Wide Bay–Burnett is a
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
of the Australian state of
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 ...
, located between north of the state capital,
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 area's population growth has exceeded the state average over the past 20 years, and it is forecast to grow to more than 430,000 by 2031. It is the subject of the ''Draft Wide Bay–Burnett Regional Plan'', which aims to facilitate this growth while protecting over 90% of the region from urban development.
Wide Bay was the name given by the early European explorer
James Cook
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
to a coastal indentation as he was sailing past
Double Island Point.
As the
Port of Maryborough developed during the 19th century Wide Bay became well known as ships passed through the area before entering the
Great Sandy Strait and the port.
Geography

The coastal parts of the region are centered on the city of
Maryborough. The inland is defined by a series of ranges which create the water of the
Burnett River
The Burnett River is a river in the Wide Bay–Burnett and Central Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia.
Course and features
The Burnett River rises in the Burnett Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, close to Mount Gaeta and east ...
.
In the southeast of the region is a coastal area known as Cooloola.
The Wide Bay–Burnett region consists of the following
local government areas
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory.
The ph ...
:
Noosa is sometimes included in the region, especially by tourism authorities, but is formally excluded by both the ABS and the Queensland Government's Department of Infrastructure and Planning.
K'gari
K'gari, meaning "paradise" in the Butchulla language, is located along the southern coast of Queensland, approximately north 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 ...
. Its length is about and its width is approximately and it is separated from the mainland by the
Great Sandy Strait. The island is considered to be the largest
sand island in the world at 1840 km
2. It is also Queensland's largest island, Australia's sixth largest island and the largest island on the
East Coast of Australia.
The island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment which is carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. K'gari is home to a small number of mammal species, as well as a diverse range of birds, reptiles and amphibians, including the occasional saltwater crocodile. The island is protected in the
Great Sandy National Park.
South Burnett
The South Burnett is a peanut growing and wine-producing region on the western slopes of the
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. It runs roughl ...
, north of the
Darling Downs
The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...
. The
Bunya Mountains
The Bunya Mountains are a distinctive set of peaks forming an isolated section of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland. The mountain range forms the northern edge of the Darling Downs in the locality also called Bunya Mountains, Quee ...
mark the southern boundary of the region. 12 km from Murgon is the
Bjelke-Petersen Dam. Other dams in the region include
Gordonbrook Dam and
Boondooma Dam.
Tarong Power Station and the
Tarong National Park are both in the south of the Burnett.
Cooloola
The area is dominated by the Cooloola sandmass. Fraser Island belong to the same sandmass.
It once extended 30 km to the east when sea levels were lower than today. Large vegetated
sand dunes have formed a varied terrain noted for its scientific importance.
They contain the longest known
chronosequence of coastal dunes in the world, covering 730,000 years.
The area was once part of the
Shire of Cooloola until 2008 when the
Gympie Region
The Gympie Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is between the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sunshine Coast and ...
expanded.
History
Wakka Wakka (Waka Waka, Wocca Wocca, Wakawaka) is an
Australian Aboriginal language
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...
spoken in the Burnett River catchment. The Wakka Wakka language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the North and South Burnett Regional Councils, particularly the towns of
Cherbourg
Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...
,
Murgon,
Kingaroy,
Gayndah,
Eidsvold and
Mundubbera.
James Nash reported the discovery of gold near Gympie on 16 October 1867. The railway from Maryborough completed in 1881 and the
North Coast railway reached Gympie from Brisbane in 1891.
Bundaberg was named and surveyed in 1870.
In June 2000,
a fire raged through a backpackers hostel, killing 15 backpackers.
In January 2013,
Cyclone Oswald brought severe weather and flooding to much of eastern Queensland. Its impact was most severe in the Wide Bay–Burnett region with Bundaberg particularly hard hit by both flooding and tornadoes. 4,000 properties were damaged.
Settlements

Cities in the region are
Bundaberg
Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...
,
Gympie
Gympie ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. Located in the Greater Sunshine Coast, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River ( ...
,
Hervey Bay and
Maryborough. Some of the more notable towns include
Bargara,
Biggenden,
Blackbutt,
Burnett Heads,
Cherbourg
Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...
,
Childers,
Eidsvold,
Gayndah,
Gin Gin,
Howard
Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...
,
Imbil,
Kilkivan,
Kingaroy,
Monto,
Mundubbera,
Murgon,
Nanango,
Rainbow Beach,
Tin Can Bay and
Wondai. The sheltered waters of Hervey Bay provide a unique playground for migrating
humpback whales.
The tourist industry has grown along with the number of whales, leading to Hervey Bay being called the
whale watching capital of Australia.
Education

The region includes two universities:
Central Queensland University
Central Queensland University (branded as CQUniversity) is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus is at Norman ...
at Bundaberg, and the
University of Sunshine Coast's Fraser Campus at Hervey Bay. The
Wide Bay Institute of TAFE operates from campuses at Bundaberg, Gympie, Hervey Bay and Maryborough, with the Maryborough campus .
A campus of
Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE is located at
Kingaroy.
Transport
The Wide Bay–Burnett region contains four large airports. These are
Hervey Bay,
Bundaberg
Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...
,
Maryborough and
Kingaroy. Hervey Bay and Bundaberg airports are serviced by regular passenger flights.
The
Bruce Highway links the region to
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 ...
,
Rockhampton
Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite.
The Scottish- ...
,
Townsville
The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
and
Cairns
Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.
The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
, while the
Burnett Highway and
Isis Highway form part of an inland transport corridor to
Toowoomba
Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...
and central
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 ...
.
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both Commuter rail, suburban and Regional rail, interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well ...
operates daily high-speed
Tilt Train services to Gympie, Maryborough and Bundaberg. Public transport operated by Wide Bay Transit (Hervey Bay/Maryborough), Polleys Coaches (Gympie) and Duffy's City Buses (Bundaberg) connect at the railway stations. Public transport options for the inland areas are more limited, with buses linking the main towns to each other and Brisbane once a day, and once-weekly "shopper buses" in some towns.
References
External links
Wide Bay Burnett Region(Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation)
Regional Development Australia – Wide Bay Burnett
Wide Bay Regional Organisation of Councils (WBBROC) websiteWide Bay Burnett Region(Wide Bay Regional Organisation of Councils (WBBROC) website about the Wide Bay Burnett Region)
Wide Bay-Burnett area photographs State Library of Queensland
State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wide Bay-Burnett
Regions of Queensland