Oxley is a south-western suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is from the Brisbane GPO by road. The suburb contains a mix of residential and industrial land. In the , Oxley had a population of 9,100 people. In the east the environment is shaped by flood plains which experience major flooding and flash-flooding. The suburb is traversed by the Ipswich Motorway connecting Oxley to Rocklea to the east and Darra to the west. Oxley Road connects Oxley to Corinda to the north and continues south across the Ipswich Motorway with the name Blunder Road to Durack, Seventeen Mile Rocks Road connects Oxley to the west to Seventeen Mile Rocks and Darra. Oxley is separated from Fig Tree Pocket by the Brisbane River. and Corinda Golf Course located on Cliveden Avenue, the latter of which has now been purchased by Brisbane Boys' College as their playing fields along with the driving range. Oxley also contains the Canossa Private Hospital and.the Queensland Police Service's training academy.
The former Austral Bricks quarry site in Douglas Street, as well as two other plots of vacant land in the area have been converted to residential estates. The quarry was originally owned by Brittain Bricks. For many years the site was a brickworks, sourcing clay directly from adjacent pits. After production stopped, the kiln stack remained intact. During the mid-1990s the tall structure was removed as it was attracting lightning strikes.
History
The area that is now known as Oxley has been an important place to Aboriginal people for thousands of years. The banks of Benarrawa, the original name for Oxley Creek, were home to clans such as the Yerongpan and Chepora, part of the Yugara and Yugarabul peoples. Surrounded by dense forest and abundant wildlife like kangaroos (murri), koalas (dumbirrbi), turtles (binkin), and black swans (marutchi), This area also served as a transit route (kul'gun) for other clans travelling throughout the region. Many traditional land management and hunting techniques were used around Benarrawa, such as firestick farming and the use of ingenious fishing methods like traps and chemical stunning.
19th century
Oxley Creek was named in honour of John Oxley who first surveyed it in December 1823. Initially Oxley had called the creek Canoe Creek. This was in recognition of the first Europeans to reach the creek, Thomas Pamphlett, John Finnegan, Richard Parsons who reached the area after being shipwrecked on Stradbroke Island. At Oxley Creek the three found two canoes, one of which was used to cross the river and travel downstream. In 1925, Edmund Lockyer, during his survey of the Brisbane River, named it Oxley Creek in honour of John Oxley.
The first land sale that covered parts of today's Oxley occurred in 1851. Oxley once covered a larger area including the suburbs of Chelmer, Graceville and Corinda to the north. It extended to the south into the current suburbs of Willawong and Durack. The first subdivision of residential lands occurred in 1864 near Douglas Street.
thumb|Travelling sugar mill, Walrus, circa 1870
By the late 1860s the area had grown sufficiently to support a hotel, racecourse, post office and churches.
thumb|Steam engine at Oxley Railway Station, 1876
In 1874, the Oxley railway station was opened on the Main Line railway from Brisbane to Ipswich. This led to the establishment of a second subdivision in 1876, referred to as the Township of Oxley which was centred on the train station. It consisted of 140 allotments with the lower ones experiencing periodic inundation. In the same year the construction of the first police station was completed.
Mrs Janet O'Connor Girls School opened in 1885 and closed in 1920. Newspaper advertisements for the auction state the Estate has splendid river frontage and is only five minutes' walk from Oxley Station.
20th century
A sailing club was established in 1902.thumb|Motor vehicles in the bush, 1930The Oxley Golf Club was established in 1928. Its golf course was officially opened for play on Saturday 23 March 1929.
A Methodist church was built in 1930.
The Oxley Scout Group was formed in 1951 and in 1955 the Oxley fire station was established. However, as at 2022, the suburb of Oxley is not within Centenary State High School's catchment area. Oxley Secondary College was off Clivenden Avenue (). The Bunnings warehouse on Blunder Road was flooded and was closed for 2 months.
The 2022 floods in Brisbane affected parts of Oxley. The Bunnings warehouse was flooded again.
Demographics
In the , the population of Oxley was 7,291, 51.1% female and 48.9% male. The median age of the Oxley population was 34 years of age, 3 years below the Australian median. 64.4% of people living in Oxley were born in Australia, slightly below the national average of 69.8%. The other top responses for country of birth were Vietnam 4.3%, England 3.7%, New Zealand 3.3%, Philippines 1.4%, India 1.2%. 72.1% of people spoke only English at home, the next most popular languages were 6.1% Vietnamese, 1% Hindi, 1% Arabic, 1% Mandarin, 0.8% Cantonese.
In the , Oxley had a population of 8,336 people.
In the , Oxley had a population of 9,100 people.
Heritage listings
thumb|[[Oxley War Memorial, 2014]]
Oxley has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- The Fort, 199 Fort Road ()
- Oxley War Memorial, 1218 Oxley Road ()
Education
Oxley State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at Bannerman Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 475 students with 36 teachers (29 full-time equivalent) and 22 non-teaching staff (15 full-time equivalent).
There is no secondary school in Oxley. The nearest government secondary schools are Corinda State High School in neighbouring Corinda to the north and Glenala State High School in neighbouring Durack to the south.
Oxley Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant is a sewage treatment plant at the northern end of Donaldson Road ().
Amenities
The Oxley branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the QCWA Oxley Hall at 76 Lincoln Street.
There are a number of churches in Oxley, including:
- Oxley-Darra Uniting Church, 114 Oxley Station Road
- Oxley Apostolic Church, 24 Irwin Terrace ()
Also, Oxley Samoan Church meets at Goodna State School at 1 Albert Street, Goodna. It is part of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia.
Canossa Retirement Village is at 11 Fort Road (). It is co-located with Canossa Private Hospital.
Despite its name, the Archerfield Wetlands is a greenspace precinct within the suburbs of Durack, Willawong, Rocklea, and Oxley in the Oxley Creek corridor. It borders the Archerfield Airport. The main entry point to the wetlands is via the Archerfield Wetlands District Park at 455 Bowhill Road, Durack. The district park replaces the former Inala wastewater treatment plant and has a number of indoor and outdoor community spaces, playgrounds with water features, and picnic and barbeque facilities. It is also the start of a number of walking and cycling trails through the larger wetlands. There is a northern entrance to the trails at 30 Gleneagles Crescent, Oxley ().
Transport
thumb|[[Oxley railway station, 2009]]
The Ipswich Motorway traverses Oxley and the train from Brisbane to Ipswich has a station at Oxley, and is connected to a number of suburbs via bus services. A CityExpress bus stop on Blunder Road links Inala Plaza bus station to the inner city using Ipswich Road. Oxley Road connects the Ipswich Motorway to the suburb of Indooroopilly via the Walter Taylor Bridge.