Clayfield Archives - Clayfield News

Queensland Wagyu and a Japanese Curry Bun? Brisbane’s Newest Food Stall Says It Works

OKO OKO, a new Japanese micro-restaurant that has just opened at Eat Street Northshore, is serving what its founders describe as the world’s first wagyu kare pan — and for Clayfield residents, it is a quick 10-minute drive to one of the more interesting new food concepts this year.

The kare pan, Japan’s deep-fried curry bun with origins in Tokyo dating back to 1927, has never been made with wagyu as the primary filling anywhere in the world, according to OKO OKO.

The Brisbane version uses Darling Downs wagyu from Sandalwood Feedlot, three hours west of Brisbane and one of Australia’s most awarded producers, combined with a cheesy curry filling, panko-crusted and fried to order at the counter.

Behind the dish is a global head chef whose career spans Nobu London and Yoko Brisbane. The broader menu extends into okonomiyaki, yakisoba and other Japanese street food classics at the same elevated standard.

Why the precinct is worth the trip

Eat Street Northshore has 60-plus micro-restaurants across neon-lit laneways, four live music stages and five themed bars, making OKO OKO one addition to a precinct that already draws Brisbane’s inner north for Friday and Saturday nights.

The new Shinjuku-styled pagoda facade that frames the OKO OKO space is one of the more visually striking fit-outs the precinct has seen.

Founder Michael Otway is straightforward about what took eighteen months to develop. “The dough, the curry, the wagyu, the cheese, the fry. Queensland wagyu changes the dish. What comes out of the fryer at OKO OKO is something Brisbane hasn’t tasted before.”

Eat Street Northshore is at 221D MacArthur Avenue, Hamilton. Open Friday and Saturday 4pm to 10pm and Sunday 4pm to 9pm. Entry $6 per person. Free parking on site or CityCat to Northshore Hamilton.

Published 14-June-2026

St Rita’s Longest Lunch Is Back for 2026 — and the Centenary Makes It One Worth Attending

St Rita's College/Facebook

Rita’s Longest Lunch returns to the grounds of St Rita’s College, with doors opening at 12:30pm for an afternoon of long table dining, live music and community fundraising that runs through to 4:30pm.

The annual event that will take place on 14 June 2026, hosted by the St Rita’s College Music Support Group, is one of the inner-north’s most relaxed and sociable school fundraisers, and 2026 carries extra significance: the college marks its centenary this year, having been founded by the Presentation Sisters in 1926. The Centenary Hat, available to pre-order or purchase on the day, will give the occasion its own keepsake moment.

Tickets are still available, but they sell in tables of six, so the sooner your group gets organised, the better.

Planning your long lunch

Rita’s Longest Lunch is modelled on the traditional European long lunch, where the emphasis is on good food, good company and no rush. Grand tables are set up on the Hogan Place grounds with full table settings including plate, cutlery, glassware and water provided at every seat.

Photo Credit: St Rita’s College/Facebook

The food part is entirely in your hands. This is a BYO food event, which means you can pack a picnic basket, order a gourmet box from Say Cheese, a local Brisbane catering business, or be as creative as your table wants to be. Say Cheese is offering a range of gourmet boxes specifically for the event, available to pre-order via their website, with the deadline for orders set at 10 June.

Orders will be delivered to Hogan Place for collection on the day, with $10 from every box donated to the Music Support Group. There are no heating or cooking facilities at the venue, and food cannot be purchased on the day, so planning ahead matters.

Beverages work differently. A bar will be on-site offering sparkling wine, wine and beer by EFTPOS. BYO beverages of any kind, including non-alcoholic drinks, are not permitted. Two champagne options, Piper Heidsieck NV and Veuve Clicquot, are available exclusively as pre-purchased add-ons and will not be sold at the event. The pre-order deadline for champagne is 10am on Monday 8 June.

Live music from First Summer will carry the afternoon.

Booking the table

Tickets are sold as tables of six, and full payment along with contact details for all six guests is required at the time of booking. If your group has fewer than six, you can book a table and fill it by inviting additional guests, or coordinate with other attendees to make up a complete table.

Individual add-ons including champagne and Centenary Hats can be purchased without a full ticket booking by selecting the add-ons option at checkout. All ticket and champagne purchases are non-refundable.

