Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia

🇦🇺 Bundaberg is a city in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the headquarters of the Bundaberg Regional Council and a major centre within the broader Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region.

Economy Subtropical Bundaberg is dependent to a large extent on the local sugar industry. Extensive sugar cane fields have been developed throughout the district. Value-adding operations, such as the milling and refinement of sugar, and its packaging and distribution, are located around the city. A local factory that manufactured sugarcane harvesters was closed down after it was taken over by the US multinational corporation Case New Holland. Most of the raw sugar is exported. A bulk terminal for the export of sugar is located on the Burnett River east of Bundaberg.

Another of the city's exports is Bundaberg Rum, made from the sugar cane by-product molasses. Bundaberg is also home to beverage producer Bundaberg Brewed Drinks, Craft Brewery Bargara Brewing Company and Craft Distillery Kalki Moon.

Commercial fruit and vegetable production is also significant: avocado, banana, bean, button squash, capsicum, chilli, citrus, cucumber, custard apple, egg fruit, honeydew melon, lychee, mango, passionfruit, potato, pumpkin, rockmelon, snow peas, stone fruit, sweet corn, sweet potato, tomato, watermelon, zucchini. Macadamia nuts are also grown. Due to the year-round farm work available in Bundaberg, the city has a high number of working hostels for backpackers looking to extend their working holiday visa in Australia. The hostels provide backpackers with work on farms across the Bundaberg area. However, the hostels and farms have received huge criticism in the press and on social media due to the treatment some backpackers have faced. The Courier-Mail have reported claims of poor living conditions, underpayment and allegations of sexual abuse which they say has led to backpackers warning others about working hostels in Bundaberg.

Because of its high rate of unemployment, Bundaberg has been referred to as the "dole capital of Australia".

Economy: Tourist Industry Tourism is an important industry in Queensland, and Bundaberg is known as the 'Southern Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef'. The city lies near the southern end of the reef in proximity to Lady Elliot and Lady Musgrave Islands. The nearby town of Bargara is an increasingly popular holiday and retirement destination.

Nearby beaches are popular with both locals and tourists. Moore Park Beach, to the city's north, has 20 km (12 mi) of golden sandy beach. Beaches on the southern side of the Burnett River are (from north to south) the Oaks Beach, Mon Repos, Nielson Park, Bargara Beach, Kellys Beach, Innes Park and Elliott Heads.

Cania Gorge National Park, Deepwater National Park, Eurimbula National Park and Kinkuna National Park, located in the Bundaberg region are popular with campers and bush-lovers.

Tours of the Bundaberg Rum distillery and attractions at Bundaberg Botanic Gardens, such as the 2 ft narrow gauge Australian Sugar Cane Railway, are also popular with tourists. The Mystery Craters, 35 unexplained water-filled holes in the ground, discovered in 1971 at South Kolan, are also a tourist attraction.

Opened in 2002 by the former member for Hinkler Paul Neville, the Tom Quinn Community Centre gardens (a multiple "Bundy in Bloom" winner) is a site to be seen with local flora and fauna, its own cafe, marketplace, chapel, green house, training facilities, woodwork and indigenous nature section.

Opened in December 2008, the Hinkler Hall of Aviation is an historical aviation tourist attraction that celebrates pioneer solo aviator Bert Hinkler. In 1928, Hinkler was the first person to fly solo from England to Australia. The museum includes an exhibition hall, featuring multi-media exhibits, a flight simulator, a theatre, five aircraft and the historic Hinkler House.

Other local attractions and events include the Whaling Wall, East Bundaberg Water Tower, Baldwin Swamp Environmental Park, Alexandra Park Zoo, Buss Park, Barrell House, Bundy in Bloom, Whale watching, reef tours of Lady Musgrave & Lady Elliiot islands, the Bundaberg Show, Bundaberg & Childers Regional Art Galleries, the Bundaberg Gliding school, Fishing Charters, the Bundaberg International Air Show, and the Woongarra Marine Park.

Bundaberg has ghost tours.

