Ipswich is a city in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River, it is approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of the Brisbane central business district. The city is renowned for its architectural, natural and cultural heritage. Ipswich preserves and operates from many of its historical buildings, with more than 6000 heritage-listed sites and over 500 parks. Ipswich was founded in 1827 as a mining settlement. The suburb of the same name is its central business district. In the 2021 census, the population of the urban area of Ipswich was 115,913 people.

South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. The area covered by South East Queensland varies, depending on the definition of the region, though it tends to include Queensland's three largest cities: the capital city Brisbane; the Gold Coast; and the Sunshine Coast. Its most common use is for political purposes, and covers 35,248 square kilometres (13,609 sq mi) and incorporates 11 local government areas, extending 240 kilometres (150 mi) from Noosa in the north to the Gold Coast and New South Wales border in the south, and 140 kilometres (87 mi) west to Toowoomba. It is the third largest urban area in Australia by population.