With a population just under 4500, the West Coast has a median age of 47 with around 1000 families across our communities.
We are a proud community, with a history of getting on with things – we find a way or make a way. We contribute and are connected to our communities, with many residents spending some of their time volunteering, and our community is highly engaged in local decision-making.
Across the region community assets and facilities include:
- West Coast District Hospital at Queenstown
- Rosebery Community Health Centre
- Six schools
- West Coast Community Hub
- Libraries
- Recreation facilities and sporting grounds
- Museums
- Study Hub in Zeehan which supports regional and remote post-secondary learners.
Surrounded by breathtaking lakes, rivers, rainforests, dunes, and historic sites, our communities offer easy access to natural wonders and world heritage areas. The region is renowned for tourism, mining, renewable energy, fishing and world class mountain bike trails.
Queenstown
Nestled in a valley between Mount Lyell and Mount Owen, Queenstown is the largest town on the West Coast. Surrounded by dramatic hills that provide stark evidence of a history that once made it one of the richest mining towns in the world. Today, Queenstown is experiencing a rebirth with a growing tourism and arts culture. The small townships of Gormanston and Linda are nearby.
Rosebery
A town dominated by mining as much as it is the dense forest surrounds, Rosebery lies in the shadow of Mount Black, within the West Coast Range. Rosebery has the highest postcode and steepest golf course in Australia, along with the highest waterfall in Tasmania. Nearby Mount Read has Tasmania’s highest rainfall.
Strahan
The iconic port on the banks of Macquarie Harbour, is nestled between the Southern Ocean and the gateway to Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage area. Convicts, pining, fishing and environmental activism are just some of the layers that await you in Strahan.
Tullah
Once a mining town, the power of the human spirit saw Tullah redeveloped as a Hydro village. The two “suburbs” of Tullah are a physical reminder of the two histories which still play out today, with the older northern, mining suburb and the younger, more planned out southern “Hydro” suburb.
Zeehan
Once called The Silver City, Zeehan is a town with one of the oldest histories of any part of Tasmania. Zeehan once had a population of 10,000 and whilst now considerably smaller, mining activity still heavily influences the town, along with a growing tourism sector – including some epic mountain bike trails. The picturesque shack sites of Granville Harbour and Trial Harbour are nearby.