From an urban development perspective, Australia is one of the youngest countries in the world. Over the 236-years since Colonisation, it evolved rapidly, becoming a world leader on multiple fronts. Whether one has spent their entire life in Australia or recently migrated here, there is much that people don’t realise about this truly unique country.
By population size, Australia is the world’s 55th largest out of 195 countries in the world.
The kangaroo and emu were chosen for Australia’s coat of arms because of their inability to walk backwards – symbolising Australia as a country which is always moving forward.
As a land mass, Australia is the 6th largest country in the world. For perspective, it is about the same size as the US, although the populations are no comparison (27 million versus 340 million).
From the beginning of Colonisation in 1788 to 1900, Sydney was the national capital.
Throughout the half century of the Gold Rush (1850-1900), Melbourne’s population was greater than Sydney’s.
When colonies became states and Federation occurred in 1901, a longstanding debate over which city should be Australia’s capital was resolved by declaring Melbourne the national capital while a decision was made to appoint a neutral city. Accordingly, Canberra was founded and became the permanent national capital in 1927.
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Adelaide was Australia’s 3rd largest city in the year 1900 (population 160,000), ahead of Brisbane (118,000) and Perth (just 27,000). Adelaide’s population was surpassed by Brisbane during World War 1 and by Perth in 1984.
Throughout most of the last 20-years, the Australian city with the highest median house price has consistently been Byron Bay. The 24 percent increase in Byron’s population over that 20-year period is well below the national average (35 percent).
Australia has the 2nd highest median household wealth out of 195 countries in the world (source: UBS Global Wealth).
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest ecosystem in the world and can be seen from space (median house price in Whitsundays QLD municipality is $480,000).
Anna Creek Station in South Australia has the largest cattle station in the world.
Income tax was first introduced by each of Australia’s colonies during the 1880s.
As with all other income-producing assets, owners of rental properties were then required to declare all income while also being authorised to claim all operating expenses. Back then, every property produced an annual net profit. Rental yields have progressively reduced over the generations. From circa 1925 onwards, there were a small volume of situations when rental property expenses exceeded rental income. By the mid-1980’s, approximately 10 percent of rental properties produced an operating net loss, and the term ‘negative gearing’ was first used. The treatment of rental income and expenses has remained largely the same since the 1880s, but the ratio of rental accommodation suppliers who absorbed annual losses progressively increased to 30 percent in the mid-1990s, 59 percent during the 2010s and is currently an estimated 75 percent of properties in Australia’s rental pool.
The Australian Alps receives more snow than the Swiss Alps (median house price in East Gippsland VIC municipality is $560,000).
Port Hedland WA (iron ore), Mount Isa QLD (precious metals), Orange NSW (gold) and Moranbah QLD (coal) are among the most valuable provinces in the world for natural resources.
When the First Fleet arrived in 1788, the total indigenous population was estimated to be 750,000, although the government excluded all indigenous people from the national population count for 179-years. When indigenous Australians were finally included in 1967, the total population was just 100,000. Now it is approximately 1 million.
Australia is the only continent in the world without an active volcano.
Australia is the world’s largest island and boasts more than 10,000 beaches.
Originally referred to as the ‘South Coast’, Queensland’s Gold Coast barely existed until the early 1950s.
Sitting atop Australia’s Top 30 fastest growing cities over the last 20-years to 2023 was Mandurah WA.
Over the 8-decades since the completion of World War 2, Australia experienced 4-recessions (1974, 1983, 1992 and 2020), a global financial crisis (2008-9) and a global health pandemic (2020-22).
Fraser Island, off the coast of Hervey Bay in Queensland, is the world’s largest sand island (median house price in Fraser Coast QLD municipality is $610,000).
50 percent of Australia’s current population of 27 million people are either first or second-generation migrants.
During the 1920s, 1 out of every 2 Australian households were rented. From the late 1950s through to now, 7 out of every 10 Australian households were owned by the occupant (consistently one of the highest homeownership rates in the world).
While 90 percent of Australia’s total population live in coastal locations, some of the best-performed property markets are inland towns and cities.
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Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world. The city of Launceston, Australia’s 36th largest city, is the primary commerce centre for a jurisdiction that produces the very best quality food and booze in the world.
Australia’s combined capital median house price increased from $25,000 in 1974 to $1,025,000 in 2024.
There are approximately 60 wine regions across Australia. 80 percent of the premium wine produced in this country is from South Australia.
For every human in Australia there are 2.5 sheep.
Broken Hill was among Australia’s ten (10) largest cities for approximately 40-years through to 1920. While Broken Hill’s population has been in steady decline since the 1950s, it still remains bigger than Kingscliff NSW, Port Douglas QLD, Torquay VIC and Victor Harbor SA.
Townsville is the biggest city throughout the entire top half of Australia. Townsville is also Australia’s military capital.
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Women were not allowed to vote until 1902.
80 percent of animal species are unique to Australia.
The creation of the universally unique sport of AFL is believed to be influenced by indigenous Australians and Irish convicts. It was initially played to keep cricketers fit during their off-season.
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