Tweed Heads is a coastal city at the mouth of the Tweed River in the

Northern Rivers Northern Rivers is the most northeasterly Regions of New South Wales, region of the Australian state of New South Wales, located between north of the state capital, Sydney, and encompasses the catchments and fertile valleys of the Clarence Ri ...

region of the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. Tweed Heads is the northernmost town in New South Wales, and is located in the

Tweed Shire Tweed Shire is a local government area located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. It is adjacent to the border with Queensland, where that meets the Coral Sea. Administered from the town of Murwillumbah, Tweed Shire ...

local government area. It is situated north of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and south of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. The town is next to the border with

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and is adjacent to its "twin town" of

Coolangatta Coolangatta is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is the Gold Coast's southernmost suburb and it borders New South Wales. In the , Coolangatta had a population of 6,491 people. History Coolangatta is situat ...

, which is a suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland.

History

In 1823

John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an English List of explorers, explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps bes ...

was the first European to see the

Tweed Valley The Tweed River is a river situated in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. From the middle reaches of its course, the state boundary between New South Wales and Queensland is located approximately north. The river rises ...

, and he wrote of it: "A deep rich valley clothed with magnificent trees, the beautiful uniformity of which was only interrupted by the turns and windings of the river, which here and there appeared like small lakes. The background was

Mt. Warning Mount Warning (Yugambeh–Bundjalung languages, Bundjalung: ''Wollumbin''), a mountain in the Tweed Range in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, was formed from a volcanic plug of the now-gone Tweed Volcano. The mountain i ...

. The view was altogether beautiful beyond description. The scenery here exceeded anything I have previously seen in Australia." Timber cutters originally moved to the Tweed Valley in 1844. After the timber had been cleared, farmers moved in with bananas, cane and dairy farming dominating the area, while a fishing industry developed. The first school opened in 1871. In May 1888, 119 subdivided lots of "Boyd Estate" were advertised to be auctioned by W. H. Brett. A map advertising the auction shows that the estate was located next to the Tweed River. The Tweed Heads and Coolangatta Surf Life Saving Club opened on 13 September 1911. In April 1916, 69 allotments of "Charles' Tweed Heads subdivision were advertised to be auctioned by P. Smith & Son. A map advertising the auction shows the location of the estate in proximity to Terranora Creek. In November 1917, 46 subdivided allotments of "Marks Estate" were advertised for auction by S. A. Thornton. A map advertising the auction illustrates the location of the estate in proximity to Terranora Creek, Coolangatta and the Pacific Ocean and describes the allotments as perfectly flat, large areas with splendid frontages. The Tweed Shire, inclusive

Murwillumbah Murwillumbah ( ) is a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Tweed Shire, on the Tweed River. Sitting on the south eastern foothills of the McPherson Range in the Tweed Volcano valley, Murwillumbah is 848&nbs ...

was declared in 1947. Tweed Heads was the location of fictional town Porpoise Spit in the 1994 movie ''

Muriel's Wedding ''Muriel's Wedding'' is a 1994 comedy-drama film written and directed by P.J. Hogan. The film, which stars Toni Collette, Bill Hunter and Rachel Griffiths, focuses on the socially awkward Muriel whose ambition is to have a glamorous wedding ...

''. In April 2020, checkpoint barriers were established in Tweed streets near the state border to restrict travel into Queensland during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

City and suburbs

The urban boundaries of Tweed Heads extend south along the coastline to Hastings Point, and westward along the Terranora Creek encompassing

Bilambil Heights Bilambil Heights is a town located in north-eastern New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Que ...

and Terranora. This area includes the suburbs and localities of: *

Banora Point Banora Point is a suburb located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia in Tweed Shire. Together with Tweed Heads South and Terranora it had a combined population of 27,368 in 2001, including 21,457 (78.4%) Australian-bo ...

Bogangar Bogangar () is a town in the Tweed Shire located in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, and includes Cudgen Lake, Norries Headland and the locality of Cabarita Beach on the east. Locally, the names Bogangar and Cabarita Beach are interch ...

* Cabarita Beach *

Casuarina ''Casuarina'', also known as she-oak, Australian pine and native pine, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Casuarinaceae, and is native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and e ...

* Chinderah *

Fingal Head Fingal Head is a village on the Tasman Sea coast in the far northeast of New South Wales, Australia, about 5 km south of the New South Wales and Queensland border. The village is often just called Fingal. The headland and the small off-shor ...

