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Australia

This article is about the country. For the continent,see Australia (continent). For other uses, see Australia(disambiguation).

Coordinates: 27°S 133°E / 27°S 133°E

Australia (/ɒˈstreɪliə/, /ə-/, colloquially /-jə/),[10][11] of-ficially known as the Commonwealth of Australia,[12]

is an Oceanian country comprising the mainland of theAustralian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numer-

ous smaller islands. It is the world’s sixth-largest coun-try by total area. Neighbouring countries include PapuaNew Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; theSolomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and NewZealand to the south-east.

For about 50,000 years[13] before the first British settle-ment in the late 18th century,[14][15] Australia was inhab-ited by indigenous Australians,[16] who spoke languagesgrouped into roughly 250 language groups.[17][18] Afterthe European discovery of the continent by Dutch explor-ers in 1606, Australia’s eastern half was claimed by GreatBritain in 1770 and initially settled through penal trans-portation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 Jan-uary 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequentdecades; the continent was explored and an additionalfive self-governing crown colonies were established. On1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming theCommonwealth of Australia. Since federation, Australiahas maintained a stable liberal democratic political sys-tem that functions as a federal parliamentary democracyand constitutional monarchy comprising six states andseveral territories. The population of 23.6 million[5] ishighly urbanised and heavily concentrated in the easternstates and on the coast.[19]

Australia is a developed country and one of the wealth-iest in the world, with the world’s 12th-largest econ-omy. In 2014 Australia had the world’s fifth-highestper capita income.[20] Australia’s military expenditure isthe world’s 13th-largest. With the second-highest humandevelopment index globally, Australia ranks highly inmany international comparisons of national performance,such as quality of life, health, education, economic free-dom, and the protection of civil liberties and politicalrights.[21] Australia is a member of the United Nations,G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisationfor Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Co-

operation, and the Pacific Islands Forum.

1 Name

Main article: Name of Australia

The name Australia (pronounced [əˈstɹæɪljə, -liə] inAustralian English,[22]) is derived from the Latin TerraAustralis (“southern land”) a name used for putative landsin the southern hemisphere since ancient times.[23] Theearliest recorded use of the word Australia in English wasin 1625 in “A note of Australia del Espíritu Santo, writtenby Sir Richard Hakluyt”, published by Samuel Purchas inHakluytus Posthumus , a corruption of the original Spanishname “Austrialia del Espíritu Santo” (Southern Land ofthe Holy Spirit)[24][25][26] for an island in Vanuatu.[27] TheDutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutchbook in Batavia (Jakarta) in 1638, to refer to the newlydiscovered lands to the south.[28] The first time that thename Australia appears to have been officially used wasin a despatch to Lord Bathurst of 4 April 1817 in whichGovernor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledges the receiptof Capt. Flinders’ charts of Australia.[29] On 12 Decem-ber 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Of-

fice that it be formally adopted.[30] In 1824, the Admi-ralty agreed that the continent should be known officiallyas Australia.[31]

2 History

Main article: History of Australia

2.1 Prehistory

Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberley_(Western_Australia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachlan_Macquariehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakartahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jakartahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanuatuhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Purchashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Australishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Australishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Englishhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_English_phonologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islands_Forumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia-Pacific_Economic_Cooperationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia-Pacific_Economic_Cooperationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_for_Economic_Co-operation_and_Developmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_for_Economic_Co-operation_and_Developmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZUShttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nationshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-20_major_economieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nationshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_libertieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_freedomhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_freedomhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Indexhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Indexhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditureshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capitahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capitahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developed_countryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_states_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_states_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_and_territories_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_and_territories_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_monarchyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_democracyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_democracyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_colonieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Waleshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_transportationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_transportationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britainhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britainhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Republichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_languageshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australianshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Australia_(1788%E2%80%931850)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Australia_(1788%E2%80%931850)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanuatuhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Islandshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Timorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papua_New_Guineahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papua_New_Guineahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_areahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_areahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmaniahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_(continent)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceaniahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Englishhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Englishhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Englishhttps://tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Australia&params=27_S_133_E_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_coordinate_systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_(disambiguation)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_(disambiguation)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_(continent)


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2 2 HISTORY

Human habitation of the Australian continent is esti-mated to have begun between 42,000 and 48,000 yearsago,[32][33] possibly with the migration of people byland bridges and short sea-crossings from what is nowSoutheast Asia. These first inhabitants may have beenancestors of modern Indigenous Australians.[34] At the

time of European settlement in the late 18th century,most Indigenous Australians were hunter-gatherers, witha complex oral culture and spiritual values based on rev-erence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. TheTorres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were origi-nally horticulturalists and hunter-gatherers.[35] The north-ern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadi-cally by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia.[36]

2.2 European arrival

See also: European exploration of AustraliaThe first recorded European sighting of the Australian

Portrait of Captain James Cook , the first European to map the

eastern coastline of Australia in 1770

mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on theAustralian continent, are attributed to the Dutch naviga-tor Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape YorkPeninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 Febru-ary at the Pennefather River near the modern town ofWeipa on Cape York.[37] The Dutch charted the wholeof the western and northern coastlines and named the is-land continent "New Holland" during the 17th century,but made no attempt at settlement.[37] William Dampier,

an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688 and again in 1699on a return trip.[38] In 1770, James Cook sailed along

and mapped the east coast, which he named New SouthWales and claimed for Great Britain.[39] With the loss ofits American colonies in 1783, the British Governmentsent a fleet of ships, the "First Fleet", under the com-mand of Captain Arthur Phillip, to establish a new penalcolony in New South Wales. A camp was set up and the

flag raised at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, on 26 January1788,[15] a date which became Australia’s national day,AustraliaDay, although the British Crown Colony of NewSouth Wales was not formally promulgated until 7 Febru-ary 1788. The first settlement led to the foundation ofSydney, and the exploration and settlement of other re-gions.

Tasmania’s Port Arthur penal settlement is one of eleven UN-

ESCO World Heritage-listed Australian Convict Sites .

