Merrimac State High School


Merrimac State High School is a public high school in Mermaid Waters. The school falls within Division 12 of Gold Coast council.

Motto

The motto pf the school is "Pride in Excellence", which is featured on the school's crest.

Administration

Staff

As of 2025, the school has a teaching staff of 84 and a non-teaching staff of 51.

Principals

In 1979, the first principal of the school was Brian Hallewell. As of 2026, the current principal is Rachel Cutajar. Recent principals have included:

Students

Years

In 2015, Anna Bligh's state-wide "Flying Start" program was officially implemented to align Queensland with the other states by transferring year 7 into the high school system, meaning that in 2015 Merrimac State High School started catering for years 7 - 12.

Student enrolments

In 2023, Merrimac State High School was reported to have a maximum student enrolment capacity of 1,492 students.
The trend in school enrolments has been:-

Sports

Houses

The school's four sports houses dervied the name from various Australian native animals and the translation of the names of those animals into the local indigenous language.
House NameMascotColourSurnamesRef
Pigin TurtlesTurtle RedA - E
Mibunn EaglesEagle YellowF - L
Bowai SharksShark BlueM - Q
Ngurun DingoesDingo WhiteR - Z

Notable alumni

Sports

NameGraduation DateSportAchievementRef
Marcus Ashcroft1988Australian rules footballFormer professional Australian rules footballer for Brisbane Bears and Brisbane Lions, and Gold Coast football coaching panel member. The Marcus Ashcroft Medal is named after him.
Caine Eckstein2002Surf lifesavingIronman champion
Grant Hackett1997SwimmingFormer professional Australian swimmer, gold medallist and world record holder, former "Regan Funds Management" Director, and current chief executive officer of "Generation Life".
Trevor Hendy1986Surf lifesavingIronman Champion and professional kayaker
Steven McLuckie1990Australian rules footballFormer Australian rules footballer for Brisbane Bears, 1993 Queensland-Northern Territory State of Origin squad member, 2000 List of [Brisbane Lions individual awards and records#Joe Grant Medal|Joe Grant Medal] winner, and Gold Coast school principal.
Amber Pilley2014Australian rugby league footballerCenter for both the Brisbane Broncos Women's Team and Indigenous All Stars.
Ricky Petterd2005Australian rules footballFormer Australian rules football player Melbourne Football Club and Richmond Football Club.

Entertainment

NameGraduation dateAchievementRef
Pete Evans1990Chef, author, and My Kitchen Rules judge