The Yugembah and the river's name
Yugembah counts among the Australian Aboriginal languages, and the areas recorded for it include Coomera. Pimpama, Tamborine, the Tweed River Valley, Beenleigh, Beaudesert, Logan and the Scenic Rim are among the other places in that group, and those areas lie within the City of Gold Coast, the City of Logan, the Tweed River Valley and the Scenic Rim Regional Council. Yugembah is also recorded under other names.
Coomera's name comes from the Coomera River, and the river's name in turn comes from kumera, an Indigenous word for a species of wattle. Aboriginal people used the bark of that tree to stupefy fish. The river also marks the southern edge of the suburb, which lies beside the Pacific Motorway.
Coomera's name comes from the Coomera River, and the river's name in turn comes from kumera, an Indigenous word for a species of wattle.
A school and a church in the 1870s
The provisional school opened at Coomera on 11 July 1873. It became known as Coomera State School on 20 June 1874. In 1877 the school took the name Coomera Lower State School, sometimes written Lower Coomera State School, and kept it until 1899, when it went back to the name Coomera State School.
A Wesleyan Methodist church opened at Coomera on Sunday 17 May 1874. In 1977 the Methodist Church joined the Uniting Church in Australia, and the Coomera church took the name Coomera Uniting Church. The Uniting North Church resolved on 11 November 2017 to combine with the Coomera Church, and the two became the Uniting North Coomera Church.
The bridge, Dreamworld and Koala Town
In 1930 a bridge was built over the Coomera River, and the Coomera River Bridge is a heritage site in the suburb.
In December 1981 the Dreamworld theme park was officially opened by the Queensland premier of the day. Around the 1980s, Coomera also had a theme park and wildlife park known as Koala Town; it closed in the early 1990s. Residential land on Koala Town Road now occupies that site.
New schools and a shopping centre
The opening of Coomera Rivers State School came on 1 January 2011, under a name first proposed as Coomera East State School. In 2018 Picnic Creek State School opened, and Westfield Coomera opened its doors on 11 October 2018. In Beattie Road, the Coomera Sport and Leisure Centre held the gymnastics and netball finals of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
St Joseph's College opened in January 2019. The Brisbane Catholic Education Office established it, and it began with 250 students across Prep to Year 4 and Year 7. January 2020 saw the opening of Foxwell State Secondary College, and February 2020 brought the opening of Coomera State Special School.
Questions
What is the postcode for Coomera?
Coomera's postcode is 4209. The suburb is in the City of Gold Coast.
What is the population of Coomera?
In 2021, the suburb of Coomera had 20,225 people and a median age of 29.
What is the history of Coomera?
Coomera's name comes from the Coomera River, and the river's name comes from kumera, an Indigenous word for a species of wattle. A provisional school opened in 1873 and a Wesleyan Methodist church in 1874. Dreamworld opened in 1981, and new schools opened from 2011.
What is it like living in Coomera?
Coomera sits beside the Pacific Motorway, a little inland from the coast and near the Gold Coast hinterland. The Coomera River marks its southern boundary, and the suburb has a humid subtropical climate: summers are hot and humid, and winters are mild to cool and dry.