General News
19 January, 2026
Education key to our growth
FROM a single schoolhouse in 1877, Cairns’ education sector has grown into a diverse and vibrant system.
Cairns State High School, established in 1917, is one of Queensland’s oldest, with generations of leaders and athletes among its alumni.
Catholic schools such as St Monica’s and St Augustine’s colleges offered alternatives in early years.
Cairns has a well-established independent school sector with the likes of Trinity Anglican School and Freshwater Christian College.
The 1980s brought TAFE expansion, followed by James Cook University’s Cairns campus in 1995 – offering tropical health, environmental science and business degrees.
CQUniversity (CQU) established a presence in Cairns as a distance education hub in 2012 and opened its first physical campus in 2015.
The Cairns Aviation Skills Centre and Great Barrier Reef International Marine College (TAFE QLD) also provide industry-specific training.
The city remains a hub for international students, thanks to English language colleges and cultural exchange programs.
Some things never change
But some things never change. Like the corner of Shield and Lake streets where Hides Hotel and the School of Arts buildings are located in the heart of our city.
A School of Arts has been in Cairns since 1886. Sometimes known as Mechanics’ Institutes, School of Arts were community-based institutions which were popular in the colonies in the 19th and early 20th century.
They provided educational opportunities for adults (usually men) to have access to books and learning as well as a place to meet, make friends and make network connections.
Since 1958, the Cairns Historical Society has been situated in the School of Arts building – a silent grand old lady which has overseen many changes to the city of Cairns.
Life and death of a school
The Cairns State School opened with 50 students on 19 August 1878, in a private house on the Esplanade.
It did not go well at first, the Department of Public Instruction failing to send books, furniture and the teacher’s salary for a few months.
Despite this, the school grew quickly, with a new building in a newly-declared school reserve in 1885.
It grew so large that in 1914 it was split into a boys’ school and a new girls’ and infants’ school, with a new building and a headmistress to suit.
In 1943 the boys’ and girls’ sections combined into the Cairns Central State School – ‘central’ as by then so many other schools had opened around Cairns.
The older children used the former girls and infants school building, while the littlies went into the former boy’s school building despite the fact that it was literally falling apart.
The infants section continued to be separate until 1961. The old timber buildings were replaced by two new wings made from concrete and brick in the 1950s and 1960s.
As in so many other cities, enrolments in the older central schools declined as inner city suburbs became more commercial.
By 1994 only 72 children were enrolled at Cairns Central and the school closed in December that year.
It was sold off by the state government, much to the community’s outrage. Despite a promise to keep the old playground trees, they too are gone and the entire block is now a hotel resort. No visitor there today would guess that they walk over nearly 100 years of children’s school lives.
Celebrating years of learning
For generations, Cairns Libraries have quietly played a powerful role in shaping education outcomes across the region – supporting learners from their earliest years through to adulthood, and creating welcoming spaces where knowledge is shared, skills are built and curiosity thrives.
As Cairns prepares to mark a major milestone in 2026, residents are encouraged to look out for exciting library events as part of the Cairns Celebrates 150 Years program.
Libraries across the region will play an important role in telling Cairns’ story – hosting special activities, exhibitions and learning experiences that reflect the people, places and moments that have shaped the city.