The event is 18+ only.

A college with a century behind it

St Rita’s officially opened on 27 September 1926, when the Presentation Sisters purchased Stanley Hall, a landmark Clayfield residence, to establish the college. Today, the college educates around 1,200 girls from Years 5 to 12 and maintains a strong tradition of community events, with Rita’s Longest Lunch among the most anticipated on the annual calendar.

Proceeds from the lunch support the Music Support Group, which funds music education, instruments, performance opportunities and events for students at the college.

Tickets are available here. For enquiries, contact the college at communications@stritas.qld.edu.au.

Published 20-May-2026

Wooloowin Nurse Recalls Life During Final Years of Polio

When Marjorie Davidson began nursing in 1959, the hospital staff still reused needles, scrubbed infected linen by hand and cared for patients inside iron lungs. Now living at Carinity Clifford House in Wooloowin, the former nurse has reflected on nearly six decades in healthcare as modern aged care workers mark International Nurses Day.

International Nurses Day is held annually on May 12.

Davidson started her career in Bendigo before moving into maternity nursing during the final years of Australia’s polio epidemic. Hospitals at the time had limited diagnostic equipment and far fewer treatment options for heart disease, infections and respiratory illness than today.

She remembered working in infectious disease wards where patients with tuberculosis and meningitis were still regularly admitted. One of the first jobs during afternoon shifts involved cleaning a large copper container used for infected hospital linen.

The work later took her far from Australia.

From Brisbane hospitals to remote Papua New Guinea

Davidson spent 13 years nursing in Papua New Guinea, treating patients suffering from malaria, chest infections, skin diseases and severe leg ulcers in isolated communities surrounded by mosquitoes and crocodile-filled waterways.

Medical supplies were basic, and disposable equipment was not yet standard. Needles were sterilised over boiling water heated by wood stoves, while her husband sharpened them by hand for reuse.

The former nurse said death was a regular part of life in remote clinics, with some shifts ending after multiple patients had died.

Her stories now form part of daily conversations at Carinity Clifford House, where younger nurses and carers work in a healthcare system transformed by technology.

Digital charts replace paper records

Among them is clinical nurse Swasti Gurung, who began her nursing career in Nepal before moving to Australia and joining the Wooloowin aged care home.

Unlike Davidson’s early years in nursing, Gurung works in a system driven by digital medical records, ongoing technology training, and modern lifting equipment designed to reduce injuries among staff and residents.

She previously worked in hospital wards assisting with endoscopy and colonoscopy procedures before retraining for aged care work in Australia.

Gurung said aged care nursing allowed staff to build stronger connections with older residents and their families while hearing stories from earlier generations.

The contrast between the two nurses’ experiences has become difficult for many younger healthcare workers to imagine.

Wooloowin stories preserving Brisbane’s nursing history

Davidson later became involved in disability support and rehabilitation services in Queensland before retiring at 75 after almost 60 years in healthcare.

Her memories now offer a rare look into nursing practices many Brisbane residents would struggle to recognise today.

Inside the Wooloowin aged care home, conversations about reusable needles, copper sterilising tubs, and tropical clinics sit alongside discussions about digital charts and modern medical training.

On International Nurses Day, staff and residents at the northside facility are reflecting on how quickly healthcare has changed across a single lifetime.

Published 12-May-2026

The Rich Heritage Of Stanley Hall In Clayfield

St Rita’s College in Clayfield is home to one of the city’s outstanding and heritage-listed buildings, Stanley Hall.

The building was constructed around 1885 as the home of John William Forth, one of Brisbane’s most successful produce dealer back in those days. However, Mr Forth wasn’t able to fully enjoy his home as he died on the day of his house-warming party.

The home was originally built as a single-storey house, but later on, renovation took place giving it an additional storey by the next owner, Herbert Hunter. Adding a second storey to the home benefitted Mr Hunter as he is a fan of horse racing and the second level of the home allowed him to view the races at the Eagle Farm racecourse.

The next owner was Edward Blume, a socialite who had the opportunity to entertain the Prince of Wales at his home during the early 1920s. The house was sold in 1926 to the Presentation Sisters. In 1930, the home was featured in The Queenslander as part of its “Brisbane’s Historic Home” series.