A British settlement was established in Van Diemen’sLand, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it be-came a separate colony in 1825.[40] The United Kingdomformally claimed the western part of Western Australia(the Swan River Colony) in 1828.[41] Separate colonieswere carved from parts of New South Wales: SouthAustralia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in1859.[42] The Northern Territory was founded in 1911when it was excised from South Australia.[43] South Aus-tralia was founded as a “free province”—it was nevera penal colony.[44] Victoria and Western Australia werealso founded “free”, but later accepted transported con-victs.[45][46] A campaign by the settlers of New South

Wales led to the end of convict transportation to thatcolony; the last convict ship arrived in 1848.[47]

The indigenous population, estimated to have been be-tween 750,000 and 1,000,000 in 1788,[48] declined for150 years following settlement, mainly due to infectiousdisease.[49] Thousands more died as a result of frontierconflict with settlers.[50] A government policy of “assimi-lation” beginning with the Aboriginal Protection Act 1869resulted in the removal of many Aboriginal children fromtheir families and communities—often referred to as theStolen Generations—a practice which may also have con-tributed to the decline in the indigenous population.[51]

The Federal government gained the power to make lawswith respect to Aborigines following the 1967 referen-dum.[52] Traditional ownership of land—aboriginal ti-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_title_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_referendum,_1967_(Aboriginals)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_referendum,_1967_(Aboriginals)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Generationshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_Protection_Act_1869https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_frontier_warshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_frontier_warshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convicts_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convicts_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Territoryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(Australia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_River_Colonyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Diemen%2527s_Landhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Diemen%2527s_Landhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Convict_Siteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur,_Tasmaniahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydneyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Overseas_Territorieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Dayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Jacksonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Covehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_colonyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_colonyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Philliphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cookhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dampierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Holland_(Australia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weipa,_Queenslandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennefather_Riverhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_York_Peninsulahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_York_Peninsulahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Janszoonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cookhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_exploration_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_Southeast_Asiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanesiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_Strait_Islandershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamtimehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_traditionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter-gathererhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_bridge


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tle—was not recognised until 1992, when the High Courtcase Mabo v Queensland (No 2) overturned the legal doc-trine that Australia had been terra nullius (“land belong-ing to no one”) before the European occupation.[53]

2.3 Colonial expansion

A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s[54] andthe Eureka Rebellion against mining licence fees in 1854was an early expression of civil disobedience.[55] Be-tween 1855 and 1890, the six colonies individually gainedresponsible government, managing most of their own af-fairs while remaining part of the British Empire.[56] TheColonial Office in London retained control of some mat-ters, notably foreign affairs[57] defence,[58] and interna-tional shipping.

2.4 Nationhood

The Last Post is played at an Anzac Day ceremony in Port Mel-

bourne , Victoria. Similar ceremonies are held in most suburbs

and towns.

On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies wasachieved after a decade of planning, consultation andvoting.[59] This established the Commonwealth of Aus-tralia as a dominion of the British Empire.[60] The Fed-eral Capital Territory (later renamed the Australian Cap-ital Territory) was formed in 1911 as the location forthe future federal capital of Canberra. Melbourne wasthe temporary seat of government from 1901 to 1927while Canberra was being constructed.[61] The North-ern Territory was transferred from the control of theSouth Australian government to the federal parliamentin 1911.[62] In 1914, Australia joined Britain in fight-ing World War I, with support from both the out-going Commonwealth Liberal Party and the incom-ing Australian Labor Party.[63][64] Australians took part

in many of the major battles fought on the WesternFront.[65] Of about 416,000 who served, about 60,000were killed and another 152,000 were wounded.[66] Many

Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and NewZealand Army Corps (ANZACs) at Gallipoli as the birthof the nation—its first major military action.[67][68] TheKokoda Track campaign is regarded by many as an anal-ogous nation-defining event during World War II.[69]

Britain’s Statute of Westminster 1931 formally endedmost of the constitutional links between Australia and theUK. Australia adopted it in 1942,[70] but it was backdatedto 1939 to confirm the validity of legislation passed by theAustralian Parliament during World War II.[71][72] Theshock of the United Kingdom’s defeat in Asia in 1942and the threat of Japanese invasion caused Australia toturn to the United States as a new ally and protector. [73]

Since 1951, Australia has been a formal military ally ofthe US, under the ANZUS treaty.[74] After World WarII Australia encouraged immigration from Europe. Sincethe 1970s and following the abolition of the White Aus-tralia policy, immigration from Asia and elsewhere was

also promoted.[75] As a result, Australia’s demography,culture, and self-image were transformed.[76] The finalconstitutional ties between Australia and the UK weresevered with the passing of the Australia Act 1986, end-ing any British role in the government of the AustralianStates, and closing the option of judicial appeals to thePrivy Council in London.[77] In a 1999 referendum, 55%of voters and a majority in every state rejected a pro-posal to become a republic with a president appointed bya two-thirds vote in both Houses of the Australian Par-liament. Since the election of the Whitlam Governmentin 1972,[78] there has been an increasing focus in foreign

policy on ties with other Pacific Rim nations, while main-taining close ties with Australia’s traditional allies andtrading partners.[79]

3 Government

Main articles: Government of Australia, Politics of Aus-tralia and Monarchy of Australia

Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a federal

Parliament House was opened in Canberra in 1988, replacing

the provisional Parliament House building , opened in 1927.

division of powers. It uses a parliamentary system of

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Parliament_House,_Canberrahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_House,_Canberrahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_monarchyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Rimhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_Whitlamhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_republic_referendum,_1999https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privy_councilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Act_1986https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Australia_policyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Australia_policyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZUShttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Australia_during_World_War_II#Defence_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Westminster_Adoption_Act_1942https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Westminster_1931https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokoda_Track_campaignhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaignhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_and_New_Zealand_Army_Corpshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_and_New_Zealand_Army_Corpshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Front_(World_War_I)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Front_(World_War_I)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Labor_Partyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Liberal_Partyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Melbourne,_Victoriahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Melbourne,_Victoriahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_Dayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Posthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empirehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsible_governmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Rebellionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_rushhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_nulliushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabo_v_Queensland_(No_2)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Court_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_title_in_Australia


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4 3 GOVERNMENT

government[80] with Elizabeth II at its apex as the Queenof Australia, a role that is distinct from her position asmonarch of the other Commonwealth realms. The Queenresides in the United Kingdom and is represented in Aus-tralia by the Governor-General at the federal level and bythe Governors at the state level, who by convention act on

the advice of her ministers.[81][82] The most notable ex-ercise to date of the Governor-General’s reserve powersoutside the Prime Minister’s request was the dismissal ofthe Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of1975.[83]

The federal government is separated into three branches:

• The legislature: the bicameral Parliament, definedin section 1 of the constitution as comprising theQueen (represented by the Governor-General), theSenate, and the House of Representatives;

• The executive: the Federal Executive Council, inpractice the Governor-General as advised by thePrime Minister and Ministers of State;[84]

• The judiciary: the High Court of Australia and otherfederal courts, whose judges are appointed by theGovernor-General on advice of the Council.

Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister of Australia

Peter Cosgrove, Governor-General of Australia

In the Senate (the upper house), there are 76 senators:twelve each from the states and two each from the main-land territories (the Australian Capital Territory and theNorthern Territory).[85] The House of Representatives(the lower house) has 150 members elected from single-member electoral divisions, commonly known as “elec-

torates” or “seats”, allocated to states on the basis ofpopulation,[86] with each original state guaranteed a min-imum of five seats.[87] Elections for both chambers arenormally held every three years, simultaneously; senatorshave overlapping six-year terms except for those from theterritories, whose terms are not fixed but are tied to theelectoral cycle for the lower house; thus only 40 of the76 places in the Senate are put to each election unless thecycle is interrupted by a double dissolution.[85]

Australia’s electoral system uses preferential voting for alllower house elections with the exception of Tasmania andthe ACT which, along with the Senate and most state up-

per houses, combine it with proportional representationin a system known as the single transferable vote. Votingis compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over inevery jurisdiction,[88] as is enrolment (with the exceptionof South Australia).[89] The party with majority supportin the House of Representatives forms the governmentand its leader becomes Prime Minister. In cases whereno party has majority support, the Governor-General hasthe constitutional power to appoint the Prime Ministerand, if necessary, dismiss one that has lost the confidenceof Parliament.[90]

There are two major political groups that usually form

government, federally and in the states: the AustralianLabor Party and the Coalition which is a formal group-ing of the Liberal Party and its minor partner, theNational Party.[91][92] Within Australian political culture,the Coalition is considered centre-right and the LaborParty is considered centre-left.[93] Independent membersand several minor parties have achieved representation inAustralian parliaments, mostly in upper houses.

Following a partyroom leadership challenge, Julia Gillardbecame the first female Prime Minister in June 2010.[94]

The most recent federal election was held on 7 Septem-ber 2013 and resulted in a majority government for

the Coalition. Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott wassworn into office as Prime Minister by the Governor-General of Australia on 18 September. In September2015, Malcolm Turnbull successfully challenged Abbottfor leadership of the Coalition, and was sworn in as PrimeMinister on the 15th.[95] With five Prime Ministers inas many years between 2010 and 2015, with most ofthose leadership changes occurring through leadershipspills rather than general elections, Australia has been de-scribed as the “coup capital of the democratic world”.[96]

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4 States and territories

Main article: States and territories of Australia

A clickable map of Australia’s states and mainlandterritories

Australia has six states—New South Wales (NSW),Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania(TAS), Victoria (VIC) and Western Australia (WA)—and two major mainland territories—the Australian Cap-ital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT). Inmost respects these two territories function as states, butthe Commonwealth Parliament can override any legisla-tion of their parliaments. By contrast, federal legislationoverrides state legislation only in areas that are set outin Section 51 of the Australian Constitution; state par-liaments retain all residual legislative powers, includingthose over schools, state police, the state judiciary, roads,public transport and local government, since these do notfall under the provisions listed in Section 51.[97]

Each state and major mainland territory has its ownparliament—unicameral in the Northern Territory, theACT and Queensland, and bicameral in the other states.The states are sovereign entities, although subject to cer-tain powers of the Commonwealth as defined by the Con-stitution. The lower houses are known as the LegislativeAssembly (the House of Assembly in South Australia andTasmania); the upper houses are known as the LegislativeCouncil. The head of the government in each state isthe Premier and in each territory the Chief Minister.The Queen is represented in each state by a Governor;and in the Northern Territory, the Administrator.[98] Inthe Commonwealth, the Queen’s representative is theGovernor-General.[99]

The federal parliament directly administers the followingterritories:[84]

• Ashmore and Cartier Islands

• Australian Antarctic Territory

• Christmas Island

• Cocos (Keeling) Islands

• Coral Sea Islands

• Heard Island and McDonald Islands

• Jervis Bay Territory, a naval base and sea port forthe national capital in land that was formerly part ofNew South Wales

The external territory of Norfolk Island previously ex-

ercised considerable autonomy under the Norfolk IslandAct 1979 through its own legislative assembly and anAdministrator to represent the Queen.[100] In 2015, the

Commonwealth Parliament abolished self-government,integrating Norfolk Island into the Australian tax and wel-fare systems and replacing its legislative assembly with acouncil.[101]

Macquarie Island is administered by Tasmania, and Lord

Howe Island by New South Wales.

5 Foreign relations and military

Main articles: Foreign relations of Australia andAustralian Defence ForceOver recent decades, Australia’s foreign relations have

Australian Army soldiers conducting a foot patrol during a joint

training exercise with US forces in Shoalwater Bay (2007).

been driven by a close association with the United Statesthrough the ANZUS pact, and by a desire to develop re-lationships with Asia and the Pacific, particularly throughASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum. In 2005 Australiasecured an inaugural seat at the East Asia Summit follow-ing its accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperationin Southeast Asia, and in 2011 attended the Sixth EastAsia Summit in Indonesia. Australia is a member of theCommonwealth of Nations, in which the CommonwealthHeads of Government meetings provide the main forumfor co-operation.[102]

Australia has pursued the cause of international trade lib-

eralisation.[103] It led the formation of the Cairns Groupand Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.[104][105] Aus-tralia is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Or-ganization,[106][107] and has pursued several major bilat-eral free trade agreements, most recently the Australia–United States Free Trade Agreement[108] and Closer Eco-nomic Relations with New Zealand,[109] with anotherfree trade agreement being negotiated with China—theAustralia–China Free Trade Agreement—and Japan,[110]

South Korea in 2011,[111][112] Australia–Chile Free TradeAgreement, and as of November 2015 has put the Trans-Pacific Partnership before parliament for ratification.[113]

Along with New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Malaysiaand Singapore, Australia is party to the Five Power De-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Power_Defence_Arrangementshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnershiphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnershiphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%E2%80%93Chile_Free_Trade_Agreementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%E2%80%93Chile_Free_Trade_Agreementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Koreahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%E2%80%93China_Free_Trade_Agreementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closer_Economic_Relationshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closer_Economic_Relationshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%E2%80%93United_States_Free_Trade_Agreementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%E2%80%93United_States_Free_Trade_Agreementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_for_Economic_Co-operation_and_Developmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_for_Economic_Co-operation_and_Developmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia-Pacific_Economic_Cooperationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairns_Grouphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_liberalisationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_liberalisationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Heads_of_Governmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Heads_of_Governmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nationshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_East_Asia_Summithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_East_Asia_Summithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Amity_and_Cooperation_in_Southeast_Asiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Amity_and_Cooperation_in_Southeast_Asiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia_Summithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islands_Forumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Southeast_Asian_Nationshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZUShttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoalwater_Bayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Armed_Forceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Armyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Defence_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Howe_Islandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Howe_Islandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macquarie_Islandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_administrative_heads_of_Norfolk_Islandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Islandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jervis_Bay_Territoryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heard_Island_and_McDonald_Islandshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Sea_Islandshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocos_(Keeling)_Islandshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Islandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Antarctic_Territoryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashmore_and_Cartier_Islandshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor-General_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrator_of_the_Northern_Territoryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_of_the_Australian_stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Ministerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premiers_of_the_Australian_stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_governmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_councilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_councilhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_househttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Assemblyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_Assemblyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_Assemblyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_househttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicameralismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliaments_of_the_Australian_states_and_territorieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_51_of_the_Australian_Constitutionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Territoryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Capital_Territoryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Capital_Territoryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainlandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(Australia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmaniahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queenslandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Waleshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federated_statehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_and_territories_of_Australia


