Coolum Beach is another of the many seaside communities in the Sunshine Coast area of Queensland. 105 kms north of Brisbane, Coolum Beach is a popular weekender destination for city dwellers, making domestic tourism, beach sports and recreation activities the main economic focus of the town. Coolum is named after the large mountain just south of the town. Coolum Mountain is an oddly shaped mountain - technically a Rock - the second largest in the world in fact, next to the iconic Ayers Rock. Mount Coolum is a National Park area, achieving protected status in the 1980s after local environmentalist groups challenged planned developments around the mountain. Coolum is also very near Noosa National Park which is to the north.

As at the 2006 Australian census the population of Coolum town was 7175. The area was first settled by colonists in 1871, with dairy-farming, logging and fruit-growing fuelling the economy. As roading and rail developed over the years the area came into its own as a place of holidaying and recreation. As developments flourished in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s the population grew accordingly. Since 2000 the town has had another real boom in development.

The climate of the town and its surrounds is typical of the Sunshine Coast and is one of its most attractive features. In summer months the average temperatures sit between 17-28° Celsius, the extremes of heat mitigated by sea-breezes making Coolum a very pleasant place to set up house.

For migrant families Coolum has up to 8 different primary and secondary schools to choose from, including Coolum State School years Prep - 7, Coolum State High School years 8-12 and Coolum Beach Christian College years Prep -12. Options nearby include St Andrews Anglican College about 5kms away at Peregian Springs (years Prep - 12) and the Noosa Pengari Steiner school at Doonan, years Prep - 9.