100 Fun Facts About Australia

What is the capital city of Australia?

Canberra was chosen in 1908 as a compromise site between rival Sydney and Melbourne; the planned city in the Australian Capital Territory became the seat of Parliament in 1927.

Which of these animals is a marsupial native to Australia?

Koalas are arboreal herbivorous marsupials native to Australia, known for their diet primarily consisting of eucalyptus leaves. Platypuses and echidnas are monotremes (egg-laying mammals), and dingoes are wild dogs, not marsupials.

Which explorer made the first recorded European navigation of the strait between Australia and New Guinea?

Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through the strait between New Guinea and Australia in 1606, the first recorded European passage; it was later named the Torres Strait after him.

What large sandstone monolith in Australia's Northern Territory is sacred to the Anangu people?

Uluru rises 348 metres above the surrounding plain in the Northern Territory; the Anangu are its traditional owners, and its red colour comes from iron oxide in the arkose sandstone.

In the Australian system of government, who is the head of the federal government?

The Prime Minister serves as the head of the Australian federal government, leading the executive branch and chairing the Cabinet. The Monarch is the Head of State, represented by the Governor-General.

The Great Barrier Reef stretches more than 2,300 kilometres through the Coral Sea off which Australian state?

Queensland's coast is separated from the reef by a channel up to 160 kilometres wide; the reef is made up of more than 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands.

Sydney Opera House architect Jorn Utzon came from which country?

Utzon's shell design was completed by an Australian team led by Peter Hall, and the building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973.

Which is the largest Australian state by land area, covering more than 2.5 million square kilometres?

Western Australia covers about 2.53 million square kilometres, roughly a third of the continent; only Russia's Sakha Republic is a larger country subdivision.

What is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland, rising to 2,228 metres?

Mount Kosciuszko in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales is the mainland's highest peak at 2,228 metres; Paweł Strzelecki named it in 1840 after Polish patriot Tadeusz Kościuszko.

Which island state is separated from the Australian mainland by the Bass Strait?

Tasmania lies about 240 kilometres south of Victoria across Bass Strait; the strait flooded as sea levels rose after the last ice age, roughly 12,000 years ago.

Which Dutch ship's crew made the first documented European landing on the continent, in 1606?

The Duyfken, captained by Willem Janszoon, reached Cape York Peninsula in early 1606; Janszoon charted part of the coast believing it was an extension of New Guinea.

Which name did 17th-century Dutch charts give the continent?

Abel Tasman's 1644 voyage gave the continent the name New Holland (Nova Hollandia), which Dutch charts used; the Dutch mapped the northern and western coasts but never settled.

Which navigator popularised the modern name of the country after sailing right around it in 1803?

Matthew Flinders completed the first circumnavigation of the continent in 1803 and championed the name Australia; his 1814 account was nonetheless titled A Voyage to Terra Australis.

Which governor of New South Wales formally recommended the country's present name in December 1817?

Governor Lachlan Macquarie recommended the name Australia in a December 1817 dispatch to London, preferring it to New Holland; the Admiralty adopted the name in 1824.

On 26 January 1788 the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove under which commander?

Captain Arthur Phillip commanded the First Fleet of 11 ships and raised the flag at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788, founding the penal colony of New South Wales.

In which year did the six self-governing colonies federate into a single Commonwealth?

The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed on 1 January 1901, uniting six colonies; full legal independence came later via the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 and the Australia Act 1986.

How many states does the Commonwealth of Australia have?

Six states plus ten territories make up the federation, though only two of the territories are self-governing on the mainland.

Roughly how long ago did the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians begin arriving from Southeast Asia?

Sites such as Madjedbebe in Arnhem Land date first arrival to between 50,000 and 65,000 years ago, making Aboriginal culture among the oldest continuous cultures on Earth.

Which Aboriginal language gave English the word 'kangaroo'?

Guugu Yimithirr, spoken around the Endeavour River in north Queensland, gave English the word kangaroo (gangurru), recorded by James Cook's crew during their 1770 stopover.

Which venomous, duck-billed mammal lays eggs instead of bearing live young?

The platypus has a duck-like bill, lays eggs, and the male carries venom in ankle spurs; when a specimen reached London in 1799, naturalist George Shaw suspected a hoax.

Which large rainforest bird of north Queensland has a horn-like casque and a dagger-like claw?