* Hastings Point * Kingscliff * Terranora *

Tweed Heads Tweed Heads is a coastal city at the mouth of the Tweed River in the Northern Rivers region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tweed Heads is the northernmost town in New South Wales, and is located in the Tweed Shire local government ...

* Tweed Heads South * Tweed Heads West

Transport

Rail

Tweed Heads was once connected to the

Queensland Railways Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both suburban and interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well as long-distance passenger t ...

system, with the

South Coast line The South Coast Line (SCO) is an Regional rail, intercity rail service that services the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The service runs from , and runs the entire length of the eponymous South Coast railway line, New South W ...

providing a direct connection to

. The railway opened on 10 August 1903. It had been hoped that the New South Wales government would extend their railway line from

to Tweed Heads, but this did not occur due to cost of resuming the land and the expenses associated with the tunnel and bridge that would be required. The Tweed Heads railway station was located on the western side of Enid Street between Bay Street and Frances Street (). The railway line to Brisbane closed in 1961, and the site of the station has since been converted to parklands and commercial development.

Road

The Pacific Motorway bisects the urban area, and has been freeway standard since the completion of the section through

in 2012. Tweed Heads is also the southern terminus for the

Gold Coast Highway Gold Coast Highway links the coastal suburbs of the Gold Coast in south eastern Queensland such as Miami, Mermaid Beach, Tugun, Bilinga and across the border of New South Wales to the Tweed Heads suburb of Tweed Heads West. At in length, ...

, which was extended to Tweed Heads West from its former terminus in Tugun following completion of

the bypass ''The Bypass'' is a 2003 Indian-British short silent crime film written and directed by Amit Kumar starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Irfan Khan and Sundar Dan Detha. The Bypass was filmed on a stranded road somewhere in Rajasthan, India. The film ...

in 2007. The main arterial roads, Minjungbal Drive and Wharf Street, are the former alignent of the Pacific Highway.

Air

Tweed Heads is served by

Gold Coast Airport Gold Coast Airport (formerly known as Coolangatta Airport; ) is a Domestic airport, domestic and International airport, international Australian airport located at the southern end of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast and approximately ...

, which straddles the state border and is partly located in Tweed Heads West.

Public transport

Bus services are mostly provided by

Kinetic Group Kinetic Group (stylised as K''I''NET''I''C; formerly known as AATS Group) is an Australian-based multinational bus company that wholly owns a number of bus operations in Australia and New Zealand, including the SkyBus business, which operates ...

on behalf of

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

, who serve the urban area as well as neighbouring

. Tweed Heads is also the southern terminus for Translink buses, which provide a connection to the

Gold Coast railway line The Gold Coast railway line is an interurban railway line operated by Queensland Rail in Queensland, Australia, connecting Brisbane with the Gold Coast. The line has 17 stations. In 2021, a journey from Central station to the terminus of ...

Varsity Lakes Varsity Lakes is a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Varsity Lakes had a population of 16,493 people. The suburb was originally known as ''Stephens'' but in 2002 Stephens, Quee ...

and to the G:link tram at Broadbeach South. Intercity coaches run by

Greyhound Australia Greyhound Australia is an Australian coach operator that operates services in all mainland states and territories. It is owned by Entrada Travel Group. The company was established in 1928 and is not affiliated with similarly named companies ...

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a regional train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and into Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland and South Australia ...

, and Premier Motor Service also link Tweed Heads with

Casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

, and

Tourism

Given its proximity to the Gold Coast, Tweed Heads has a shared economy with

based heavily on tourism. Tweed Heads' most popular tourist destinations include

Mount Warning Mount Warning ( Bundjalung: ''Wollumbin''), a mountain in the Tweed Range in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, was formed from a volcanic plug of the now-gone Tweed Volcano. The mountain is located west-south-west of ...

, one of the largest

shield volcanoes A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...

in the Southern Hemisphere, and the nearby Nightcap, Border Ranges, Springbrook and

Lamington National Park The Lamington National Park is a national park in the McPherson Range on the Queensland/New South Wales border in Australia. From Southport, Queensland, Southport on the Gold Coast, Australia, Gold Coast the park is to the southwest and Brisbane ...

s, which abound with sub-tropical fauna and flora.

Education

Banora Point Primary School Banora is a town and sub-prefecture in the Dinguiraye Prefecture in the Faranah Region of western Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bis ...

Centaur Primary School A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...

* St James Primary School *

Banora Point High School Banora Point High School is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Comprehensive school, comprehensive secondary school, secondary day school, located in Banora Point, New South Wales, Ban ...

