Elliott Heads, a coastal town, is 17 km south-east of Bundaberg. It is situated on the north side of the mouth of the Elliott River, named after the first Speaker of the Queensland Parliament, Sir Charles Elliott.
The town was originally named Springfield (1880s), with hope for a railway station and other facilities. The locality had a mixture of maize cultivation, sugar cane farms and dairying. A school, named Airy Park after a local property, was opened in 1912. A change of name to Elliott Heads came about by common usage (although Springfield was still formally used in the late 1940s) and approval was gazetted in 1967 for both the town and Airy Park School. By the early postwar years motor car travel made up for the absent railway, and a surf lifesaving club was formed in 1965.
Elliott Heads has a council caravan park, a general store, a bowling club, a surf lifesaving club and a primary school. Its census populations have been:
| Census Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1921 | 50 |
| 1947 | 104 |
| 1961 | 152 |
| 1981 | 462 |
| 2001 | 736 |
| 2006 | 810 |
| 2011 | 998 |
Neville Rackemann, A century of progress: Woongarra Shire 1885-1985, Bundaberg, Woongarra Shire Council, 1985