Far North Queensland's rainforests are home to the Southern cassowary, which carries a horny casque on its head and a 12-centimetre inner-toe claw that can inflict serious wounds.

What shape are the droppings a wombat leaves to mark its territory?

Cubes stack and do not roll off the rocks and logs a wombat perches them on, which is thought to give the shape a biological advantage.

Which island off Perth is famous for its quokkas?

Rottnest Island's quokkas were mistaken for large rats by Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh, who named it 'rat's nest' (Rottnest) in 1696.

The last thylacine died on 7 September 1936; since 1996 that date has been marked as what?

National Threatened Species Day has been held on 7 September since 1996, the anniversary of the last thylacine's death at Hobart's Beaumaris Zoo in 1936.

In 1932 the army was sent into the Western Australian wheatbelt to cull rampaging emus with which weapon?

Major G.P.W. Meredith's soldiers used Lewis machine guns in the 1932 'Emu War'; the emus scattered into small groups and the cull was abandoned as an embarrassment.

The Dingo Fence finishes on cliffs above which body of water?

The Dingo Fence runs 5,614 kilometres from Jimbour on Queensland's Darling Downs to the Nullarbor cliffs above the Great Australian Bight, changing its name at each state border.

In which South Australian mining town do many residents live in underground homes called dugouts?

Coober Pedy, about 850 kilometres north of Adelaide, calls itself the opal capital of the world; summer heat drove residents to cut homes and even churches into the rock.

What nickname does the Sydney Harbour Bridge owe to its arch?

Sydneysiders call the Harbour Bridge 'the Coathanger' for its steel through-arch; it opened in 1932 carrying rail, road, bicycles and pedestrians.

Which New York crossing was roughly copied for Sydney's harbour arch?

Sydney Harbour Bridge's design was modelled on New York's Hell Gate Bridge (1916); contractor Dorman Long of Middlesbrough also drew on its own Tyne Bridge.

On which day of the year is the Melbourne Cup run?

The Melbourne Cup is run at Flemington Racecourse on the first Tuesday of November; first held in 1861, it is a 3,200-metre handicap and Cup Day is a Melbourne public holiday.

What did the winner of the very first Melbourne Cup receive in 1861?

The first proper trophy, an elaborate silver bowl made in England, did not appear until 1865.

What was Don Bradman's career Test batting average?

Don Bradman retired in 1948 with a Test batting average of 99.94; a duck in his final innings at The Oval left him four runs short of averaging 100.

In Australian rules football, what is a one-point kick between a central and outer post called?

A behind is worth one; straight through the middle is worth six, and two teams of 18 play on an oval that is often a cricket ground.

Which Victorian side published the first written laws of the game, in May 1859?

Melbourne Football Club, founded in 1858, drew up the first written rules on 17 May 1859 at the Parade Hotel in East Melbourne; the code grew from 1858 winter matches.

Which poet wrote the words of 'Waltzing Matilda' in 1895?

Banjo Paterson wrote the lyrics at Dagworth Station, Queensland, in 1895 to a tune Christina Macpherson remembered from a Scottish march; the ballad is an unofficial anthem.

In the bush ballad Waltzing Matilda, what is the 'jumbuck' the swagman stuffs into his tucker bag?

A sheep, a stray one, is what the swagman grabs to eat while boiling his billy; the title itself is slang for tramping the roads with a swag over your shoulder.

Who composed the national anthem 'Advance Australia Fair'?

Peter Dodds McCormick, a Scottish-born Sydney schoolteacher, published Advance Australia Fair in 1878 under the pen-name Amicus; the government paid him £100 for it in 1907.

How many stars form the Southern Cross on the national flag?

The flag's Southern Cross has five stars, four seven-pointed and one smaller five-pointed star for Epsilon Crucis; the large star under the Union Jack is the Commonwealth Star.

In which year did voting in federal elections become compulsory?

The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1924 made voting compulsory for federal elections; turnout rose from about 59% at the 1922 election to 91% in 1925.

Which food chemist developed Vegemite in Melbourne in 1922?

Cyril Callister, chief scientist at Fred Walker's Melbourne company, developed Vegemite from leftover brewers' yeast in 1922; the spread went on sale in 1923.

Vegemite went back into Australian ownership in 2017 when it was bought by which company?

Bega Cheese (now Bega Group) paid Mondelez A$460 million for Vegemite in 2017, ending more than 80 years of US ownership that began when Kraft took control in 1935.