The Presentation Sisters converted the home into a boarding school and secondary school for girls in 1926. The most recent renovation took place in 2009 when it was converted into an administration centre with a heritage room devoted to the history of the Sisters and the College.

It became a part of the Queensland’s Heritage Register for surviving as a substantially intact grand resident of the late 1880s. It also was home to two Queensland pastoralists for over 35 years.

Updated 29-April-2026

St Rita’s College Turns 100 with a Full Year of Celebrations Planned

St Rita's College/Facebook

St Rita’s College is marking a century of educating young women in 2026, with a programme of community events stretching across the year to bring together students, alumnae, staff, families and the Presentation Sisters who first established the college in 1926.

The milestone is a significant one for Clayfield and the broader Brisbane community. The college has grown from a modest beginning with 16 students on a hilltop property into a school of more than 1,200 girls from Years 5 to 12, shaped at every step by the Presentation tradition and the values of its founders. Principal Maree Trims describes 2026 as a year to pause and take stock of what that century has built.

“2026 is an opportunity to reflect on our rich history, to honour those who have come before us, and to give thanks for the enduring legacy they have left,” Trims said.

How It All Started on a Clayfield Hill

The story of St Rita’s begins in September 1926, when two Presentation Sisters, Sister Alice Kennedy and Mother M Patrick Madde, purchased Stanley Hall along with four surrounding acres of land in Clayfield. It was an act of vision and practicality in equal measure. The property sat on a hill, and what grew from it was a school that would educate generations of Brisbane women across every decade that followed.

St Rita's College in 1926 — Photo Credit: St Rita’s College

From that original enrolment of 16 students, the college ran as a co-educational kindergarten through to Year 3, with girls-only classes from Year 4 through to senior level. Boarders were also accepted across all year levels in those early years. The college follows in the tradition of Venerable Nano Nagle, founder of the Presentation Sisters, whose commitment to education as a force for social change still shapes how St Rita’s approaches learning and service today.

The college motto, Virtute Non Verbis, translates from Latin as “Deeds Not Words”, and it runs as a thread through everything from the curriculum to community outreach.

A Century of Women, Marked in Full

The centenary programme is built around bringing every part of the community back together. Several events have already taken place, including a Past and Present Staff Celebration in January and a Presentation Sisters High Tea in February, along with a Centenary Dinner in March. The larger community gatherings are still ahead.

On Friday 22 May, a Centenary Mass will be held for students, staff and invited guests. The following day, Saturday 23 May, past students are invited to an Alumnae Centenary Mass and Morning Tea, followed by an Alumnae Centenary Lunch. For many alumnae, the occasion will be the first time in years, or decades, they have walked back through the college gates.

The college has also installed a new honour board, unveiled by Sister Elvera Sesta, herself a former student, teacher and principal of the college, recognising all those who have dedicated 20 or more years of service to St Rita’s.

The College Today

A hundred years on, St Rita’s continues to record strong outcomes across academic, sporting and creative programmes. The Class of 2025 achieved a median ATAR of 91.4, with 47 students placing in the top five per cent of the state and one third of the cohort achieving an ATAR above 95.

More than 80 per cent of students participate in sport, and the college’s water polo programme was recognised nationally as Program of the Year in 2024. Around 450 students participate in music, collectively taking part in more than 600 lessons each week.

Beyond academic achievement, the college places strong emphasis on service learning, with students engaged in outreach, advocacy and ministry work inspired by the life and values of Nano Nagle.

Get Involved in the Centenary

The college is actively seeking memories, photographs and artefacts from past students, staff and families to help build a record of its hundred-year history. Anyone wishing to share their stories or donate items can contact the centenary team directly.

Alumnae are encouraged to update their contact details through the college’s alumnae page at stritas.qld.edu.au and to join the Alumnae Facebook Group to stay informed about upcoming events. For all centenary enquiries, event registrations and ticketing, contact the college at centenary@stritas.qld.edu.au or call (07) 3862 1615.

St Rita’s College is located at 41 Enderley Road, Clayfield, and is also accessible by public transport via Hendra and Clayfield rail stations, both approximately 800 metres from the campus.

Published 16-April-2026

Cedar Woods’ Vera Apartments Top Out at Wooloowin’s Greville Precinct

Cedar Woods Properties has reached the topping-out milestone on Vera, its first Queensland apartment building, marking a significant moment for the $300 million Greville masterplanned community at 12 Chalk Street in Wooloowin, just five kilometres north of the Brisbane CBD.