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fence Arrangements, a regional defence agreement. Afounding member country of the United Nations, Aus-tralia is strongly committed to multilateralism[114] andmaintains an international aid program under which some60 countries receive assistance. The 2005–06 budgetprovides A$2.5 billion for development assistance.[115]

Australia ranks fifteenth overall in the Center for GlobalDevelopment's 2012 Commitment to Development In-dex.[116]

Australia’s armed forces—the Australian Defence Force(ADF)—comprise the Royal Australian Navy (RAN),the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force(RAAF), in total numbering 81,214 personnel (including57,982 regulars and 23,232 reservists) as of November2015. The titular role of Commander-in-Chief is vestedinthe Governor-General, who appoints a Chief of the De-fence Force from one of the armed services on the adviceof the government.[117] Day-to-day force operations are

under the command of the Chief, while broader admin-istration and the formulation of defence policy is under-taken by the Minister and Department of Defence.

In the 2015-16 budget, defence spending was A$31.9 bil-lion or 1.92% of GDP,[118] representing the 13th largestdefence budget.[119] Australia has been involved in UNand regional peacekeeping, disaster relief and armed con-flict, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq; it currently hasdeployed about 2,241 personnel in varying capacities to12 international operations in areas including Iraq andAfghanistan.[120]

6 Geography and climate

Main articles: Geography of Australia, Climate of Aus-tralia and Geology of Australia

Australia’s landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres

Climatic zones in Australia.[N 4]

(2,941,300 sq mi)[121] is on the Indo-Australian Plate.

Surrounded by the Indianand Pacific oceans,[N 5] it is sep-arated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, withthe Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and theTasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand.The world’s smallest continent[123] and sixth largest coun-try by total area,[124] Australia—owing to its size and

isolation—is often dubbed the “island continent”,[125] andis sometimes considered the world’s largest island.[126]

Australia has 34,218 kilometres (21,262 mi) of coastline(excluding all offshore islands),[127] and claims an exten-sive Exclusive Economic Zone of 8,148,250 square kilo-metres (3,146,060 sq mi). This exclusive economic zonedoes not include the Australian Antarctic Territory.[128]

Apart from Macquarie Island, Australia lies between lat-itudes 9° and 44°S, and longitudes 112° and 154°E.

The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef,[129]

lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extendsfor over 2,000 kilometres (1,240 mi). Mount Augustus,

claimed to be the world’s largest monolith,[130] is locatedin Western Australia. At 2,228 metres (7,310 ft), MountKosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range is the highestmountain on the Australian mainland. Even taller areMawson Peak (at 2,745 metres or 9,006 feet), on theremote Australian territory of Heard Island, and, in theAustralian Antarctic Territory, Mount McClintock andMount Menzies, at 3,492 metres (11,457 ft) and 3,355metres (11,007 ft) respectively.[131]

Coral of the Great Barrier Reef , the world’s largest coral reef

system.

Australia’s size gives it a wide variety of landscapes, withtropical rainforests in the north-east, mountain ranges inthe south-east, south-west and east, and dry desert in thecentre.[132] It is the flattest continent,[133] with the old-est and least fertile soils;[134][135] desert or semi-arid landcommonly known as the outback makes up by far thelargest portion of land.[136] The driest inhabited conti-nent, its annual rainfall averaged over continental area isless than 500 mm.[137] The population density, 2.8 inhab-itants per square kilometre, is among the lowest in theworld,[138] although a large proportion of the populationlives along the temperate south-eastern coastline.[139]

Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_densityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outbackhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deserts_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainforesthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reefhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reefhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Menzieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_McClintockhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heard_Island_and_McDonald_Islandshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawson_Peakhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Dividing_Rangehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kosciuszkohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kosciuszkohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Augustus_National_Parkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrier_Reefhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/154th_meridian_easthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/112th_meridian_easthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/44th_parallel_southhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9th_parallel_southhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macquarie_Islandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zonehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_by_areahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_outlying_territories_by_total_areahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_outlying_territories_by_total_areahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasman_Seahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Seahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timor_Seahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arafura_Seahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Australian_Platehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2015%E2%80%93present)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Okrahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_Australian_Defence_Force_deploymentshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_Australian_Defence_Force_deploymentshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraqhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditureshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditureshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Defence_(Australia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_for_Defence_(Australia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_the_Defence_Force_(Australia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_the_Defence_Force_(Australia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor-General_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander-in-Chiefhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Australian_Air_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Armyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Australian_Navyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Defence_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commitment_to_Development_Indexhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commitment_to_Development_Indexhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Global_Developmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Global_Developmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilateralismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Power_Defence_Arrangements


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which runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, NewSouth Wales and much of Victoria. The name is notstrictly accurate, because parts of the range consist oflow hills, and the highlands are typically no more than1,600 metres (5,249 ft) in height.[140] The coastal up-lands and a belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the

coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividingrange are large areas of grassland.[140][141] These in-clude the western plains of New South Wales, and theEinasleigh Uplands, Barkly Tableland, and Mulga Landsof inland Queensland. The northernmost point of theeast coast is the tropical-rainforested Cape York Penin-sula.[142][143][144][145]

Topographic map of Australia. Dark green represents the lowest

elevation and dark brown the highest

The landscapes of the Top End and the Gulf Country—with their tropical climate—include forest, woodland,wetland, grassland, rainforest and desert.[146][147][148] Atthe north-west corner of the continent are the sand-stone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley, and belowthat the Pilbara. To the south of these and inland, liemore areas of grassland: the Ord Victoria Plain andthe Western Australian Mulga shrublands.[149][150][151] Atthe heart of the country are the uplands of central Aus-

tralia. Prominent features of the centre and south includeUluru (also known as Ayers Rock), the famous sand-stone monolith, and the inland Simpson, Tirari and SturtStony, Gibson, Great Sandy, Tanami, and Great Victoriadeserts, with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southerncoast.[152][153][154][155]

