Jindalee, a residential suburb developed during the 1960s-70s, is 12 km south-west of central Brisbane. The area was known as Seventeen Mile Rocks, a rural locality with a narrow bridge over the Brisbane River leading to an unnamed road leading to Fig Tree Pocket Road. It is thought that the name (1963) derived from an Aboriginal expression meaning bare hills.
In 1918 at the second Australian town planning conference in Brisbane, the prospect of residential and industrial development of Seventeen Mile Rocks as an outlying district of Darra had been discussed, but the idea was well ahead of its time. In 1959 the prospect seemed more likely: metropolitan road traffic needed ring-road expressways, which included a western freeway with a river crossing. Centenary Estates Ltd (coinciding with 100 years of responsible government) financed a four lane bridge for its subdivisional development in Kenmore and Seventeen Mile Rocks, from which the suburb of Jindalee emerged. The Centenary Bridge was opened in 1964, a few years after the developer's first-named project, Centenary Golf Links, in Jindalee. The Centenary Highway/Western Freeway was completed in 1969.
Jindalee primary school was opened in 1966, and next year the 'Jindalee Scouts Jamboree', Australia's 8th national scout gathering, was held south of the new suburb in the un-subdivided area soon to be called Jamboree Heights. Jindalee's population was estimated at 2500 in 1971 and had a census count of 5116 in 1976. A bowling club and a swimming pool were opened just west of the golf course, and further west Jindalee Central shopping centre (1960). Larger drive-in shopping (direct factory outlet) was also built next to the Centenary Highway. Jindalee Hotel (1973), a popular western-suburbs venue, was revamped in 2003.
Secondary education was out of the way for several years, the choices being Oxley Secondary College (1966) and Indooroopilly High school (1954) across the river. Forty years after the Centenary celebrations, Centenary High school, west of the golf course, was opened. By then, Jindalee's peak population year had passed, the median age was two years more than that of metropolitan Brisbane, and the school site had been reserved for nearly 25 years.
Jindalee is not one of Brisbane's higher priced residential suburbs, but it does have a river frontage. Prices vary accordingly. In 2004 Centenary Quays, a gated community east of the Centenary Bridge, was completed.
FLOODS 2011
The several parks and the golf course were covered by floodwaters in January 2011, also spreading to the State primary school and houses around Jindalee and Looranah Streets. The Centenary High school was above flood level, but some adjoining houses were not. Centenary Quays barely kept its nose above water.
Jindalee's census populations have been:
| Census Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1971 | *2512 |
| 1976 | 5116 |
| 1986 | 5919 |
| 2001 | 5133 |
| 2006 | 4989 |
| 2011 | 5113 |
Meg Gordon, Thomas Boyland, an adaptive man: pioneer steamboat proprietor, coal miner, pastoralist, Centenary Suburbs Historical Society, 2008
Meg Gordon, When river was roadway: pioneer farmers of Brisbane’s Seventeen Mile Rocks district, Centenary Suburbs Historical Society, 2011