The six-storey, 58-apartment building is 95 per cent sold and on track for completion in late 2026, with Brisbane-based builder Emacen Projects expecting residents to move in before Christmas. Designed by Rothelowman Architects, Vera sits within a 3.5-hectare precinct that has been steadily taking shape since Cedar Woods acquired the former Holy Cross Laundry site from the Sisters of Mercy following a five-year negotiated sale completed in 2020.

For Cedar Woods, the topping out is more than a construction milestone. The milestone signals the Perth-founded developer’s first apartment project to reach structural completion in Queensland, and the beginning of what its leadership describes as a long-term commitment to the state’s south-east.

A Precinct Built on Layers of History

The Greville site carries considerable historical weight. The Holy Cross Laundry was built from 1888 to 1905 to a design by former Queensland Colonial Architect Francis Drummond Greville Stanley, and added to the Queensland Heritage Register in October 1992. Originally constructed as an auxiliary wing to the Holy Cross Retreat, the institution provided protection for unmarried mothers, destitute women and intellectually disabled persons, regardless of creed. By the 1920s, the laundry had grown to become one of the largest commercial laundries in Brisbane.

Cedar Woods celebrates the topping out of their new build, Vera at Greville on Thursday 2 April 2026. Photo by Sarah Marshall/The Photo Pitch

Cedar Woods named the precinct Greville in direct acknowledgement of that history, honouring the architect whose initials, FDG Stanley, carry the same Greville name. Seven heritage residences within the former laundry building form part of the broader masterplan, repurposing the Heritage-listed laundry into homes that celebrate its 19th-century character.

Vera itself is the first of three apartment buildings planned for the precinct. The broader Greville development will ultimately deliver 84 townhouses, more than 200 apartments across three buildings and the seven heritage homes within the laundry building. The first two townhouse stages have been completed, with the final townhouse stage under construction.

What Vera Offers Residents

Vera’s 58 apartments span one, two and three-bedroom configurations, with floorplans offering between 78sqm of internal living space and 122sqm total area, with some residences offering views across the 4,000-square-metre Greville Park and others looking toward the city skyline. Rooftop communal amenities include a pool, barbecue and dining areas, an outdoor lounge and a firepit.

Artist’s impression of Vera’s rooftop (Photo supplied)

Residents also have access to the broader Greville community amenities already in place, including a recreation area with a pool, alfresco dining and the parkland, which has been open since 2023. The address puts future residents 400 metres from Wooloowin train station and a kilometre from the Northern Busway at Lutwyche, with the Northern Bikeway extension at the doorstep.

Cedar Woods Chief Operating Officer Patrick Archer said the milestone highlights the company’s growing commitment to southeast Queensland.

“The topping out of our first Queensland apartment building sets a strong foundation for our future southeast Queensland apartment plans,” Mr Archer said.

“This includes two additional buildings at Greville and our planned Robina development on the Gold Coast, which will comprise a mix of apartments and townhomes, located adjacent to Robina Town Centre.

“Vera apartments have been purchased by a broad range of buyers including first home buyers, downsizers and upgraders, which speaks to the appeal of the one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartment formats.”

“Brisbane builder, Emacen Projects, is on track to complete construction in late 2026, and we’re expecting to welcome residents before Christmas.”

Cedar Woods’ National Footprint

Cedar Woods was established in Perth in 1987 and listed on the ASX in 1994. The developer carries a national portfolio spanning residential, commercial and mixed-use projects, and its entry into the Queensland market via Greville represents its most ambitious east-coast commitment to date. Beyond Greville, Cedar Woods’ Brisbane portfolio includes Ellendale in Upper Kedron and Sage in Burpengary.

The Greville precinct is expected to be completed over approximately four years. Remaining apartments in Vera are priced from $874,000. For more information, visit cedarwoods.com.au or the Greville community website at 12 Chalk Street, Wooloowin.

Published 10-April-2026

Brisbane’s Artforce Initiative Shines in Wooloowin with ‘The View from My Window’

Photo Credit: Air Force Brisbane

Local artist Zoe Corkill’s artwork, The View from My Window, has transformed a traffic signal box in Wooloowin into a vibrant artwork as part of Brisbane’s Artforce initiative. This public art program invites residents to enhance urban spaces, celebrating creativity and community pride.