The climate of Australia is significantly influencedby ocean currents, including the Indian Ocean Dipoleand the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, which is corre-lated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropicallow-pressure system that produces cyclones in northernAustralia.[156][157] These factors cause rainfall to vary

markedly from year to year. Much of the northern partof the country has a tropical, predominantly summer-rainfall (monsoon) climate.[137] The south-west corner of

the country hasa Mediterranean climate.[158] Muchof thesouth-east (including Tasmania) is temperate.[137]

7 Environment

Main article: Environment of AustraliaSee also: Fauna of Australia, Flora of Australia and Fungiof Australia

Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert,

The koala and the eucalyptus form an iconic Australian pair.

it includes a diverse range of habitats from alpineheaths to tropical rainforests, and is recognised as amegadiverse country. Fungi typify that diversity; an es-timated 250,000 species—of which only 5% have beendescribed—occur in Australia.[159] Because of the con-tinent’s great age, extremely variable weather patterns,and long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia’sbiota is unique. About 85% of flowering plants, 84%of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic.[160] Australia hasthe greatest number of reptiles of any country, with 755

species.[161]

Australian forests are mostly made up of evergreenspecies, particularly eucalyptus trees in the less aridregions; wattles replace them as the dominant speciesin drier regions and deserts.[162] Among well-knownAustralian animals are the monotremes (the platypus andechidna); a host of marsupials, including the kangaroo,koala, and wombat, and birds such as the emu and thekookaburra.[162] Australia is home to many dangerous an-imals including some of the most venomous snakes inthe world.[163] The dingo was introduced by Austronesianpeople who traded with Indigenous Australians around

3000 BCE.[164] Many animal and plant species becameextinct soon after first human settlement,[165] includingthe Australian megafauna; others have disappeared since

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European settlement, among them the thylacine.[166][167]

Many of Australia’s ecoregions, and the species withinthose regions, are threatened by human activitiesand introduced animal, chromistan, fungal and plantspecies.[168] All these factors have led to Australia hav-

ing the highest mammal extinction rate of any coun-try in the world.[169] The federal Environment Protec-tion and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the legalframework for the protection of threatened species.[170]

Numerous protected areas have been created under theNational Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’sBiological Diversity to protect and preserve uniqueecosystems;[171][172] 65 wetlands are listed under theRamsar Convention,[173] and 16 natural World HeritageSites have been established.[174] Australia was ranked3rd out of 178 countries in the world on the 2014Environmental Performance Index.[175]

7.1 Environmental issues

See also: Climate change in Australia, Greenhouse gasemissions in Australia and Pollution in AustraliaProtection of the environment is a major political is-

Drought affecting Lake Hume on the Upper Murray River

sue in Australia.[176][177] In 2007, the First Rudd Govern-ment signed the instrument of ratification of the KyotoProtocol. Nevertheless, Australia’s carbon dioxide emis-

sions per capita are among the highest in the world, lowerthan those of only a few other industrialised nations.[178]

Rainfall in Australia has slightly increased over the pastcentury, both nationwide and for two quadrants of thenation.[179]

According to the Bureau of Meteorology's 2011 Aus-tralian Climate Statement, Australia had lower than av-erage temperatures in 2011 as a consequence of a LaNiña weather pattern; however, “the country’s 10-yearaverage continues to demonstrate the rising trend in tem-peratures, with 2002–2011 likely to rank in the top twowarmest 10-year periods on record for Australia, at 0.52

°C above the long-term average”.[180] Furthermore, 2014was Australia’s third warmest year since national temper-ature observations commenced in 1910.[181][182] Water

restrictions are frequently in place in many regions andcities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due tourban population increases and localised drought.[183][184]

Throughout much of the continent, major flooding regu-larly follows extended periods of drought, flushing out in-land river systems, overflowing dams and inundating large

inland flood plains, as occurred throughout Eastern Aus-tralia in 2010, 2011 and 2012 after the 2000s Australiandrought.

A carbon tax was introduced in 2012 and helped to re-duce Australia’s emissions but was scrapped in 2014 un-der the Liberal Government.[185] Since the carbontax wasrepealed, emissions have again continued to rise.[186]

Australian biota has been severely impacted by changesoccurring since European settlement began in 1788,[187]

with more than 10% of mammal species lost in the past225 years.[188] There have also been 23 bird species or

subspecies,

[189]

4 amphibians and more than 60 plantspecies known to be lost during this period.[187] TheEnvironment Protection and Biodiversity ConservationAct of 1999 was designed to minimise further im-pacts on ecological communities in Australia and itsterritories.[190]

8 Economy

Main article: Economy of AustraliaSee also: Economic history of Australia, Median

household income in Australia and New Zealand andTransport in AustraliaAustralia is a wealthy country; it generates its

The Super Pit gold mine in Kalgoorlie , Western Australia, is the

nation’s largest open cut mine.[191]

income from various sources including mining-related exports, telecommunications, banking andmanufacturing.[192][193][194] It has a market economy, arelatively high GDP per capita, and a relatively low rate

of poverty. In terms of average wealth, Australia rankedsecond in the world after Switzerland in 2013, althoughthe nation’s poverty rate increased from 10.2% to

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_economyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-pit_mininghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalgoorliehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Pit_gold_minehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income_in_Australia_and_New_Zealandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income_in_Australia_and_New_Zealandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_Protection_and_Biodiversity_Conservation_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_Protection_and_Biodiversity_Conservation_Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Party_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_taxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000s_Australian_droughthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000s_Australian_droughthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floods_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drought_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_restrictions_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_restrictions_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Ni%C3%B1ahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Ni%C3%B1ahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Meteorologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capitahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capitahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocolhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocolhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Rudd_Governmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Rudd_Governmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Riverhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Humehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas_emissions_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas_emissions_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Performance_Indexhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sitehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sitehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsar_Conventionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ramsar_sites_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetlandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity_action_planhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity_action_planhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_areas_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromistahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine


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11.8%, from 2000/01 to 2013.[195][196] It was identifiedby the Credit Suisse Research Institute as the nationwith the highest median wealth in the world and thesecond-highest average wealth per adult in 2013.[195]

The Australian dollar is the currency for the nation, in-

cluding Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, andNorfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Islandstates of Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu. With the 2006merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the SydneyFutures Exchange, the Australian Securities Exchangebecame the ninth largest in the world.[197]