* St Joseph's College

Demographics

In the 2021 census, The Tweed Heads urban centre had 63,721 people. In the same year, the Tweed Heads suburb recorded a population of 8,176 people made up of 52.9 percent female and 47.1 percent male. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.0% of the population. The median age of the population was 55 years, 17 years above the Australian median. This has made the Tweed Heads region a prime location for retirement living, with 14 separate retirement villages. 70.9% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 5.0%, New Zealand 3.7%, Brazil 2.3% and the Philippines 1.0%. 83.8% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 37.9%, Catholic 22.1% and Anglican 15.3%. Composition of the Tweed Heads urban area Population by Statistical Local Area:

Sport and recreation

Due to its close proximity, Tweed Heads sports teams often compete in Gold Coast/Queensland-based competitions, and the area acts as a feeder zone for both the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

and the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

. Tweed United is a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

Club based in the area that competes in the

Football Gold Coast Football Queensland South Coast is a Football Queensland administrative zone encompassing the Gold Coast and surrounding areas in South-East Queensland and North-East New South Wales, including Kingscliff, Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah and Beau ...

competition plus the Coolangatta Tweed Barbarians who compete in the

Gold Coast and District Rugby Union The Gold Coast and District Rugby Union, or GCDRU, is the local Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of rugby union on Australia's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast. The GCRU runs a club rugby competition for men's teams with thr ...

. Other sports facilities in the area include Northern Rivers Baseball Club, Tweed Heads Motorcycle Enthusiasts Club, Tweed Banora Colts Cricket Club, Tweed Hockey Club, Tweed Netball Association, Tweed Heads Bowls Club, Tweed River Jockey Club, Tweed Valley Equestrian Group, Tweed River Water Ski Club, Tweed Valley Triathletes-Triathlon Club, Tweed Heads Tennis Club, Tweed Heads Croquet Club, Tweed Coolangatta Dart Club, Tweed Coolangatta Fishing Club, Coolangatta Tweed Pinball Club,

Coolangatta & Tweed Heads Golf Club Coolangatta & Tweed Heads Golf Club is a club on Australia's east coast near the New South Wales/Queensland border. It is located in NSW at Tweed Heads South, New South Wales. It was formed in 1926. It has hosted several notable tournaments inc ...

, Dbah Boardriders, Tweed Heads & Coolangatta Rowing Club, Tweed Valley Sailing Club and Tweed Heads & Coolangatta Surf Life Saving Club.

Rugby league

Tweed Heads was once home to several iterations of professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

clubs in the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in rugby league in New South Wales, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Co ...

(NSWRL) competition between 1988 and 1995. The Gold Coast-Tweed Giants were established in 1988 and based out of the

Tweed Heads Seagulls The Tweed Heads Seagulls, often referred to simply as Tweed or Seagulls or Tweed Seagulls, is a rugby league club based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. It is one of only two club teams based outside of Queensland to play in the Queensland C ...

premises Premises are land and buildings together considered as a property. This usage arose from property owners finding the word in their title deeds, where it originally correctly meant "the aforementioned; what this document is about", from Latin '' ...

in west Tweed Heads. The Seagulls ran a very successful social club that turned large profits due to poker machines and by 1990 the club had acquired the Giants' NSWRL licence and rebranded the team to become the

Gold Coast Seagulls The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from New South Wales Rugby League season 1988, 1988 to New South Wales Rugby League season 1994, 1994, the Australian R ...

, despite remaining based in Tweed Heads. The team pulled off its biggest coup in 1990 when it signed future Rugby League Immortal

Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...

. After years of poor on field results and low attendances, the Seagulls sold their NSWRL licence to businessman Jeff Muller who moved the team to

Carrara Carrara ( ; ; , ) is a town and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey Carrara marble, marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, ...

on the Gold Coast. The Seagulls returned to the

Group 18 Rugby League Group 18 is the name of a junior rugby league competition on the far north coast of New South Wales, Australia. Currently, the group has no senior competition. Prior to 2005, there was a joint Gold Coast-Group 18 competition which fielded tea ...

competition in 1996 and were granted entry into the

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

in 2003.

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

was brought to the area in 1962 when the

Coolangatta Tweed Heads Australian Football Club Coolangatta-Tweed Heads Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The team currently competes in the AFL Queensland AFL Queensland Limited (AFLQ) is the governing body of Australian rules footba ...