‘The View from My Window’: A Wooloowin Perspective

Zoe’s artwork, completed in November 2024, captures Wooloowin’s charm through her unique perspective. Featuring striking colours and intricate designs, it reflects the suburb’s character and has quickly become a local highlight.

The artwork enhances Wooloowin’s streetscape, offering a fresh perspective on the suburb while demonstrating the transformative power of public art.

About the Artist: Zoe Corkill

Zoe Corkill, a young artist, first participated in Artforce Brisbane at age 10, collaborating with her mother, Trudy Corkill, on the 2021 artwork Happy Life. Photos from the project show Zoe being lifted to paint alongside Trudy, showcasing their shared passion for public art.

Her latest work, The View from My Window, demonstrates her growth as an artist. Drawing inspiration from her community, Zoe’s work highlights the beauty of everyday life in Wooloowin while contributing to the city’s evolving cultural landscape.

Fostering Community Connection

Artforce Brisbane empowers residents to turn traffic signal boxes and Energex Padmount Transformers into public art. Since its launch, the program has supported over 1,000 art instillation across Brisbane, fostering community connection and transforming the city’s streetscape.

Projects like Zoe’s artwork foster pride, encourage engagement, and transform urban spaces into shared canvases for creativity.

Artforce Brisbane continues to provide a platform for artists of all ages and abilities to contribute to the city’s cultural fabric. Each artwork adds to Brisbane’s outdoor gallery, showcasing diverse stories and perspectives.

Artforce Brisbane welcomes artists of all experience levels to participate. Information on how to register, along with guidelines, is available on the program’s official website. Residents are encouraged to leave their mark on the city through this initiative.

Published 29-Dec-2024
Updated 11-April-2026

From Rail Line to Schoolyard: How Eagle Junction State School Took Shape in Clayfield

Photo Credit: Google Maps

Did you know that Eagle Junction State School was established because a railway line transformed what was once semi-rural land into a growing suburb? Sitting in Clayfield, the school owes its very existence to the rapid expansion of Brisbane’s rail network and the families who followed it more than a century ago.

Opened in 1916, Eagle Junction State School was built to serve a community that was expanding quickly around the Eagle Junction railway. As transport links improved, Clayfield and its surrounding areas became increasingly attractive to working families, creating an urgent need for a local primary school within walking distance of home.

A School Born from Suburban Growth

Before the school was established, children in the area often had to travel considerable distances to attend classes. The arrival of the railway changed that, accelerating residential development and prompting education authorities to act.

Eagle Junction State School was constructed on elevated land, a practical choice in an era when drainage and flooding were serious considerations. Its location also reflected early planning principles that placed schools at the heart of emerging neighbourhoods, both geographically and socially.

Architecture of Its Time

The original school buildings were designed in the Department of Public Instruction’s timber school style, common across Queensland in the early 20th century. Raised classrooms, wide verandahs and generous windows were all deliberate features, intended to maximise airflow and natural light in the subtropical climate.

These design choices were not simply aesthetic. At a time when health concerns such as ventilation and sunlight were closely linked to education policy, schools like Eagle Junction were seen as places that supported both learning and wellbeing.

Growing Alongside Clayfield

As Clayfield continued to develop through the interwar years, the school expanded to accommodate rising enrolments. Additional buildings and facilities were added over time, reflecting both population growth and changing educational needs.

Despite these changes, the school retained its core character. The original buildings remained central to the campus, anchoring newer structures and preserving a visible link to the school’s earliest days.

A Recognised Heritage Place

Today, Eagle Junction State School is recognised as a Brisbane heritage place, valued for both its architectural significance and its role in the area’s social history. The heritage listing acknowledges the school’s importance as a long-standing educational institution that has served generations of local families.

The site is also noted for its association with the broader pattern of Brisbane’s suburban expansion, particularly the way transport infrastructure influenced where communities — and schools — were established.

More Than a School

For many families, Eagle Junction State School has been more than a place of education. It has been a gathering point for community events, celebrations and everyday connections, helping to shape a shared sense of identity within Clayfield.

Former students often speak of returning years later to find familiar buildings still standing, a reminder of how deeply the school is woven into local memory.

