Australia an Overview

Australia is a constant, culturally diverse and democratic society with a skilled labor force and a strong, competitive economy. It is the earth’s biggest island and the sixth-largest country in the world in land area.

Australia is made up of six states and two territories: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory, where the capital city of Canberra is located.

Australia has the 14th biggest overall economy in the world and the 9th biggest industrialised economy. Australia is the 15th richest nation in per capita terms, and is the 6th oldest continuously functioning democracy in the world.

Australia’s economy is open and innovative, with a commitment from the Australian Government to maintain the strong economic growth that has taken place since the early 1990s. Over the past decade, solid productivity gains have been accompanied by low inflation and interest rates.

With a population nearing 22 million, Australia is the only nation to govern an entire continent. Population includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and migrants from some 200 countries.

Migrants have brought with them language skills and other capabilities that are valuable in today’s global economy and workforce. Although English is the official language in Australia, more than 3 million Australians speak a language other than English at home. As a result, Australia offers the familiarity of a Western business culture with a workforce capable of operating in many different business environments.

Australian exports, are a mix of minerals and energy, manufacturing, rural products and services.

Australia has a well-developed education system with participation rates among the highest in the world. Each year, Australia welcomes an increasing number of international students, with current figures rating Australia 3rd among English-speaking countries as a student destination.

Australia’s aid program aims to help people in developing countries to lift themselves out of poverty and responds quickly when disaster strikes. The primary focus is the Asia–Pacific region, which has the world’s highest concentration of people living in poverty. Australia also provides aid to developing countries in Africa and the Middle East.

The quality of life enjoyed by people in Australia is one of the highest in the world. Australia’s clean physical environment, health services, education and lifestyle combine to make it an attractive place to live. In 2001, Sydney was voted the world’s best city for the second year in a row. Melbourne was sixth. Five Australian cities have been ranked in the top eleven most livable cities in the world.

Australia’s spectacular natural environment, rich Indigenous history and culture, multicultural communities, and high-quality food and wine make it a popular international tourist destination. Approximately 5 to 6 million people visit Australia in year, making the tourism industry the largest contributor to Australian services export earnings.

Language: English is the official language of Australians.  In Australia over 200 different languages and dialects are spoken, including 45 indigenous languages.

Ways of life: The great majority of the Australian people belong to the middle class. Most Australians also have similar educational backgrounds and hold similar values and attitudes, so the ways of life throughout the country are remarkably uniform. Even the differences between life in the cities and life in rural areas are relatively minor.

City life: Australia is one of the world's most urbanized countries. More than four-fifths of the people live in cities and towns. About 70 per cent of all Australians live in cities of more than 100,000 people. These cities include the federal capital, Canberra, and the six state capitals. The state capitals, in order of size, are Sydney, New South Wales; Melbourne, Victoria; Brisbane, Queens land; Perth, Western Australia; Adelaide, South Australia; and Hobart, Tasmania. Canberra is smaller than all the state capitals except Hobart. Sydney and Melbourne are by far the biggest cities in Australia.

Country life: Only about 15 per cent of Australia's people live in rural areas. Australians call the remote countryside the bush. The term outback refers specifically to the interior. The outback consists mainly of open countryside, including vast expanses of grazing land, but it also has widely scattered settlements, the largest of which are mining towns.

Food and drink: Vegetables, fruits and meat is plentiful in Australia and makes up a large part of the people's diet. Australians generally prefer their food plain rather than spicy. Many Australians have also developed a taste for food from Southeast Asian countries. Chinese restaurants are common throughout Australia. In addition, the larger cities have a number of Indian, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese restaurants. 

Tea is still a popular hot drink in Australia. However, coffee consumption has tripled since the mid-1900, while tea consumption has declined. Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink. Australia's long, sunny summers and mild winters enable the people to enjoy picnics and barbecues all year round. 

Education: Each Australian state and the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory have their own laws concerning education. The federal government regulates education in the other territories. In all the states and territories except Tasmania, children must attend school from age 6 to age 15. However, they may start school before the age of 6, and most start at age 5. Tasmania requires children to attend school from age 6 to age 16. About three-quarters of Australian students attend state schools. The rest attend Roman Catholic or other independent schools. 

Australia has 33 universities. Thirty of these universities are publicly owned, and three are private. Each university offers undergraduate and graduate studies. Australia also has several publicly owned colleges of advanced education that offer various degrees.

Religion: The Australian Constitution forbids a state religion and guarantees religious freedom. The great majority of Australians are Christians. Every community in the state or region have their own religious worship centers as to their religion and culture.

Land: Australia is surrounded by water, like an island. But geographers class it as a continent rather than as an island because of its great size. It is sometimes referred to as an "island continent." 

Australia covers 7,682,300 square kilometres or about 5 per cent of the earth's land area. Deserts cover about one-third of Australia. The country has four major deserts. The Simpson Desert lies along the western edge of the Central Lowlands. The three other deserts--the Gibson, Great Sandy, and Great Victoria--cover the central part of the Western Plateau.

 

Rivers are among Australia's most vital resources. Rivers provide the towns and cities with drinking water and they supply farmers with much-needed water for irrigation. However, most of Australia's rivers are dry at least part of the year. They fill with water only during the rainy season. The rainy season occurs in summer in northern Australia and in winter in southern Australia. Dams and reservoirs on all the largest rivers store water for use during the dry season. 

Communication: Australia's postal, telephone, and telegraph systems are owned by the federal government and operated by independent government agencies. The Australian Postal Commission runs the postal system. The Australian Telecommunications Commission operates the country's telephone and telegraph systems. Except in the outback, nearly every Australian household has a telephone. In the remotest parts of the outback, many people use two-way radios in place of telephones. 

Almost all Australian families own one or more television sets and radios. Australia has about 60 daily newspapers, all privately owned. Every big city has at least one daily paper. The most widely read daily newspapers include Melbourne's Herald, Sun News-Pictorial, and The Age, and The Sydney Morning Herald, and the Daily Mirror Telegraph in Sydney. A national daily, The Australian, is published in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane.