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Our Story

From vision to

Transformation

The vision for the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct began in 2001, when the Queensland Government and City of Gold Coast endorsed 200 hectares in Southport as a future-focused economic and innovation zone. More than two decades later, that vision has grown into Asia-Pacific’s emerging innovation hub. 

Our story is one of collaboration, ambition and transformation. From a health and education cluster to a vibrant, multidisciplinary ecosystem spanning health, biotech, sportstech, AI, clean energy, defence and advanced manufacturing. 

Key Milestones

  • 1990 – Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus opens, laying the foundation for health and research excellence. 
  • 2000 – The Institute for Glycomics is established—Australia’s only institute of its kind. 
  • 2001 – GCHKP is formally recognised as a strategic economic zone. 
  • 2013 – Gold Coast University Hospital opens as one of Australia’s largest teaching hospitals. 
  • 2014 – Light rail connects the precinct to the broader Gold Coast. 
  • 2016 – Gold Coast Private Hospital opens; construction begins on the Commonwealth Games Athletes Village. 
  • 2018 – The Athletes Village is transformed into Smith Collective, Australia’s first built-to-rent residential and retail community. 
  • 2019 – Cohort Innovation Space opens and expands twice to become Queensland’s largest co-working and innovation hub. 
  • 2021–2023 – Major private projects break ground in the Lumina Commercial Cluster, including Proxima (children’s health, health administration and allied health) and RDX (life sciences, digital health and research centre). 
  • 2025 – RDX officially opens  

Today we are home to:

16,000+ workers

1,000+ researchers

2,500+ residents

20,000+ students

50+ SMEs and startups

150+ clinical trials

With $250 million of private development currently underway, 9.5 hectares of commercial land in Lumina, and new infrastructure like HATRIC (Health and Advanced Technology Research Innovation Centre) on the horizon, our next chapter is just beginning. 

We’re not just building a precinct, we’re creating a place where you can live, study, work, invest and grow within a connected community of people transforming lives. 

Want to be a part of our

next chapter?

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GCHKP

Success Stories

Clare Minahan

Come and experience the ecosystem they’ve dropped themselves into, it’s incredibly powerful because of the people that are coming, the people you have access to, and the athletes you have access to. It’s not just an environment of opportunity, it’s incredibly positive. If you came and experienced that ecosystem, you’d find those two major pillars: access, and a really positive environment.

Clare Minahan – Associate Professor, Griffith University

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When I think about the number of elite athletes we have at Griffith University, right here on our doorstep, and the way we can connect sports tech companies directly to them, it’s incredible. Add to that the semi-professional athletes at the Southport Sharks and the fact that sport is in the Gold Coast’s DNA. We’re so lucky to have an innovation precinct purpose-built to support sports tech, it’s a game changer.

Craig Rowsell – Director, Gold Coast Health & Knowledge Precinct

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Mayor Tom Tate

The 2018 Commonwealth Games put us on the world stage for sport and innovation, and one thing about the Gold Coast is, once we’re on the world stage, we don’t get off it. That momentum sparked lasting legacies like the Health and Knowledge Precinct, along with other high-performance centres across the city. It all feeds off each other, and that’s how the best in sports tech find their way to the Gold Coast.

Tom Tate – Gold Coast Mayor

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As a student passionate about advanced medical research and its potential to transform lives, the Precinct offers an ideal environment for connecting with like-minded and leading individuals. The people here are proactive, always ready to offer support and inspiration, making it a fantastic place for someone like me who is just starting.  

Dennis Nguyen – Student

Griffith University
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Coming back from the US, where we work very closely with the world-renowned Texas Heart Institute, to see the expansion of the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct made it really attractive for us to bring our technology back here to work with a world-leading laboratory at Griffith.

DANIEL TIMMS, Founder and CTO

BiVACOR
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We acknowledge and pay respects to the people of the Yugambeh language region of the Gold Coast and all their descendants both past and present. We also acknowledge the many Aboriginal people from other regions as well as Torres Strait and South Sea Islander people who now live in the local area and have made an important contribution to the community.