharf services small and medium-sized cruise ships. The Brisbane International Cruise Terminal at Luggage Point in Pinkenba on the north side of the river opposite the Port of Brisbane is able to accommodate the largest cruise vessels in the world.^[194]

Healthcare

The Queensland Children's Hospital at South Brisbane

Brisbane is covered by Queensland Health's "Metro North", "Metro South" and "Children's Health Queensland" Hospital and Health Services.^[195] Within the greater Brisbane area there are eight major public hospitals, four major private hospitals, and numerous smaller public and private facilities. The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and the Princess Alexandra Hospital are two of Queensland's three major trauma centres. Standing alone, they are the largest hospitals in Australia. The Princess Alexandra Hospital houses the Translational Research Institute (Australia) along with the state's renal and liver transplant services. The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital includes a specialist burns unit.^[196] The Prince Charles Hospital is the state's major cardiac transplant centre. Other major public hospitals include the Queensland Children's Hospital, the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital, and the Mater Hospital.

Specialist and general medical practices are located in the CBD, and most suburbs and localities.

Brisbane is also home to the headquarters of the Queensland Ambulance Service central executive, located at the Emergency Services Complex Kedron Park, along with the headquarters of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and the Queensland Emergency Operations Centre.

Other utilities

Toowong Cemetery, opened in 1875, Queensland's largest cemetery

Water storage, treatment and delivery for Brisbane is handled by Seqwater, which sells on to Queensland Urban Utilities (previously Brisbane Water) for distribution to the greater Brisbane area. Water for the area is stored in three major dams to the north-west of the metropolitan area: Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine.

There is an open market in relation to the supply of electricity and gas in Brisbane with the largest providers being Energex (electricity) and Origin Energy (gas).

Metropolitan Brisbane is serviced by all major and most minor telecommunications companies and their networks, including Telstra, Optus and Vodafone Australia.

Brisbane is home to numerous cemeteries including the following large 19th-century historical cemeteries: the 44-hectare Toowong Cemetery (the largest cemetery in Queensland, which is a popular destination for walkers and joggers), Balmoral Cemetery, Lutwyche Cemetery, Nudgee Cemetery, Nundah Cemetery and South Brisbane Cemetery.

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Port of Brisbane

Port of Brisbane

Port of Brisbane is the shipping port and coastal suburb of the City of Brisbane, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Port of Brisbane had no residents living in the suburb. The port is the largest in the state of Queensland.

Brisbane Airport

Brisbane Airport

Brisbane Airport is the primary international airport serving Brisbane and South East Queensland. The airport services 31 airlines flying to 50 domestic and 29 international destinations, in total amounting to more than 22.7 million passengers who travelled through the airport in 2016. In 2016, an OAG report named Brisbane airport as the fifth-best performing large-sized airport in the world for on-time performance with 86.71% of arrivals and departures occurring within 15 minutes of their scheduled times, slipping from 88.31% the year before.

Bridges over the Brisbane River

Bridges over the Brisbane River

The Brisbane River, running through Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is crossed by fifteen major bridges, from the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges downstream to the Centenary upstream. The river meanders through an urban area that comprises 2,562,000 people.

Go card

Go card

The go card is an electronic smartcard ticketing system developed by Cubic Corporation, which is currently used on the TransLink public transport network in South East Queensland. To use the go card, users hold the card less than 10 cm away from the reader to "touch on" before starting a journey, and must do the same to "touch off" the service at the end of the journey. The cost of each journey is deducted from the go card balance.

Fare

Fare

A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used. Fare structure is the system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various passengers using a transit vehicle at any given time. A linked trip is a trip from the origin to the destination on the transit system. Even if a passenger must make several transfers during a journey, the trip is counted as one linked trip on the system.

Brisbane central business district

Brisbane central business district

Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD" or "the city". It is located on a point on the northern bank of the Brisbane River, historically known as Meanjin, Mianjin or Meeanjin in the local Aboriginal Australian dialect. The triangular shaped area is bounded by the median of the Brisbane River to the east, south and west. The point, known at its tip as Gardens Point, slopes upward to the north-west where the city is bounded by parkland and the inner city suburb of Spring Hill to the north. The CBD is bounded to the north-east by the suburb of Fortitude Valley. To the west the CBD is bounded by Petrie Terrace, which in 2010 was reinstated as a suburb.

Central railway station, Brisbane

Central railway station, Brisbane

Central railway station is located on the North Coast line in Queensland, Australia. It is the principal station on the City network and is located in the north of the Brisbane central business district. Central station is one of four inner city stations that form a core corridor through the centre of Brisbane.

Fortitude Valley railway station

Fortitude Valley railway station

Fortitude Valley railway station is located on the North Coast line in Queensland, Australia. Located beneath the Valley Metro complex, it serves the central Brisbane suburb of Fortitude Valley. The station is one of four inner city stations that form a core corridor through the centre of Brisbane.

King George Square busway station

King George Square busway station

King George Square busway station is located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia serving the Brisbane central business district. It is located beneath King George Square and marks the start of the Northern Busway. The station has twelve stops on two platforms; access to these platforms is via an underground concourse which can be accessed from Ann Street or Adelaide Street. Passengers wait behind automatic doors on the stop that is assigned to their bus. It opened on 19 May 2008.

Queen Street bus station

Queen Street bus station

Queen Street bus station is the primary bus terminus in Brisbane central business district in Queensland, Australia. It is underneath The Myer Centre and Queen Street Mall. It opened on 26 March 1988 along with the Myer Centre. At the time it was the largest underground diesel bus station in the world.