Museums and galleries The Bundaberg region contains a variety of museums and art galleries that showcase the region's history and culture. • Hinkler Hall of Aviation • Hinkler House • Fairymead House and Sugar History Museum • BRAG, the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery • CHARTS, the Childers Art Space • Bundaberg and District Historical Museum • Bundaberg Railway Museum • Bundaberg Rum Distillery Tours • Bundaberg Botanic Gardens containing the 'Hinkler Hall of Aviation', 'Hinkler House', 'Fairymead House' and the 'Bundaberg Steam Tramway Preservation Inc.' • Mystery Craters in South Kolan • Schmeider's Cooperage (Bundy Kegs) • Bundaberg Ginger Beer.

Memorials • Bundaberg War Memorial • Hinkler Memorial.

Arts and entertainment Bundaberg has two cinemas. The Reading Cinemas, on Johanna Boulevarde, west Bundaberg, and the Moncrieff Entertainment Centre (formerly known as the Moncrieff Theatre), located on Bourbong Street, central Bundaberg. The Moncrieff Entertainment Centre also holds live musical and theatrical performances year round.

The Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery (BRAG) is a large multi-purpose visual arts facility located in central Bundaberg. The Bundaberg Regional Council operates a public library at 49 Woondooma Street.

Media The NewsMail newspaper is published in Bundaberg from Monday to Saturday. It is available in print and online. Several community newspapers are also available including the Guardian, The Bugle & the Bundaberg Coastline • ABC Local Radio: Wide Bay 855 AM/100.1 FM – due to the terrain of the area, both AM and FM frequencies are used. • 4BU 1332 AM (commercial) – owned by Grant Broadcasters • Triple M 93.1 (commercial) – part of the Triple M Network, owned by Southern Cross Media Group. • Hitz FM 93.9 (commercial) – owned by ARN • Breeze 102.5 (commercial) Wide Bay • Rebel 106.7 (commercial) Wide Bay • 4BCR 94.7 FM (community) • 4DoubleB 96.3 FM (community) • Kix Country 97.1 FM (narrowcast) – owned by Grant Broadcasters • RadioTAB 95.5 FM (narrowcast) – owned by Tatts Group • ABC Classic FM 98.5 FM • Triple J 99.3 FM • ABC Radio National 100.9 FM.

Bundaberg is served by three commercial television stations (Seven Queensland, WIN Television and 10) and publicly owned services (ABC TV) and (SBS).

Local news coverage of Bundaberg and the Wide Bay is provided on all three commercial networks with both Seven News and WIN Queensland's WIN News half-hour bulletins airing at 5:30 each weeknight. Southern Cross Austereo also airs brief local news & weather updates at various intervals throughout the day on Channel 10.

Sport Most major Australian sporting codes are played in Bundaberg.

Australian rules Bundaberg has two current clubs playing in the AFL Wide Bay competition. • Across The Waves Bundaberg Eagles (merger of North Bundaberg and Souths/ATW Magpies) • Brothers Bulldogs (formerly West Bundaberg)

Basketball Bundaberg has two professional teams competing in the ConocoPhillips Central Queensland Cup. They are the Bundaberg Bulls (men) and Bundaberg Bears (women) and both feature local players.

Chess Bundaberg Chess Club was established in 1985.

Cricket Bundaberg has five current clubs playing in the Bundaberg Cricket Association competition.

Croquet Bundaberg Croquet Club is the oldest Croquet club in Australia.

Darts Bundaberg Darts and Sports Association host's tournaments monthly.

Golf Bundaberg has Bargara Golf Club, Bundaberg Golf Club and Coral Cove Golf Club.

Rowing Bucca Weir, west of Bundaberg, is an eight lane rowing course home to Bundaberg Rowing Club. It hosts the Queensland School's Championship Regatta each year in September, as well as numerous local regattas.

Rugby league The Bundaberg Rugby Football League is a nine-club competition run under the Queensland Rugby League's Central Division. Bundaberg competes in the Central Division's 47th Battalion Shield and the Bundaberg Grizzlies formerly competed in the Queensland Cup statewide competition.