. It was intended to represent the twin towns of Coolangatta and Tweed Heads and competed in the Gold Coast Australian Football League competition. In 1984 the

region established the

Summerland Australian Football League The Summerland Australian Football League or SAFL was an Australian rules football competition in the Northern Rivers and New England (Australia), New England region of New South Wales, Australia, in existence from 1984 to 2011. It now is reformed ...

that later included the

Tweed Coast Football Club Tweed Coast Football Club, nicknamed Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based on the Tweed Coast in northern New South Wales. The team currently competes in the Queensland Football Association Division 2 South. Formed in 2009 the '' ...

. The league was amalgamated into

Queensland Australian Football League The Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL or "Q-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football competition organised by the AFL Queensland, contested by clubs from South East Queensland. Founded in 1903 it was previously known as the Queens ...

as its own division in 2012.

Notable people

Tweed Heads Chris Cunningham war memorial 1

The following is a list of notable people who were born, resided, or died in Tweed Heads: *

Wayne Bartholomew Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew (born; 30 November 1954) is an Australian world champion surfer, surf sports innovator, community advocate and politician. Bartholomew is the former CEO and president of the Association of Surfing Professionals an ...

, world champion surfer *

Cheyse Blair Cheyse Blair (born 18 January 1992) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a or forward for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League. He previously played for the Parramatta Eels, Manly-Warringah Se ...

footballer *

Trevor Butler Trevor Butler is a TV personality, best known for being a contestant and winner of ''Big Brother Australia'' series 4 (airing in 2004). He known for being the first, and currently only, contestant to win the million-dollar prize, as opposed ...

, 2004 ''

Big Brother Australia ''Big Brother Australia'' (also known simply as ''Big Brother'') is an Australian Reality television#Reality competition or game shows, reality show based on the international ''Big Brother (franchise), Big Brother'' format created by John de ...

'' winner *

Larry Corowa Larry Corowa MBE (born 5 August 1957 in Murwillumbah, New South Wales) is an Indigenous Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. An Australian international and New South Wales represen ...

, rugby league footballer * Brad Davis, rugby league footballer * Steve Edmed, rugby league footballer *

Mick Fanning Michael Eugene Fanning (born 13 June 1981) is an Australian professional surfer who was crowned champion of the Association of Surfing Professionals/World Surf League (ASP/WSL)'s World Tour in 2007, 2009 and 2013. In 2015, he survived a shark ...

, world champion surfer * Sam Gilbert,

Australian rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

footballer *

Stephanie Gilmore Stephanie Louise Gilmore (born 29 January 1988) is an Australian professional surfer and eight-time world champion on the Women's WSL World Tour (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2022). Career Of Scottish descent, Gilmore's life as ...

, world champion surfer * Michael Gordon, rugby league footballer * David Hale, Australian rules footballer *

Samantha Harris Samantha Harris (born Samantha Harris Shapiro; November 27, 1973) is an American television presenter, model, and entertainment reporter and actress, known as the co-host of seasons two through nine of ''Dancing with the Stars'' with Tom Berg ...

, fashion model * P. J. Hogan, film director and screenwriter * Daniel Holdsworth, rugby league footballer * Ryan James, rugby league footballer * Jesse Joyce, Australian rules footballer * Kayne Lawton, rugby league footballer *

Tom Learoyd-Lahrs Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (born 13 September 1985) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative, he played in the Nationa ...

, rugby league footballer * Marc Lock, Australian rules footballer * Lionel Morgan, rugby league footballer * Barry Muir, rugby league footballer * Luke O'Dwyer, rugby league footballer *

Mark Occhilupo Marco Jay Luciano "Mark" Occhilupo (born 16 June 1966) is an Australian professional surfer and winner of the 1999 ASP World title. Occhilupo, also known as "Occy", began his professional career in the World Championship Tour (WCT) at the ag ...

, world champion surfer *

Joel Parkinson Joel Parkinson (born 10 April 1981) is an Australian surfer who competed in the World Surf League (WSL). After twelve years competing at the elite level on the ASP World Championship Tour, a stretch that saw him win eleven elite ASP World Title ...

, world champion surfer * Cedric Popkin, soldier who may have killed

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of th ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

* Tony Rampling, rugby league footballer * Kieran Ricketts, journalist, broadcaster, and filmmaker * James Roberts, Australian Olympic swimmer *

Matt Seers Matt Seers (born 28 June 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for the North Sydney Bears, Wests Tigers and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, as a or . Club career Seers play ...

, rugby league footballer * Elwyn Walters, rugby league footballer * Jarrad Wright, creator and star of '' The Big Lez Show''

References

External links

*
Tweed Shire Council
{{Authority control Populated places established in 1844 Fishing communities in Australia Tweed Shire 1844 establishments in Australia