North Quay ferry wharf

North Quay ferry wharf

North Quay ferry wharf is located on the northern side of the Brisbane River serving the Brisbane central business district in Queensland, Australia. It is served by RiverCity Ferries' CityCat and CityHopper services.

Riverside ferry wharf

Riverside ferry wharf

Riverside ferry wharf is located on the northern side of the Brisbane River serving the serving the Brisbane central business district in Queensland, Australia. It is served by RiverCity Ferries' CityCat services. From 15 November 2020 it is also being served by CityHopper and Cross River services.

Print

The main local print newspapers of Brisbane are The Courier-Mail and its sibling The Sunday Mail, both owned by News Corporation. Brisbane also receives the national daily, The Australian, its sibling the Weekend Australian, as well as the Australian Financial Review. Sydney's The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne's The Age also sell in Brisbane in smaller numbers.

The Brisbane Times is Brisbane's second major local news source, owned by Nine, and is online only.

There are community and suburban newspapers throughout the metropolitan area, including Brisbane News and City News, many of which are produced by Quest Community Newspapers.

Television

Television transmission towers atop Mount Coot-tha

Brisbane is served by all five major television networks in Australia, which broadcast from prominent television transmission towers on the summit of Mount Coot-tha. The three commercial stations, Seven, Nine, and Ten, are accompanied by two government networks, ABC and SBS. Channels provided by these networks include 10 HD (10 broadcast in HD), 10 Bold, 10 Peach, 10 Shake, TVSN, ABC TV HD (ABC TV broadcast in HD), ABC TV Plus/Kids, ABC ME, ABC News, SBS HD (SBS broadcast in HD), SBS World Movies, SBS Viceland HD (SBS Viceland broadcast in HD), SBS Food, NITV, SBS WorldWatch, 7HD (Seven broadcast in HD), 7two, 7mate, 7flix, 7mate HD (7mate broadcast in HD), Racing.com, 9HD (Nine broadcast in HD), 9Gem, 9Go!, 9Life, 9Gem HD (9Gem broadcast in HD) and 9Rush. 31 Digital, a community station, also broadcast in Brisbane until 2017. Optus and Foxtel operates Pay TV services in Brisbane, via cable and satellite means.

Radio

Brisbane is serviced by five major public radio stations including major commercial radio stations, including 612 ABC Brisbane (local news, current affairs and talk); ABC Radio National (national news and current affairs); ABC NewsRadio (national news); ABC Classic FM (classical music); Triple J (alternative music); and SBS Radio (multicultural broadcasting).

Brisbane is serviced by numerous major commercial and community radio stations including 4BC (local and national talk, news and current affairs); 4KQ (sport); 4BH (classic hits); KIIS 97.3 (pop); B105 (pop); Nova 106.9 (top 40); Triple M (rock); 96five Family FM (Christian/pop); Radio TAB (betting) and 4MBS (classical).

Brisbane is also serviced by community radio stations such as VAC Radio (Mandarin); Radio Brisvaani (Hindi); Radio Arabic (Arabic); 4EB (multiple languages); 98.9 FM (indigenous); 4RPH (vision impaired); Switch 1197 (youth broadcasting); 4ZZZ (community radio); and Vision Christian Radio (Christian).^[197] Additional channels are also available via DAB digital radio

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The Courier-Mail

The Courier-Mail

The Courier-Mail is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Murarrie, in Brisbane's eastern suburbs. It is available for purchase throughout Queensland, most regions of Northern New South Wales and parts of the Northern Territory.

The Australian

The Australian

The Australian, with its Saturday edition The Weekend Australian, is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership as of September 2019 of both print and online editions was 2,394,000. Its editorial line has been self-described over time as centre-right.

Australian Financial Review

Australian Financial Review

The Australian Financial Review is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; owned by Nine Entertainment and has been published continuously since its founding in 1951. The AFR, along with the rest of Fairfax Media, was sold to Nine Entertainment for more than A$2.3 billion. The AFR is published in tabloid format six times a week, whilst providing 24/7 online coverage through its website. In November 2019, the AFR reached 2.647 million Australians through both print and digital mediums (Mumbrella).

The Age

The Age

The Age is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and southern New South Wales. It is delivered both in print and digital formats. The newspaper shares some articles with its sister newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald.

Brisbane Times

Brisbane Times

Brisbane Times is an online newspaper for Brisbane and Queensland, Australia.

Quest Community Newspapers

Quest Community Newspapers

Quest Community Newspapers is a newspaper company in Bowen Hills, Queensland, Australia. It is a subsidiary of News Corp Australia.

Mount Coot-tha, Queensland

Mount Coot-tha, Queensland

Mount Coot-tha is a mountain and a suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, there were no residents in the suburb. Visible from much of the city, Mount Coot-tha is a popular bushland tourist destination including the Mount Coot-tha Lookout, Brisbane Botanic Gardens and Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium, as well as a mountain drive, bike trails, parks including a waterfall, and television and radio towers.

Seven Network

Seven Network

The Seven Network 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. The network's headquarters are located in Sydney.

Nine Network

Nine Network

The Nine Network is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned body that is politically independent and fully accountable, with its charter enshrined in legislation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983. ABC Commercial, a profit-making division of the corporation, also helps to generate funding for content provision.

Special Broadcasting Service

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 and seven radio networks.

10 HD

10 HD

10 HD is an Australian free-to-air television channel that was originally launched on 16 December 2007 on channel 1. The channel was available to high definition digital television viewers through Network 10 owned-and-operated stations. The multichannel broadcast live sport, entertainment, films, documentaries, science fiction and news. The channel ceased broadcasting on 25 March 2009, and the following day was replaced by One HD.