Rugby union Bundaberg and District Rugby Union is the governing body for Rugby union and run's a competition. Teams are: • Alloway Falcons • Bundaberg Barbarians • East Coast Buccaneers • Isis Crushers.

Soccer The Bundaberg Soccer Football Association was formed at the Grand Hotel on 1 May 1923. In 2023 Bundaberg Football will celebrate the centenary of formation of the Association, however there's evidence that soccer football has been played in Bundaberg and surrounding districts since at least the 1890's.

Bundaberg was home to the Bundaberg Spirit soccer club. They participated in the Queensland State League against other teams across Queensland.

Tennis The Bundaberg & District Tennis Senior Association operates eleven floodlit clay courts in Drinan Park, Bundaberg West at the corner of George & Powers Streets. Competition tennis is played all year round. The Bundaberg & District Junior Tennis Association operates five artificial grass courts, and two granite courts.

Community groups The Bundaberg branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the QCWA Hall at 15 Quay Street, Bundaberg Central. The Hinkler branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the McDonalds Central Bundaberg on the corner of Woongarra & Targo Street, Bundaberg Central.

Education There are many public and private primary schools in Bundaberg. Bundaberg South State School opened on 11 May 1891, with an enrollment of 167 students and under the direction of William Benbow. The school celebrated its 125-year anniversary in 2016.

Bundaberg has three public high schools, Bundaberg North State High School which opened on 29 January 1974, Bundaberg State High School which opened on 30 January 1912 (the second-oldest high school in Queensland that is still open) and Kepnock State High School which opened on 28 January 1964. There are also three main private secondary schools: Shalom Catholic College, St Luke's Anglican School, and Bundaberg Christian College.

There is a campus of the Wide Bay Institute of Technical and further education on Walker St and a campus of the Central Queensland University, located adjacent to the airport. There is a campus of the Booth College at the Salvation Army's Tom Quinn Community Centre.

Transport Bundaberg Airport has flights to Brisbane and Lady Elliot Island. The city is home to the Jabiru Aircraft Company, which designs and manufactures a range of small civil utility aircraft.

Bundaberg's bus operator is Duffy's City Buses. As of 2013, they transport over 1000 passengers in town services, and over 2000 passengers in school services every day. Routes extend to the beach suburbs of Burnett Heads, Bargara, and Innes Park. Stewart & Sons also operates bus services in the area.

Bundaberg is serviced by several Queensland Rail passenger trains, including the Tilt Train and is approximately four and a half hours north of Brisbane by rail. The closed North Bundaberg station formerly served the Mount Perry railway line and is now a museum.

South of Bundaberg at 24°56'43"S 152°22'5"E, there is one of the weirdest crossings of two railway lines, as there criosses a narrow gauge railway line of a sugar plantage a normal gauge railway on a drawbridge.

Bundaberg is situated at the end of the Isis Highway (State Route 3), approximately 50 km (31 mi) east of its junction with the Bruce Highway. Many long-distance bus services also pass through the city.

Bundaberg Port is located 20 km (12 mi) north-east of the city, at the mouth of the Burnett River. The port is a destination for ships from Australia and overseas. It is predominantly used for shipping raw sugar and other goods related to that industry such as Bundaberg Rum.

Health Bundaberg is served by three hospitals. One public hospital, Bundaberg Base Hospital on Bourbong St, and two private hospitals, Friendly Society Private Hospital & Mater Hospital.

The Friendly Society Hospital has undergone a redevelopment and forms part of the GP Super Clinic Program.

Bundaberg is also home to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, who regularly transport patients to Bundaberg from more rural and remote areas, as well as transferring critically ill patients to Brisbane for specialist care.

Military Bundaberg houses two military bases. Bundaberg Army Barracks and Training Ship (TS) Bundaberg. Bundaberg barracks contains mostly infantrymen and army cadets. TS Bundaberg houses mostly Cadet staff and Navy Cadets.