Skip to content

Queenstown

Location: Burnie | Campbell Town | Deloraine | Dover | Flinders Island | George Town | Huonville | King Island | Latrobe | New Norfolk | Nubeena | Oatlands | Perth | Queenstown | Scottsdale | Smithton | St Helens | St Marys | Swansea

McNamara Street, Queenstown
McNamara Street, Queenstown

The Queenstown  RHTS is located a short walk from the West Coast District Hospital. It is a spacious 6 bedroom house which was refurbished  in 2004. Computer facilities, including wireless internet services, are available at the house.

About Queenstown

Population Characteristics

The population of Queenstown is 1975 (2011 census).

  • 52.6% males
  • 47.4% females
  • 6.8% Indigenous
  • 13% born overseas
  • 9.5% unemployed
  • 22.2% employed in metal ore mining
  • 15.8% aged 65 years or over
  • Median age 39 (Australia 37)
  • Median weekly household income $821(Australia $1234)
  • 17.9% volunteered with an organisation or group
  • 42.4% of the population is unmarried

Queenstown and the West Coast region is an area of striking contrasts, from the denuded landscape around Queenstown - the result of more than a century of mining, bushfires and sulphur fumes - to the nearby rainforests and rugged mountain peaks.

Gold was discovered in the Queen River in 1881 and the town is steeped in mining history. The region is one of Australia's richest mineral areas with zinc, tin, copper and some precious metals still being extracted from Australia's oldest mine, Mt Lyell. The mines in Queenstown, Rosebery and Zeehan are major contributors to the Tasmanian economy.

Queenstown Post Office
Queenstown Post Office

For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Queenstown had a thriving population and until the 1960s, was Tasmania's third largest urban centre. Since then world commodity prices have fallen, mining technology has changed, and major hydro-electric projects have been completed and the Queenstown and West Coast population has declined. However, the West Coast has now become a major drawcard for interstate and overseas tourists who are overwhelmed by the rugged beauty of the region.

Nearby Strahan is situated on the second largest natural harbour in the southern hemisphere, Macquarie Harbour, which was once the harshest penal settlement in the British Empire.  Strahan has a relaxed atmosphere and the convict settlement is easily accessible from the town.

Links

Queenstown Health Services

West Coast District Hospital
West Coast District Hospital

West Coast District Hospital

The West Coast District Hospital is a public facility funded by the State and Commonwealth governments. It has recently been redeveloped on a new site in Cutten Street. The hospital provides health services to the population of Queenstown, Strahan  and surrounding areas. Queenstown has a population of approximately 2,100 people with Strahan's population being approximately 800 and increasing during  the summer months.

The hospital has  strong links with child and school health workers as well as other community  organisations. Services offered  at the hospital include:

  • 10 acute care beds
  • 16 nursing home beds
  • Accident and Emergency
  • Pathology
  • X-rays
  • School Dental Service
  • Physiotherapy
  • Podiatry
  • Obstetric (visiting)
  • Midwives Clinic

A medical centre  with full GP services has been incorporated into the new development.