The lamington, a sponge cube in chocolate and coconut, is named after a governor of which state?

One story says the cook dropped a block of sponge into chocolate by accident, and the coconut was added to stop fingers getting sticky.

Arnott's named the Tim Tam biscuit after what?

Ross Arnott named the biscuit after Tim Tam, the racehorse that won the 1958 Kentucky Derby; Arnott's launched the chocolate-coated biscuit in 1964.

What is 'damper', the staple carried by drovers and swagmen?

Damper is a simple bread of flour, water and sometimes salt, baked in the coals of a campfire; it needed no oven, which suited drovers and swagmen on the track.

What nickname has the barbecue stall run outside a polling place on election day earned?

The 'democracy sausage' is the sausage-in-bread sold by school and community fundraisers outside polling places; the Australian National Dictionary Centre made it Word of the Year in 2016.

Which mountains run along most of eastern Australia, separating the highlands from the lowlands?

The Great Dividing Range runs about 3,500 kilometres from Cape York to western Victoria; Mount Kosciuszko is part of it, and its inland slopes feed the Murray-Darling system.

In which town did miners launch the 1854 Eureka Rebellion against gold licence fees?

The Eureka Stockade was stormed at Ballarat on 3 December 1854, when troops attacked miners protesting the cost of gold licences; about 22 diggers and 6 soldiers died.

Which High Court case ruled that Australia was not terra nullius when Europeans settled it?

Mabo v Queensland (No 2), decided by the High Court on 3 June 1992, rejected terra nullius and recognised native title in Australian law for the first time.

Which prime minister was dismissed by the governor-general in the 1975 constitutional crisis?

Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Gough Whitlam on 11 November 1975 after the Senate blocked supply, installing Malcolm Fraser as caretaker prime minister.

After the 1967 referendum, Aboriginal Australians were fully included in what for the first time?

The 1967 referendum, carried with a 90.77% yes vote, repealed section 127 so Aboriginal Australians were counted in census population figures, and let the Commonwealth legislate for them.

What is the longest river in the country, at 2,508 km?

The Murray runs 2,508 kilometres from the Snowy Mountains to the sea near Goolwa in South Australia, forming most of the New South Wales-Victoria border along the way.

Who was the first woman to hold the nation's top political office?

Julia Gillard was also the first prime minister since Billy Hughes to have been born overseas.

Which 400 m runner lit the cauldron at the 2000 Sydney Olympics?

Cathy Freeman lit the Olympic cauldron on 15 September 2000 and won the 400 metres final ten days later in front of a Stadium Australia crowd of more than 110,000.

Which animal became the world's largest carnivorous marsupial in 1936?

The Tasmanian devil inherited the title when the last thylacine died in 1936; adults weigh up to about 12 kilograms, roughly the size of a small dog.

Which species is the largest living marsupial?

The red kangaroo is the largest living marsupial; big males stand about 1.8 metres tall, the heaviest recorded around 90 kilograms, and range across the arid interior.

Which northern Australian animal is the largest living reptile?

The saltwater crocodile, or 'saltie', is the largest living reptile, with males exceeding 6 metres; it ranges from the Kimberley and Top End through Southeast Asia.

Lake Hillier on Middle Island off the south coast is famous for water of which colour?

Lake Hillier's water is bubblegum pink year-round and keeps the colour even when bottled; the lake sits on Middle Island in the Recherche Archipelago near Esperance, Western Australia.

Who starred as Mick Dundee in the 1986 hit Crocodile Dundee?

Paul Hogan played Mick Dundee and co-wrote the story; released in 1986, Crocodile Dundee earned Hogan an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Which pair of brothers founded AC/DC in 1973?

Brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, Glasgow-born and raised in Sydney, formed AC/DC in November 1973 with singer Dave Evans; Bon Scott replaced Evans in 1974.

Steve Irwin died in 2006 after being struck by which animal?

A stingray barb pierced Steve Irwin's chest on 4 September 2006 while he filmed Ocean's Deadliest at Batt Reef off Port Douglas, Queensland.

Who delivered the 2008 National Apology to the Stolen Generations?

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the apology in Parliament on 13 February 2008, eleven years after the 1997 Bringing Them Home report recommended a formal apology.

Who is the longest-serving head of government, with more than 18 years in office?

Robert Menzies served as prime minister for 18 years and 5 months in two stretches, 1939 to 1941 and then an unbroken run from 1949 to 1966.

Which grain is the key ingredient of an Anzac biscuit?

Rolled oats are the base of Anzac biscuits, with flour, desiccated coconut and golden syrup binding them instead of eggs; the recipe was established in Australia and New Zealand by the early 1920s.

The soap Neighbours is set on Ramsay Street in which fictional suburb?

Ramsay Street in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough is filmed at Pin Oak Court, a real cul-de-sac in Vermont South; Neighbours first aired in 1985.

Which serving national leader vanished while swimming at Cheviot Beach in 1967?

Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared in heavy surf at Cheviot Beach, Victoria, on 17 December 1967; his body was never found, and Melbourne's Harold Holt Swim Centre bears his name.

In which year did Japanese aircraft first bomb Darwin?

The first raids on 19 February 1942 involved 242 Japanese aircraft in two waves, dropping more bombs than fell on Pearl Harbor and killing at least 235 people.

Cyclone Tracy flattened Darwin in 1974 during which holiday?

Tracy struck Darwin overnight on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1974, killing 71 people and destroying or damaging more than 70% of the city's buildings.

Which Australian snake is rated the most venomous in the world?

The inland taipan, found in the channel country of western Queensland and South Australia, has the most toxic venom of any land snake by LD50 tests; it is shy and recorded bites are rare.

The dollar replaced the pound as the currency on 14 February of which year?

Decimal currency arrived on 14 February 1966, with each pound becoming two dollars; Menzies' preferred name, the 'royal', was dropped after public outcry in favour of 'dollar'.

Since 1988 the Australian Open tennis has been played at which venue?

The Australian Open moved from Kooyong to Melbourne Park (then Flinders Park) in 1988; its Rod Laver Arena was the first Grand Slam centre court with a retractable roof.

Which Chicago-trained architect designed the national capital?

Walter Burley Griffin, who had worked in Frank Lloyd Wright's Chicago studio, won the 1912 Canberra design competition with his wife Marion Mahony Griffin's renderings; Lake Burley Griffin bears his name.

Which nickname for the Adelaide-Alice Springs railway honoured the cameleers who opened the interior?

The train that became The Ghan was nicknamed 'The Afghan Express' after the Afghan cameleers who carried supplies through the interior in the 1800s; the Adelaide-Darwin run takes about 54 hours.

K'gari, formerly Fraser Island, is the world's largest island made of what?

K'gari is the world's largest sand island, about 1,840 square kilometres, with rainforest growing straight out of the dunes; it was officially renamed from Fraser Island in 2023.

Which plant was formally adopted as the national floral emblem in 1988?

Golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha) was proclaimed the national floral emblem on 1 September 1988 after decades as the informal emblem; wattle even appeared on Queen Elizabeth II's 1953 coronation gown.

Who led the first federal government after Federation?

Edmund Barton became the first prime minister on 1 January 1901; nicknamed Toby, he left politics in September 1903 to become one of the first three justices of the High Court.

Which nut is the only widely grown food plant native to Australia?

Macadamia trees are native to the rainforests of south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales; seeds taken to Hawaii in 1882 founded that state's industry.

Why were the two native animals on the coat of arms reportedly chosen?

Neither has ever been declared an official national animal emblem, despite appearing on the arms since 1908.

The Twelve Apostles limestone stacks rise beside which famous Victorian road?

The Twelve Apostles stand in Port Campbell National Park on Victoria's Great Ocean Road, a 243-kilometre route built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932 as a war memorial.

Francis de Groot upstaged the 1932 Harbour Bridge opening by cutting the ribbon with what?

Francis de Groot, a member of the right-wing New Guard, rode up on horseback and slashed the ribbon with his sword before Premier Jack Lang could cut it on 19 March 1932.

The Ashes name comes from an 1882 mock obituary in which British paper?

Reginald Brooks's mock obituary of English cricket ran in The Sporting Times on 2 September 1882 after Australia's win at The Oval; the urn later given to Ivo Bligh reputedly holds a burnt bail's ashes.

In which outback town was Qantas founded in November 1920?

Qantas was founded at Winton, Queensland, on 16 November 1920 as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services; its first aircraft was an Avro 504K, and the base moved to Longreach in 1921.

Which Melbourne scientist conceived the cockpit voice and data recorder in 1953?