A Living Part of Local History

More than a century after it opened, Eagle Junction State School continues to educate children in the suburb that grew up around it. While classrooms and teaching methods have evolved, the school’s presence remains a constant in Clayfield’s changing streetscape.

From its beginnings beside a railway-driven suburb to its place today as a recognised heritage site, Eagle Junction State School stands as a reminder that schools are not just shaped by history — they help shape it.

Published Date 17-December-2025

Updated 1-April-2026

Clayfield Music Therapists Win Grant to Deliver 14-Month Early Intervention Program for Brisbane Youth

Music Beat Australia

Music Beat Australia, the Clayfield-based music therapy provider operating from Sandgate Road, has secured a Kickstarter early intervention grant to deliver a 14-month program using group drumming, songwriting and jam sessions to build emotional regulation and social connection in at-risk and neurodivergent young people across Brisbane.

The program, titled “Changing the Tune,” forms part of a broader round of community-led initiatives funded across Greater Brisbane, with Music Beat Australia joining three other organisations sharing more than $1 million in Kickstarter grants. The funding supports programs designed to work with young people before disengagement and antisocial behaviour become entrenched, focusing on re-engagement with community, education and healthy social networks.

For Clayfield and Brisbane’s broader northside, the announcement represents a meaningful investment in prevention-focused youth support, delivered by a provider already woven into the region’s community health landscape.

Music Therapy as an Early Intervention Tool

Music Beat Australia operates its main clinic at Sandgate Road in Clayfield, with additional locations at Nundah, Holland Park, Greenslopes and Bulimba, alongside mobile services reaching schools, kindergartens, childcare centres and family homes. The organisation became a registered NDIS provider in 2021 and brings a team of registered music therapists drawing on a combined clinical experience of 84 years.

The “Changing the Tune” program applies group drumming, songwriting, jam sessions and individual therapeutic support specifically to young people identified as showing early signs of disengagement or antisocial behaviour. The program targets emotional literacy and pro-social engagement as protective factors, with research consistently linking these capacities to reduced long-term offending risk. Music therapy is recognised internationally as a structured, evidence-based allied health practice, distinct from recreational music activity, and has demonstrated effectiveness in building emotional regulation skills across a wide range of populations including neurodivergent youth.

Part of a Broader Brisbane Initiative

The Kickstarter grants program funds community organisations delivering early intervention initiatives focused on reconnecting young people with education, training and community pathways. Music Beat Australia’s program sits alongside three other funded initiatives in the current round, including a bike-building mentoring program for youth in Redlands, a family-focused accountability and emotional regulation program in Deception Bay, and a community-led mentoring initiative in Inala. Together, the four programs reflect a growing emphasis on community-embedded, skills-based early intervention as a practical complement to formal youth support systems across Greater Brisbane.

Music Beat Australia also partners with PCYC Queensland in the delivery of its youth justice work, extending the clinic’s reach well beyond Clayfield and into community settings across the city.

Why This Matters to the Clayfield Community

For Clayfield residents and families across Brisbane’s northside, having a locally based, clinically grounded organisation delivering this kind of early intervention work carries real significance. Music Beat Australia is not an organisation parachuted in from outside the region; it is a Sandgate Road fixture that many northside families already know through early learning classes, NDIS therapy services and free community sessions at parks and recreation centres.

The “Changing the Tune” program extends that community presence into a space where the need is acute. Youth disengagement and its downstream consequences affect families and neighbourhoods across every part of Brisbane, and programs that intervene early, before patterns of antisocial behaviour become entrenched, represent some of the most effective long-term responses available. For a community like Clayfield, which sits within a broader northside corridor experiencing steady residential growth, the presence of well-funded, evidence-based early intervention work locally is a meaningful part of what makes the area a place where families want to put down roots.

About Music Beat Australia

Beyond the “Changing the Tune” program, Music Beat Australia runs early learning music classes for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers under its Music Beat Kids banner, as well as lessons and tuition in piano, guitar, violin, singing and drama for school-aged children and adults. The organisation also delivers free community music sessions as part of the Active and Healthy program at locations including Wynnum Wading Pool Park, Mt Coot-tha and Kenmore.

