Facts about Australia

There are many sources of information about Australia. This section will give you an overview of Australia and show you how to learn more about Australia’s government, laws, political system, social customs, education system and our multicultural society.

To get you started, we have listed a few interesting facts about Australia below, together with some sources for further exploration.

Land area: 7.69 million km2
Population: 20 million
Language: English
Currency: Australian dollars (A$)
Time: Australia has 3 time zones

Eastern Standard Time: GMT + 10
Central: GMT + 9.5
West: GMT + 8

(Some States and Territories also have ‘Daylight Saving’, where clocks are turned forward an hour in summertime.)

Flight time Sydney to Perth: 5 hours
Flight time Adelaide to Darwin: 3 hours 40 minutes
Highest point: 2228 metres above sea level (Mount Kosciuszko, New South Wales)
Lowest point: 15 metres below sea level (dry bed of Lake Eyre, South Australia)

Australia is divided into 6 States and 2 Territories:

Territories:

• Australian Capital Territory (ACT), National capital --- Canberra
• Northern Territory (NT), Territory capital --- Darwin

States:

• New South Wales (NSW), State capital --- Sydney
• Victoria (VIC), State capital --- Melbourne
• Tasmania (TAS), State capital --- Hobart
• South Australia (SA), State capital --- Adelaide
• Western Australia (WA), State capital --- Perth
• Queensland (QLD), State capital --- Brisbane

In addition, there are various offshore territories including Norfolk Island, which is self-governing. For more information about our States and Territories, visit the website of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

For more facts about Australia, visit the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The following websites are also great sources of information about Australia:

Australia Year Book 2003, Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australia in brief, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Australia Now factsheets, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Culture and recreation portal, Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts