Towns in Australia

Exploring Australia, town by town

Kilkivan QLD

Kilkivan

Postcode: 4600

Kilkivan is a town and Local Government Area in the South Burnett region of Queensland, Australia. The town is located on the Wide Bay Highway, 224 kilometres north of the state capital, Brisbane and 54 kilometres west of Gympie. At the 2001 census, Kilkivan had a population of 329.

Kilkivan was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s, and a gold rush in the 1850s and 1860s accelerated growth. The town was named for a pastoral run owned by pastoralist John Daniel Mactaggart after his father’s farm name in Kintire, Scotland.

The whole Shire abounds in historic buildings and stations – many now beautifully restored and converted to charming bed & breakfasts, cellar doors, antique shops and living museums.

If you’re tired of the the monotonous sameness of coastal tourist resorts, you’ll find that Kilkivan Shire is a genuine breath of fresh air. We ‘re different – completely different – to the nearby Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay areas. And many people find they like us better because of that.