Sunnybank is now a suburb in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia much reduced in size from the previous suburb of Sunnybank. The separate Town of Sunnybank was absorbed into the City of Brisbane. This older Sunnybank area is still known locally as Sunnybank. Rolling hills and the headwaters for both Stable Swamp Creek and Bulimba Creek have drawn people and wildlife to the Sunnybank area.
At the 2011 Australian Census the suburb recorded a population of 8,091. In the early 1980s, an increasing number of Asian immigrants began to settle in Sunnybank and neighbouring suburbs. When this happened the look of the area changed, especially in the outlying business district of Sunnybank at the intersection of Mains Road and McCullough Street, where Asian restaurants and businesses are numerous.
Sunnybank is today a thriving multicultural suburb, with strong Asian influences in design, food and culture. Many of the suburb’s shops and businesses are owned and run by people of Asian descent who call Australia home, with many bilingual business signs written in Chinese and English.
Sunnybank is a busy area, and there have been ever-growing traffic problems in the area. Mains Road can become gridlocked around peak-hour, packed with cars and buses, as commuters make the slow ride home, although construction has widened and improved the Mains Road bridge which crosses the train line at Altandi. Sunnybank plaza has a large bus station, which serves as one of the major stops on most bus routes in the area. Banoon railway station, Sunnybank railway station and Altandi railway station provides access to regular Citytrain services to Brisbane and Beenleigh.
Sunnybank neighbourhood has many spiritual sites, including Anglican, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Catholic, Chinese Methodists, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Churches of Christ, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Runcorn Christian, Southside International Church, The Great Commission and Uniting churches, Chung Tian Temple, Masjid Al Farooq (Kuraby Mosque), and The Brisbane Synagogue. Schools in the area include Sunnybank State School, Sunnybank State High School and St Thomas More College (Catholic).
Sunnybank includes shopping centres along Mains Rd, such as Sunnybank Plaza, which features a Kmart, Coles and a Hoyts Cinemas. Sunny Park shopping centre is located across the road from Sunnybank Plaza and features a Woolworths & Aldi supermarket. The centre was previously anchored by a Big W discount department store, which is the only Big W store in Brisbane that has closed, and a Sam’s Warehouse store, which has also since closed. Market Square, located across from these two centres, is a community-based centre that is Asian-focused, featuring numerous Asian shops and restaurants. Other shopping centres that are nearby to Sunnybank include Centro Pinelands, Oasis Shopping Village, Westfield Garden City, Sunnybank Hills Shoppingtown and Calamvale Central.