Evans Head

North Coast

The small coastal town of Evans Head is a popular holiday resort located between the Evans River, kilometres of beaches and national parks.

A Grouping

MMM5

Location

Evans Head, located in the Richmond Valley of Northern NSW, is 710 km (7.5 hr drive) north of Sydney, 218 km (2.5 hour drive) south of Brisbane and approximately 40 km (40 min drive) from the larger centres of Lismore and Ballina.

Evans Head is known for tourism, sugar cane farming, dairying and its fishing fleet - it lays claim to being the first prawning port in Australia.

How to get there

The Ballina Byron Gateway Airport is 42 km (40 min drive) from Evans Head. Ballina The airport provides direct links to Sydney, Melbourne and Newcastle with either Jetstar, Virgin Australia, REX or Fly Pelican.

There is a North Coast rail service daily or overnight train from Sydney to Brisbane via coach transfer at Casino.

Population

Evans Head is home to nearly 3000 people and the median age of its residents is 51 years. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up almost 5% of the population.

Healthcare facilities

The closest hospital to Evans Head is Lismore Base Hospital, 43 km (40 min drive), is a level 5 base regional referral hospital that is an accredited teaching hospital and is the largest within the Local Health District. Lismore also has a Community Health Centre located near the hospital. It is the designated regional trauma centre and provides specialist services in emergency medicine. It also provides medical staff for the Local Health District retrieval service that covers from Coffs Harbour in the south to Tweed Heads in the north.

St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Lismore, with 130 beds, is an acute surgical, medical, rehabilitation and palliative care hospital that provides a range of hospital services.

A new HealthOne is currently being built on the site of the existing Community Health Centre in Evans Head. During construction, community health services have been temporarily relocated.

There is an Ambulance Service of NSW station in Evans Head.

Accredited GP practices

Evans Head Medical Centre

Industry

The major industry sectors employing residents of Evans Head are: cafes and restaurants, hospitals, primary and secondary education and ages care residential services.

Education

There is one school located in Evans Head that caters for kindergarten to Year 12: Evans River K-12 School. Nearby Lismore and Ballina offer numerous additional educational opportunities for primary and high school students. Tertiary education options are also available in Lismore including North Coast TAFE Lismore Campus and Southern Cross University.

Childcare

There is long day care and a preschool in Evans Head, while in nearby Ballina and Lismore there are numerous additional child care facilities including before school care, long and occasional child care, vacation care, after school care and family day care.

Shopping

Evans Head has an IGA and 5 Star supermarket as well as boutique and specialty retail stores, cafes and restaurants and weekend markets. More extensive retail shopping opportunities are available in nearby Lismore and Ballina.

Places of worship

In Evans Head there are Presbyterian, Wellspring and Catholic churches. The nearby towns Lismore and Ballina offer additional places of worship options, including Anglican, Baptist, Christian, Jehovah’s Witness, Seventh Day Adventist and Uniting churches. There is an Islamic masallah in Lismore.

Points of interest

Evans Head is located between Bundjalung and The Broadwater national parks. The adjacent ocean beach is popular for fishing, surfing and swimming and the Evans River estuary provides opportunities for water sports including kayaking, canoeing, swimming and paddle boarding. There are also local museums and regular events including the Evans Head Fishing Classic, the youth festival Crankfest, the Beef Meets Reef food festival and aviation shows, events can be found in the Richmond Valley Calendar of Events.

Sporting activities

Evans Head has a range of sporting clubs and facilities, including little athletics, rugby league, rugby union, dance, bowling, swimming and surf life saving. Contact details for local sporting clubs and facilities can be found at Richmond Valley Sporting Clubs.

Community groups and activities

Community groups, clubs and volunteer organisations in Evans Head include Marine Rescue Evans Head, Evans Head-Casino SLSC Inc., Evans Head View Club, Lions Club of Mid-Richmond River and Evans Head CWA.