| Trinity Beach Cairns, Queensland | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Trinity Beach looking north | |||||||||||||||
  Trinity Beach | |||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 16°47′36″S 145°41′48″E / 16.7933°S 145.6966°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 6,594 (SAL 2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 4879 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 8.6 km2 (3.3 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | AEST (UTC+10:00) | ||||||||||||||
| Location |
| ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Cairns Region | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Barron River | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Leichhardt | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Trinity Beach is a coastal suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia.[2] In the 2021 census, Trinity Beach had a population of 6,594 people.[3]
Trinity Beach is approximately 20 kilometres (10 mi) from the Cairns city centre and approximately 6.6 km from Smithfield. Trinity Beach is also a beach stretching for about a mile on the eastern coast of Australia bounded by the Coral Sea.[4] The suburb itself is approximately 2 km wide.
Trinity Beach is situated in the Djabugay (Tjapukai) traditional Aboriginal country. [5]
The origin of the suburb name is derived from Trinity Bay.[6]
From 1943 to 1944, Trinity Beach was the site of intensive training in amphibious warfare for Australian and American troops in the context of World War II.[7]
Trinity Beach State School opened on 30 January 1979.[8]
As part of Mulgrave Shire, Trinity Beach experienced suburban development beginning in the 1970s,[9] leading to a population of over 2000 by the mid-1980s.[10]
Trinity Beach became part of the new City of Cairns with the amalgamation of Mulgrave Shire into the new city on 22 March 1995.[11]
In 2000, Cyclone Steve, which made landfall in the Cairns northern beaches area near Trinity Beach,[12] caused significant damage to the roof of the Trinity Beach Hotel.[13]
From 2004 to 2008, the 173-ha Bluewater subdivision,[14] which extends through both Trinity Beach and Trinity Park, was approved for development.[15] As with several other areas in Trinity Beach, portions of the estate sit in a flood zone[16] due to potential inflows from Moore's Gully, which led to a substantial flooding mitigation project for the development in 2010.[17]
In 2023, Trinity Beach was affected by Cyclone Jasper and the resulting 2023 Cairns floods.
On 13 December, as the cyclone made landfall, the Trinity Beach waterfront experienced a storm surge event,[18] while soon after overnight, multiple waterfront businesses were vandalised and looted.[19][20]
On the morning of 17 December, like other Cairns northern beaches suburbs, Trinity Beach experienced flooding. This flooding led to an evacuation warning for the Bluewater Estate[21][22] and major road closures,[23][24] which resulted in isolation from the rest of Cairns.[25] Videos on social media soon emerged showing inundated residential neighbourhoods in the suburb. The beach itself was thickly covered with debris in the aftermath of the flooding.[26]
In the 2011 census, Trinity Beach had a population of 4,734 people.[27]
In the 2016 census, Trinity Beach had a population of 5,488 people.[28]
In the 2021 census, Trinity Beach had a population of 6,594 people.[3]
Trinity Beach State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Wewak Street (16°47′41″S 145°41′22″E / 16.7948°S 145.6895°E).[29][30] It includes a special education program.[29] In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 923 students with 60 teaching staff (57 full-time equivalent) and 36 non-teaching staff (22 full-time equivalent).[31] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 1,027 students with 68 teachers (64 full-time equivalent) and 49 non-teaching staff (32 full-time equivalent).[32]
There are no secondary schools in Trinity Beach. The nearest government secondary school is Smithfield State High School in neighbouring Smithfield to the south.[33]
