The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately 66 kilometres (41 mi) south-southeast of the centre of the state capital, Brisbane. It is Queensland's second-largest city after Brisbane, as well as Australia's sixth-largest city and the most populous non-capital city. The city's central business district is located roughly in the centre of the Gold Coast in the suburb of Southport. The urban area of the Gold Coast is concentrated along the coast, sprawling almost 60 kilometres, joining up with the Greater Brisbane metropolitan region to the north and to the state border with New South Wales to the south. Nicknames of the city include the ‘Glitter Strip’ and the ‘Goldy’. The demonym of a Gold Coast resident is Gold Coaster.
Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith University is credited with introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian studies. The university has five campuses, at Gold Coast, Nathan, Logan, South Bank, and Mount Gravatt. A sixth campus, to be located at the Treasury Building in the Brisbane CBD, will open in 2027. The university was named after Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, who was twice Premier of Queensland and the first Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia. Sir Samuel Griffith played a major role in the Federation of Australia and was the principal author of the Australian Constitution.
Rachel Anne Griffiths is an Australian actress. Raised primarily in Melbourne, she began her acting career appearing on the Australian series Secrets before being cast in a supporting role in the comedy Muriel's Wedding (1994), which earned her an AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In 1997, she was the lead in Nadia Tass's drama Amy. She had a role opposite Julia Roberts in the American romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), followed by her portrayal of Hilary du Pré in Hilary and Jackie (1998), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Pauline Curuenavuli, known professionally as Paulini, is a Fijian-Australian singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress. Born in Suva, Paulini moved to Sydney with her family at the age of four. She rose to fame in 2003 as a contestant on the first season of Australian Idol and placed fourth in the competition. After Idol, Paulini signed a recording contract with Sony BMG Australia and released her debut studio album One Determined Heart (2004), which debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum. The album included the platinum single "Angel Eyes", which spent three consecutive weeks at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. Paulini received two ARIA No. 1 Chart Awards for both the album and single.
Evermore were a rock band formed in Feilding, New Zealand, in 1999, made up of three brothers Jon, Peter and Dann Hume. The band was based in Sydney from 2004 to 2007 and then Melbourne until they became inactive in 2014. Evermore released four studio albums: Dreams (2004), Real Life (2006), Truth of the World: Welcome to the Show (2009), and Follow the Sun (2012), as well as a self-titled compilation album (2010). Real Life and Truth of the World were their highest charting studio albums in New Zealand and Australia, while Dreams and Real Life received platinum certifications from Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).
Oodgeroo Noonuccal ( UUD-gə-roo NOO-nə-kəl; born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, later Kath Walker was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, artist and educator, who campaigned for Aboriginal rights. Noonuccal was best known for her poetry, and was the first Aboriginal Australian to publish a book of verse.
Kym Mazelle is an American singer. She is regarded as a pioneer of house music in the United Kingdom and Europe. Her music combines R&B, soul, funk, house music, dance, and pop. She is credited as "The First Lady of House Music".
Michala Elizabeth Laurinda Banas is a New Zealand television actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Marissa Taylor in Always Greener and as Kate Manfredi in McLeod's Daughters.
Avalon Drive are an Australian rock band from Brisbane, originally formed in 2005. They released three extended plays, Avalon Drive (2005), The City of Burnt Out Lights (2006) and The View from Afar (2008) before splitting in 2008. They reformed in 2021 as a trio with original members, Damion J Douglass on lead vocals, Shane Holmes on drums and Wil Morris on lead guitar and synthesiser.
Kate Melina Miller-Heidke is an Australian singer and songwriter. Although classically trained, she has generally followed a career in alternative pop music. She signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in the UK, but since 2014 has been an independent artist. Four of her solo studio albums have peaked in the top 10 of the ARIA Albums Chart, Curiouser, Nightflight, O Vertigo! and Child in Reverse. Her most popular single, "The Last Day on Earth", reached No. 3 on the ARIA Singles Chart after being used in promos for TV soap, Neighbours, earlier in that year. At the ARIA Music Awards Miller-Heidke has been nominated 17 times.
Since 1867, the British royal family has visited Australia over fifty times, with only six visits before 1954. Elizabeth II was the first reigning monarch of Australia to have set foot on Australian soil; she first did so on 3 February 1954, when she was 27 years old. During her sixteen journeys, the Queen visited every Australian state and the two major territories.
Ivy May Hassard was one of the first female pilots in the southern hemisphere and a pioneer of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. She is noted for her contribution to the cultural development of the Gold Coast, opening the first fashion boutique in Surfers Paradise in 1946.
Cate Natalie Campbell, is a Malawian-born Australian former competitive swimmer. She is the current world record holder in the short course 100 m freestyle. She is also a former world record holder in the long course 100 m freestyle, breaking Britta Steffen's supersuit WR by 0.01.
Cody Robert Simpson is an Australian singer, actor, and a former competitive swimmer. Since his debut as a recording artist, he has released four solo studio albums: Paradise (2012), Surfers Paradise (2013), Free (2015), and Cody Simpson (2022). He portrayed the lead role of Dmitry in the Broadway musical Anastasia from November 2018 through April 2019. The same year, he won the first season of The Masked Singer Australia as "Robot".
Paula Stafford OAM was an Australian fashion designer credited with introducing the bikini to Australia. Graeme Potter, director of Queensland Museum South Bank, called her "Australia's original bikini designer".
Dami Im is an Australian singer and songwriter. She represented Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm, Sweden with the song "Sound of Silence", placing second and achieving the highest Eurovision Song Contest score for Australia.
Amy Louise Billings, known professionally as Amy Shark, is an Australian indie pop singer-songwriter-guitarist and producer from the Gold Coast, Queensland. During 2008 to 2012, her early solo material was released and performed under the name Amy Cushway. Her 2016 single "Adore" peaked at number 3 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was also listed at number 2 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2016. Her album Love Monster debuted at number 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Shark has won 8 ARIA Music Awards from 29 nominations, including winning Best Pop Release three times: in 2017 for her extended play, Night Thinker, 2018 for Love Monster and 2020 for "Everybody Rise".
Samantha Virgo is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Brisbane and Gold Coast in the AFL Women's. She was selected in the All-Australian team in 2017, and co-captained Gold Coast from 2020 to 2021.
Toni Watson, known professionally as Tones and I, is an Australian singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known for her breakout single "Dance Monkey", which reached number one in over 30 countries including her home country Australia. In 2019–20, "Dance Monkey" completed 24 weeks at number one on the Australian singles chart, beating Bing Crosby's all-time Australian record for his version of "White Christmas", which spent an equivalent of 22 weeks at the top in 1943. "Dance Monkey" was certified 19× platinum by ARIA for shipments of over 1,330,000 units by June 2023.
Lauren Brown is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays as a utility for the Gold Coast Titans Women in the NRL Women's Premiership and the Burleigh Bears in the QRL Women's Premiership.