Ranked third in the Index of Economic Freedom(2010),[198] Australia is the world’s twelfth largest econ-omy and has the fifth highest per capita GDP (nomi-nal) at $66,984. The country was ranked second in theUnited Nations 2011 Human Development Index andfirst in Legatum's 2008 Prosperity Index.[199] All of Aus-

tralia’s major cities fare well in global comparative liv-ability surveys;[200] Melbourne reached top spot for thefourth year in a row on The Economist ' s 2014 list of theworld’s most liveable cities, followed by Adelaide, Syd-ney, and Perth in the fifth, seventh, and ninth placesrespectively.[201] Total government debt in Australia isabout $190 billion[202] – 20% of GDP in 2010.[203] Aus-tralia has among the highest house prices and some of thehighest household-debt levels in the world.[204]

Australian exports in 2006 shownas a percentage of the top market(Japan - A$32,425,000,000)

100101

Destination and value of Australian exports in 2006 [205]

An emphasis on exporting commodities rather than man-ufactured goods has underpinned a significant increase inAustralia’s terms of trade since the start of the 21st cen-tury, due to rising commodity prices. Australia has a bal-ance of payments that is more than 7% of GDP negative,and has had persistently large current account deficits formore than 50 years.[206] Australia has grown at an aver-age annual rate of 3.6% for over 15 years, in comparisonto the OECD annual average of 2.5%.[206] Australia wasthe only advanced economy not to experience a recessiondue to the global financial downturn in 2008–2009.[207]

However, the economies of six of Australia’s major trad-ing partners have been in recession, which in turn hasaffected Australia, significantly hampering its economicgrowth in recent years.[208][209] From 2012 to early 2013,

Australia’s national economy grew, but some non-miningstates and Australia’s non-mining economy experienceda recession.[210][211][212]

The Hawke Government floated the Australian dol-lar in 1983 and partially deregulated the financialsystem.[213] The Howard Government followed with apartial deregulation of the labour market and the fur-ther privatisation of state-owned businesses, most notablyin the telecommunications industry.[214] The indirect tax

system was substantially changed in July 2000 with the in-troduction of a 10% Goods and Services Tax (GST).[215]

In Australia’s tax system, personal and company incometax are the main sources of government revenue.[216]

In May 2012, there were 11,537,900 people employed(either full- or part-time), with an unemployment rateof 5.1%.[217] Youth unemployment (15–24) stood at11.2%.[217] Data released in mid-November 2013 showedthat the number of welfare recipients had grown by 55%.In 2007 228,621 Newstart unemployment allowance re-cipients were registered, a total that increased to 646,414in March 2013.[218] According to the Graduate Careers

Survey, full-time employment for newly qualified pro-fessionals from various occupations has declined since2011 but it increases for graduates three years aftergraduation.[219][220]

Since 2008, inflation has typically been 2–3% and thebase interest rate 5–6%. The service sector of the econ-omy, including tourism, education, and financial services,accounts for about 70% of GDP.[221] Rich in naturalresources, Australia is a major exporter of agriculturalproducts, particularly wheat and wool, minerals such asiron-ore and gold, and energy in the forms of liquifiednatural gas and coal. Although agriculture and natu-

ral resources account for only 3% and 5% of GDP re-spectively, they contribute substantially to export per-formance. Australia’s largest export markets are Japan,China, the US, South Korea, and New Zealand.[222] Aus-tralia is the world’s fourth largest exporter of wine, andthe wine industry contributes $5.5 billion per year to thenation’s economy.[223]

9 Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Australia, Immigrationto Australia and List of cities in Australia by populationFor generations, the vast majority of immigrants came

from the British Isles, and the people of Australia arestill mainly of British or Irish ethnic origin. In the2011 Australian census, the most commonly nominatedancestry was English (36.1%), followed by Australian(35.4%),[224] Irish (10.4%), Scottish (8.9%), Italian(4.6%), German (4.5%), Chinese (4.3%), Indian (2.0%),Greek (1.9%), and Dutch (1.7%).[225]

Australia’s population has quadrupled since the endof World War I,[226] much of this increase from

immigration. Following World War II and through to2000, almost 5.9 million of the total population settledin the country as new immigrants, meaning that nearly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Australianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Australianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Australianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Australianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Australianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Australianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Australianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Australianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Australianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Australia_by_populationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newstart_Allowancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goods_and_Services_Tax_(Australia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privatisationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorkChoiceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Governmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_exchange_ratehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Hawkehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-2000s_recessionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_accounthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_payments_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_payments_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_tradehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_producthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%2527s_most_livable_citieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legatum_Prosperity_Indexhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legatumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Indexhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capitahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_Economic_Freedomhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Securities_Exchangehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvaluhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauruhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiribatihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islandshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islandshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_dollar


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10 9 DEMOGRAPHICS

Australia has one of the world’s most highly urbanised popula-

tions with the majority living in metropolitan cities on the coast.

(Pictured: Gold Coast beach and skyline, Queensland).

two out of every seven Australians were born in anothercountry.[227] Most immigrants are skilled,[228] but the im-

migration quota includes categories for family membersand refugees.[228] By 2050, Australia’s population is cur-rently projected to reach around 42 million.[229] Never-theless, its population density, 2.8 inhabitants per squarekilometre, remains among the lowest in the world.[138] Assuch, Australians have more living space per person thanthe inhabitants of any other nation.[230]

In 2011, 24.6% of Australians were born elsewhereand 43.1% of people had at least one overseas-bornparent;[231] the five largest immigrant groups were thosefrom the United Kingdom, New Zealand, China, India,and Vietnam.[232] Following the abolition of the White

Australia policy in 1973, numerous government initia-tives have been established to encourage and promoteracial harmony based on a policy of multiculturalism.[233]

In 2005–06, more than 131,000 people emigrated to Aus-tralia, mainly from Asia and Oceania.[234] The migrationtarget for 2012–13 is 190,000,[235] compared to 67,900in 1998–99.[236]

The Indigenous population—Aborigines and Torres StraitIslanders—was counted at 548,370 (2.5% of the to-tal population) in 2011,[237] a significant increase from115,953 in the 1976 census.[238] The increase is partlydue to many people with Indigenous heritage previously

having been overlooked by the census due to under-count and cases where their Indigenous status had notbeen recorded on the form. Indigenous Australians ex-perience higher than average rates of imprisonment andunemployment, lower levels of education, and life ex-pectancies for males and females that are, respectively,11 and 17 years lower than those of non-indigenousAustralians.[222][239][240] Some remote Indigenous com-munities have been described as having "failed state"-likeconditions.[241]

In common with many other developed countries, Aus-tralia is experiencing a demographic shift towards an

older population, with more retirees and fewer people ofworking age. In 2004, the average age of the civilian pop-ulation was 38.8 years.[242] A large number of Australians

(759,849 for the period 2002–03;[243] 1 million or 5% ofthe total population in 2005[244]) live outside their homecountry.