David Warren of the Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne proposed the flight recorder in 1953 and built a prototype in 1956; his father died in the 1934 Miss Hobart crash over Bass Strait.

The Port Arthur convict settlement sits on which peninsula?

Port Arthur sits on the Tasman Peninsula in south-east Tasmania, joined to the mainland by narrow Eaglehawk Neck; it is one of 11 places in the World Heritage-listed Australian Convict Sites.

Which artist designed the Aboriginal flag, first flown in 1971?

Harold Thomas, a Luritja artist, designed the flag first flown in Adelaide's Victoria Square on 12 July 1971; black stands for the people, the yellow disc for the sun and red for the earth.

Who became the first Australian-born governor-general, in 1931?

Sir Isaac Isaacs, a former chief justice, was sworn in as governor-general on 22 January 1931 after King George V reluctantly accepted Scullin's nominee; he was also the first Jewish holder of the post.

Roughly what share of Antarctica's land area does Australia claim?

The Australian Antarctic Territory covers about 5.9 million square kilometres, roughly 42% of the continent; Britain transferred the claim in 1933, and it is the largest claimed by any nation.

Shark Bay's Hamelin Pool is renowned for living examples of which structures?

Hamelin Pool's stromatolites are layered mounds built by cyanobacterial mats at a fraction of a millimetre a year; its hypersaline water, about twice as salty as the ocean, keeps grazers away.

Who released wild rabbits near Winchelsea in 1859, starting the plague?

Thomas Austin released 24 wild rabbits on his Barwon Park estate near Winchelsea, Victoria, in 1859 for sport; within ten years two million a year were being shot with no dent in the population.

Ned Kelly's gang made their armour from what?

The Kelly gang beat their armour from plough mouldboards, each suit weighing about 44 kilograms; it protected the torso but not the legs, where police shot Ned at Glenrowan in June 1880.

Who became the first woman to serve as governor-general, in 2008?

Quentin Bryce was sworn in as governor-general on 5 September 2008 after five years as Governor of Queensland; she had been the first woman appointed to the University of Queensland's law faculty.

Which tradesmen were the first to win an eight-hour day, in the 1850s?

Stonemasons in Sydney won an eight-hour day in 1855, and Melbourne's stonemasons marched from the University of Melbourne on 21 April 1856 to win it; Victoria's Labour Day holiday commemorates them.

Which naval captain founded Perth in 1829 as capital of the Swan River Colony?

It is often called the most isolated major city on Earth, closer to Jakarta than to Sydney.

What unofficial nickname did the first Holden, the 48-215 of 1948, later acquire?

The 48-215 was retrospectively nicknamed 'FX' once the FJ Holden followed in 1953; the tag began as a parts-list code separating cars with the old front suspension from the new.

What do the Yolŋu people of Arnhem Land call the didgeridoo?

Yolŋu speakers of north-east Arnhem Land call the instrument yidaki; rock art suggests it is at least 1,000 years old, and in Bininj Kunwok country to the west it is a mako.

Lord Howe Island limits visiting tourists at any one time to how many?

Lord Howe Island caps tourists at 400 at any one time, only slightly more than its permanent population of 382 at the 2016 census.

Who co-founded Qantas in 1920 alongside Paul McGinness and Fergus McMaster?

Hudson Fysh co-founded Qantas with Paul McGinness and Fergus McMaster in 1920; Fysh and McGinness had surveyed the Longreach-Darwin route by car for the 1919 England-to-Australia air race.

Before being renamed Darwin in 1911, the northern settlement was called what?

The settlement was founded as Palmerston in 1869, after the British prime minister; the harbour had been Port Darwin since HMS Beagle's 1839 survey, and the town took the name in 1911.

Who designed Australia II, the yacht that won the 1983 America's Cup?

Ben Lexcen designed Australia II and its winged keel; owned by Alan Bond and skippered by John Bertrand, it ended the New York Yacht Club's 132-year hold on the cup in September 1983.

Phar Lap died suddenly in 1932 near which Californian town?

Phar Lap died at Menlo Park near San Francisco on 5 April 1932, possibly of arsenic poisoning; his hide is in Melbourne, his skeleton in Wellington and his heart in Canberra.

Which space station scattered debris near Esperance, Western Australia, on re-entry in 1979?

Skylab broke up over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia on 11 July 1979, scattering debris around Esperance; the local shire famously fined NASA A$400 for littering.