NDIS participants can access music therapy through Music Beat Australia as a Capacity Building support under the scheme. Families, educators and organisations seeking more information about therapy services, early learning programs or the “Changing the Tune” project can visit musicbeat.com.au or reach the clinic directly at Sandgate Road, Clayfield QLD 4011.

Published 23-March-2026.

Wooloowin State School’s Assunta Austin Recognised as Queensland Teacher Librarian of the Year

Queensland Department of Education

Assunta Austin, Teacher Librarian at Wooloowin State School since 1999 and a library professional since 1983, has been named a 2025 Queensland Teacher Librarian of the Year by the Queensland School Library Association, an award honouring outstanding professional knowledge, practice and engagement in school librarianship.

Austin, who officially retires this year after more than four decades in the profession, will see her legacy honoured permanently with the Wooloowin State School library renamed “The Austin Library” in recognition of her contribution to the school and its community. She is one of two recipients of the 2025 award, sharing the honour with Lizzy Dixon from Moorooka State School.

The Queensland School Library Association presents the Teacher Librarian of the Year award annually to recognise exceptional dedication to creating dynamic learning spaces, collaborating across school communities and fostering a lifelong love of reading and inquiry. Austin’s career, spanning 42 years since she first became a Teacher Librarian in 1983 and 26 years at Wooloowin State School in the inner north suburb bordered by Kedron, Lutwyche and Clayfield, has been marked by her commitment to creating a vibrant and welcoming library space that extends far beyond the walls of the school.

Building Community Through Books

Austin describes championing reading and books not only to students at her school but also to the wider school community as what gives her the most enjoyment in the role. One of her signature initiatives at Wooloowin State School is “One School, One Book, One Community”, a program that has run for the past three years and brings entire families together to read the same book. The program concludes with an evening event led by the school’s Parents and Citizens association, featuring a presentation from the book’s author. This kind of community-focused programming reflects Austin’s belief that literacy is not just a classroom responsibility but a shared endeavour that thrives when families are actively engaged.

*Photo Credit: Wooloowin State School/Facebook*

For parents wondering how to encourage reading at home, Austin offers practical and accessible advice. She suggests creating a quiet, comfortable and distraction-free reading space, making reading part of the family’s daily routine, and sitting with children to read to them, read with them and be read to by them. She also recommends talking about illustrations and asking questions about characters, settings and story events to promote meaningful discussions. Most importantly, she emphasises being a good reading role model, which helps build a lifelong love of reading and learning.

The Role of the Teacher Librarian in the 21st Century

Austin’s career has spanned an era of profound change in school libraries. Teacher Librarians today, as defined by the Australian School Library Association, hold both recognised teaching qualifications and qualifications in librarianship, bringing combined knowledge of teaching, curriculum, library and information management to Queensland schools. Their role has evolved significantly with the rise of digital information and the need for students to develop critical information literacy skills alongside traditional reading and research capabilities.

Austin has also served as network coordinator for The Grove Network, a professional group for libraries in the Stafford and Geebung district, reflecting her commitment to supporting fellow library professionals and sharing best practice across schools. Her work in this capacity has helped strengthen the broader community of Teacher Librarians in Brisbane’s north, many of whom face ongoing advocacy challenges as the Teacher Librarian role disappears from an increasing number of Queensland schools despite evidence that access to a school library run by qualified staff improves student outcomes.

A Lasting Legacy

Wooloowin State School, which opened in 1914 and currently serves more than 330 students from Prep to Year 6, suffered a devastating fire in 2003 that caused smoke and water damage requiring the destruction and replacement of all library books. The library was completely restocked with generous donations from other schools and rebuilt to a standard that now includes sections for Junior Fiction, Fiction, Non-Fiction and a computer lab. Students from Years 4 to 6 who pass a test to become Library Monitors assist the librarian and assistant librarian during lunch hours, creating a student-led culture of care and responsibility for the library space.

Austin’s retirement this year marks the end of a chapter for Wooloowin State School, but the renaming of the library as “The Austin Library” ensures that her contribution to generations of students, families and staff will be remembered and celebrated for years to come. Queensland School Library Week, which celebrated school libraries and library professionals across the state in 2025, provided a fitting moment to recognise Austin’s extraordinary career and the profound difference she has made to literacy, learning and community connection in Brisbane’s inner north.

Published 24-February-2026.