The Woorabinda Aboriginal Community is 180 km west of Gladstone.
The community came about from the transfer of the Taroom settlement when the Dawson Valley irrigation works encroached on the area. In 1926 the Wooroona property was acquired by the State Government and placed under the management of a State Supervisor who named it Woorabinda. It is thought that the name is an Aboriginal reference to kangaroos. The settlement began in 1927. Beginning with cattle grazing, the settlement diversified into fruit, vegetables, dairying and fodder production. Substantial land clearing and fencing were needed.
In 2002 the Woorabinda Aboriginal Council for local government was formed. Its area is 391 sq km, with responsibility for lands at Woorabinda and north of Duaringa and south of Bauhinia.
Woorabinda has a pastoral company, a hospital, a community hall, a sports complex, a swimming pool, a general store and a primary school (1928). There are two churches and the Aboriginal Inland Mission has resident lay pastors. Its census populations have been:
| Census Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1933 | 251 |
| 1961 | 286 |
| 1981 | 606 |
| 1991 | 1018 |
| 2001 | 961 |
| 2006 | 851 |
| 2011 | 945 |
Denise Turner, Duaringa Shire: 100 years of local government 1881-1981, Duaringa, Duaringa Shire Council, 1981
J.C. Clements, ed., Worrabinda 1927-1977, 1977
