Wondai

Wondai is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia.

Wondaiis a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Wondai had a population of 1,973 people.

The name Wondai is believed to be an aboriginal word from the Wakawaka language derived from either watya meaning dingo (a native dog) or wandar meaning nape of the neck.Wondai was first settled in the 1850s and closer settlement took place in the early 1900s.

Wondai Provisional School opened on 2 May 1905. On 1 January 1909 it became Wondai State School. A secondary department was added in 1964.Wondai Methodist Church opened on 3 October 1908, being replaced by the current church building on 9 August 1914. When the Methodist Church amalgamated into the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, it became Wondai Uniting Church.St Mary's Anglican Church was dedicated on Thursday 21 September 1939 by Archbishop William Wand. It replaced an earlier church.On Sunday 31 January 1954 Archibishop James Duhig opened the St John the Baptist Primary Catholic School in Wondai. It was operated the Presentation Sisters who already operated a convent school in Murgon.The school was alway small with only two or three teachers serving there.In January 1968 it was decided that the two teachers should travelby car from the Murgon convent each day rather than operate a separate convent in Wondai. With student numbers falling below 30 and the Murgon Catholic School being only 9 miles (14 km) away, the St John's school closed at the end of 1969.In the 2006 census Wondai had a population of 1,402 people.In the 2011 census Wondai had a population of 2,127 people.In the 2016 census Wondai had a population of 1,973 people.