9.1 Language

Main article: Languages of Australia

Although Australia has no official language, Englishhas always been entrenched as the de facto nationallanguage.[2] Australian English is a major variety of thelanguage with a distinctive accent and lexicon,[246] anddiffers slightly from other varieties of English in grammarand spelling.[247] General Australian serves as the stan-dard dialect. According to the 2011 census, English isthe only language spoken in the home for close to 81%of the population. The next most common languages

spoken at home are Mandarin (1.7%), Italian (1.5%),Arabic (1.4%), Cantonese (1.3%), Greek (1.3%), andVietnamese (1.2%);[232] a considerable proportion offirst- and second-generation migrants are bilingual. A2010–2011 study by the Australia Early Development In-dex found the most common language spoken by chil-dren after English was Arabic, followed by Vietnamese,Greek, Chinese, and Hindi.[248][249]

Over 250 Indigenous Australian languages are thoughtto have existed at the time of first European contact,of which less than 20 are still in daily use by all agegroups.[250][251] About 110 others are spoken exclusively

by older people.[251] At the time of the 2006 census,52,000 Indigenous Australians, representing 12% of theIndigenous population, reported that they spoke an In-digenous language at home.[252] Australia has a sign lan-guage known as Auslan, which is the main language ofabout 5,500 deaf people.[253]

9.2 Religion

Main article: Religion in Australia

Australia has no state religion; Section 116 of theAustralian Constitution prohibits the federal governmentfrom making any law to establish any religion, imposeany religious observance, or prohibit the free exerciseof any religion.[254] In the 2011 census, 61.1% of Aus-tralians were counted as Christian, including 25.3% asRoman Catholic and 17.1% as Anglican; 22.3% of thepopulation reported having "no religion"; 7.2% identifywith non-Christian religions, the largest of these beingBuddhism (2.5%), followed by Islam (2.2%), Hinduism(1.3%) and Judaism (0.5%). The remaining 9.4% of thepopulation did not provide an adequate answer.[232]

Before European settlement, the animist beliefs of Aus-tralia’s indigenous people had been practised for manythousands of years. Mainland Aboriginal Australians'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_Australianshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Government_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Constitutionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_religionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auslanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australian_languageshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonesehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinesehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Australianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Englishhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_factohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_pyramidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failed_statehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_Strait_Islandshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_Strait_Islandshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_Australianshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Australia_policyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Australia_policyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Celtic_Australianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_densityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugeehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Coast,_Queensland


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9.4 Health 11

spirituality is known as the Dreamtime and it places aheavy emphasis on belonging to the land. The collectionof stories that it contains shaped Aboriginal law and cus-toms. Aboriginal art, story and dance continue to drawon these spiritual traditions. The spirituality and customsof Torres Strait Islanders, who inhabit the islands between

Australia and New Guinea, reflected their Melanesian ori-gins and dependence on the sea. The 1996 Australiancensus counted more than 7000 respondents as followersof a traditional Aboriginal religion.[255]

Since the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships in 1788,Christianity has grown to be the major religion practisedin Australia. Christian churches have played an integralrole in the development of education, health and wel-fare services in Australia. For much of Australian his-tory the Church of England (now known as the AnglicanChurch of Australia) was the largest religious denom-ination. However, multicultural immigration has con-

tributed to a decline in its relative position, and the Ro-man Catholic Church has benefitted from recent immi-gration to become the largest group. Similarly, Islam,Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism have all grown in Aus-tralia over the past half-century.[256]

Australia has one of the lowest levels of religious adher-ence in the world.[257] It was reported in 2001 that only7% of Australians attended church on a weekly basis.[258]

9.3 Education

Main article: Education in AustraliaSchool attendance, or registration for home

The University of Sydney is the oldest university in Australia,

having been founded in 1850.

schooling,[259][260] is compulsory throughout Australia.Education is the responsibility of the individual statesand territories[261] so the rules vary between states, butin general children are required to attend school from theage of about 5 up until about 16.[262][263] In some states(e.g., Western Australia,[264] the Northern Territory[265]

and New South Wales[266][267]), children aged 16–17are required to either attend school or participate invocational training, such as an apprenticeship.

Australia has an adult literacy rate that was estimatedto be 99% in 2003.[268] However, a 2011–12 report forthe Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that Tasma-nia has a literacy and numeracy rate of only 50%. [269]

In the Programme for International Student Assessment,Australia regularly scores among the top five of thirty

major developed countries (member countries of theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop-ment). Catholic education accounts for the largest non-government sector.

Australia has 37 government-funded universities and twoprivate universities, as well as a number of other special-ist institutions that provide approved courses at the highereducation level.[270] The OECD places Australia amongthe most expensive nations to attend university.[271] Thereis a state-based system of vocational training, knownas TAFE, and many trades conduct apprenticeshipsfor training new tradespeople.[272] About 58% of Aus-

tralians aged from 25 to 64 have vocational or tertiaryqualifications,[222] and the tertiary graduation rate of 49%is the highest among OECD countries. The ratio of inter-national to local students in tertiary education in Australiais the highest in the OECD countries.[273] In addition, 38percent of Australia’s population has a university or col-lege degree, which is among the highest percentages inthe world.[274][275]

9.4 Health

See also: Health care in Australia

Australia has the third and seventh highest life expectancyof males and females respectively in the world.[276] Lifeexpectancy in Australia in 2010 was 79.5 years for malesand 84.0 years for females.[277] Australia has the high-est rates of skin cancer in the world, [278] while cigarettesmoking is the largest preventable cause of death anddisease, responsible for 7.8% of the total mortality

and disease. Ranked second in preventable causes ishypertension at 7.6%, with obesity third at 7.5%.[279][280]

Australia ranks 35th in the world[281] and near the top ofdeveloped nations for its proportion of obese adults [282]

and nearly two thirds (63%) of its adult population is ei-ther overweight or obese.[283]

Total expenditure on health (including private sectorspending) is around 9.8% of GDP.[284] Australia in-troduced universal health care in 1975.[285] Known asMedicare, it is now nominally funded by an incometax surcharge known as the Medicare levy, currently setat 1.5%.[286] The states manage hospitals and attached

outpatient services, while the Commonwealth funds thePharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (subsidising the costs ofmedicines) and general practice.[285]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceutical_Benefits_Schemehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_levyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(Australia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_health_carehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developed_countryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertensionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_smokinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_smokinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_degreehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_degreehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_and_further_educationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_education_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_for_Economic_Co-operation_and_Developmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_for_Economic_Co-operation_and_Developmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprenticeshiphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Sydneyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_Church_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_Church_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Englandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_Strait_Islandershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australian_arthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamtime


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12 10 CULTURE

10 Culture

Main article: Culture of AustraliaSince 1788, the basis of Australian culture has

The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne wasthe first buildingin Australia to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in

2004.[287]

been strongly influenced by Anglo-Celtic Western cul-ture.[288][289] Distinctive cultural features have also arisenfrom Australia’s natural environment and Indigenouscultures.[290][291] Since the mid-20th century, Americanpopular culture has strongly influenced Australia, par-ticularly through television and cinema.[292] Other cul-tural influences come from neighbouring Asian countries,and through large-scale immigration from non-English-speaking nations.[292][293]

10.1 Arts

Main articles: Australian art, Australian literature,Theatre of Australia and Dance in Australia

The rock art of Australia’s Indigenous peoples is theoldest and richest in the world, dating as far back as60,000 years and spread across hundreds of thousandsof sites.[294] Traditional designs, patterns and stories in-fuse contemporary Indigenous Australian art, “the lastgreat art movement of the 20th century";[295] its ex-ponents include Emily Kame Kngwarreye.[296] Duringthe first century of European settlement, colonial artists,trained in Europe, showed a fascination with the unfamil-iar land.[297] The naturalistic, sun-filled works of ArthurStreeton, Tom Roberts and others associated with the19th-century Heidelberg School—the first “distinctivelyAustralian” movement in Western art—gave expressionto a burgeoning Australian nationalism in the lead-upto Federation.[297] While the school remained influen-tial into the new century, modernists such as MargaretPreston, and, later, Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd, ex-

plored new artistic trends.[297] The landscape remained acentral subject matter for Fred Williams, Brett Whiteleyand other post-World War II artists whose works, eclec-

tic in style yet uniquely Australian, moved between thefigurative and the abstract.[297][298] The National Galleryof Australia and state galleries maintain collections ofAustralian and international art.[299] Australia has one ofthe world’s highest attendances of art galleries and muse-ums per head of population.[300]

Sidney Nolan's Snake mural (1970), held at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania, is inspired by the Aboriginal

creation myth of the Rainbow Serpent , as well as desert flowers

in bloom after a drought.[301]

Australian literature grew slowly in the decades follow-ing European settlement though Indigenous oral tradi-tions, many of which have since been recorded in writ-ing, are much older.[302] Writers of the 19th-centuryBulletin School, such as Henry Lawson and Banjo Pa-terson, captured the experience of the bush using a dis-tinctive Australian vocabulary. Their works are stillvery popular; Paterson’s bush poem "Waltzing Matilda"

(1895) is regarded as Australia’s unofficial nationalanthem.[303] Miles Franklin is the namesake of Aus-tralia’s most prestigious literary prize, awarded to thebest novel about Australian life.[304] Its first recipient,Patrick White, went on to win the Nobel Prize in Litera-ture in 1973.[305] Australian winners of the Man BookerPrize include Peter Carey, Thomas Keneally and RichardFlanagan.[306] Author David Malouf, playwright DavidWilliamson and poet Les Murray are also renowned lit-erary figures.[307][308]

Many of Australia’s performing arts companies re-ceive funding through the federal government’s Australia

Council.[309]

There is a symphony orchestra in eachstate,[310] and a national opera company, Opera Aus-tralia,[311] well known for its famous soprano Joan Suther-land.[312] At the beginning of the 20th century, NellieMelba was one of the world’s leading opera singers.[313]

Ballet and dance are represented by The Australian Bal-let and various state companies. Each state has a publiclyfunded theatre company.[314]

10.2 Media

Main articles: Cinema of Australia, Television in Aus-

tralia, Media of Australia and Music of AustraliaThe Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), the world’s first

feature length film, spurred a boom in Australian cin-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_lengthhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Kelly_Ganghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Australian_Ballethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Australian_Ballethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Melbahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Melbahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Sutherlandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Sutherlandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopranohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Council_for_the_Artshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Council_for_the_Artshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Murray_(poet)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Williamsonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Williamsonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Maloufhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Flanaganhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Flanaganhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Keneallyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Carey_(novelist)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Booker_Prizehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Booker_Prizehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Literaturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Literaturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Whitehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Franklin_Awardhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Franklinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltzing_Matildahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_poetryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_bushhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo_Patersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo_Patersonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Lawsonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bulletin#Early_historyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_traditionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_traditionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_literaturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Serpenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Old_and_New_Arthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Old_and_New_Arthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Nolanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Gallery_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Gallery_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_arthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figurative_arthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_Whiteleyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Williamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Boydhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Nolanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Prestonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Prestonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_arthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidelberg_Schoolhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Robertshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Streetonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Streetonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_(arts)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Kame_Kngwarreyehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_Indigenous_Australian_arthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_arthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_in_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_literaturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_arthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_United_Stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_United_Stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_culturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_culturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Celtichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sitehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Exhibition_Buildinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Australia


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10.4 Sport and recreation 13

Actor playing the bushranger Ned Kelly in The Story of the KellyGang (1906), the world’s first feature film

ema during the silent film era.[315] After World War

I, Hollywood monopolised the industry,

[316]

and bythe 1960s Australian film production had effectivelyceased.[317] With the benefit of government support, theAustralian New Wave of the 1970s brought provocativeand successful films, many exploring the nation’s colo-nial past, such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and Breaker Morant ,[318] while the so-called Ozploitation genre pro-duced international blockbusters, including the Mad Max series.[319] More recent successes included Shine andRabbit-Proof Fence.[320][321] Notable Australian actorsinclude Errol Flynn, Judith Anderson, Geoffrey Rush,Nicole Kidman, Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett.[322]

Australia has two public broadcasters (the AustralianBroadcasting Corporation and the multicultural SpecialBroadcasting Service), three commercial television net-works, several pay-TV services,[323] and numerous pub-lic, non-profit television and radio stations. Each ma-jor city has at least one daily newspaper,[323] and thereare two national daily newspapers, The Australian andThe Australian Financial Review.[323] In 2010, ReportersWithout Borders placed Australia 18th on a list of 178countries ranked by press freedom, behind New Zealand(8th) but ahead of the United Kingdom (19th) and UnitedStates (20th).[324] This relatively low ranking is primar-ily because of the limited diversity of commercial media

ownership in Australia;[325] most print media are

Documents

Australia Inglish