# Gindie

Gindie is a rural locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Gindie had a population of 232 people.

## Geography

The settlement of Fernlees is located in southern Gindie (23°51′24″S 148°07′30″E﻿ / ﻿23.8567°S 148.1250°E﻿ / -23.8567; 148.1250﻿ (Fernlees)).
The Gregory Highway passes through the locality from north (Emerald) to south (Minerva) passing through the town of Fernlees. The Blackwater railway line passes through the locality parallel and immediately east of the highway with a railway siding at Fernlees (23°51′20″S 148°07′27″E﻿ / ﻿23.8556°S 148.1242°E﻿ / -23.8556; 148.1242﻿ (Fernless railway siding)).

## History

The name Gindie means "much brigalow".
Gindie Provisional School (also known as Gindie Siding Provisional School) opened 12 November 1897, becoming Gindie State School on 1 January 1909. The school closed in 1949 but later reopened.
The Gindie State Farm was established In 1898 to experiment with growing new kinds of crops in the district such as sorghum, maize and pumpkins. The farm closed in 1932.
Fernlees State School opened on 20 September 1951 and closed in 1953. It was on a 2-acre (0.81 ha) site off to the west the Gregory Highway north of the town (approx 23°50′52″S 148°07′17″E﻿ / ﻿23.8479°S 148.1214°E﻿ / -23.8479; 148.1214﻿ (Fernlees State School (former))).
Fernlees Methodist Church was established in 1959 at 2780 Gregory Highway (23°51′23″S 148°07′31″E﻿ / ﻿23.8564°S 148.1252°E﻿ / -23.8564; 148.1252﻿ (Fernless Methodist/Uniting Church (former))). Following the amalgamation of the Methodist Church into the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, it became the Fernlees Uniting Church. It closed in 2007. It is now a private residence.
On 17 April 2020, the Queensland Government re-drew the boundaries of localities within the Central Highlands Region by replacing the locality of The Gemfields with three new localities of Rubyvale, Sapphire Central and Anakie Siding (around the towns of Rubyvale, Sapphire, and Anakie respectively). This included adjusting the boundaries of other existing localities in the Region to accommodate these changes; Gindie gaining the south-eastern corner of The Gemfields and gaining the eastern edge of Lochington, but losing a small area of its northern part and a small area from its north-east part to Anakie Siding, increasing the area of the locality from 1,293.4 to 1,335.3 square kilometres (499.4 to 515.6 sq mi). As a consequence of these changes, Lake Maraboon is now entirely within the north-west of Gindie and the boundary between Lochington and Minerva/Gindie more closely follows the course of the Nogoa River.

## Demographics

In the 2011 census, Gindie had a population of 382 people.
In the 2016 census, Gindie had a population of 209 people.
In the 2021 census, Gindie had a population of 232 people.

## Education

Gindie State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at the corner of Old Cullen-la-ringo Road and the Gregory Highway (23°43′27″S 148°08′27″E﻿ / ﻿23.7242°S 148.1408°E﻿ / -23.7242; 148.1408﻿ (Gindie State School)). In 2013, the school had an enrolment of 40 students in two classes, P-2 and 3-7, with 3 teachers (2 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 35 students with 4 teachers (3 full-time equivalent) and 8 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent).
Camp Fairbairn Outdoor Education Centre is an Outdoor and Environmental Education Centre at Fairbairn Dam (23°39′52″S 148°05′31″E﻿ / ﻿23.6645°S 148.0920°E﻿ / -23.6645; 148.0920﻿ (Camp Fairbairn Outdoor Education Centre)). It has a principal, 3 teachers and 3 non-teaching staff. It offers basic residential accommodation and outdoor programs for students from Prep to Year 12.
There is no secondary school in Gindie. The nearest secondary school is Emerald State High School in neighbouring Emerald to the north.