100-541: Australia has named a senior Australian rules football team, known as the All-Australian team since 1947. This team, however has never officially played an international Australian rules football match. This is primarily because the sport is played professionally in Australia. It has previously sent teams to play against Ireland's amateur Gaelic Athletic Association in the hybrid code of International Rules Football as
200-479: A Mediterranean climate . The south-east ranges from oceanic (Tasmania and coastal Victoria) to humid subtropical (upper half of New South Wales), with the highlands featuring alpine and subpolar oceanic climates . The interior is arid to semi-arid . Driven by climate change , average temperatures have risen more than 1°C since 1960 . Associated changes in rainfall patterns and climate extremes exacerbate existing issues such as drought and bushfires . 2019
300-511: A belt of Brigalow grasslands lie between the coast and the mountains, while inland of the dividing range are large areas of grassland and shrubland. These include the western plains of New South Wales, and the Mitchell Grass Downs and Mulga Lands of inland Queensland. The northernmost point of the mainland is the tropical Cape York Peninsula . The landscapes of the Top End and
400-793: A large wave of immigration from across Europe , with such immigrants referred to as " New Australians ". This required a relaxation of the white Australia policy , which was justified to Australians using the slogan "populate or perish". A member of the Western Bloc during the Cold War , Australia participated in the Korean War and the Malayan Emergency during the 1950s and the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1972. During this time, tensions over communist influence in society led to unsuccessful attempts by
500-461: A date which later became Australia's national day . Most early settlers were convicts , transported for petty crimes and assigned as labourers or servants to "free settlers" (willing immigrants). Once emancipated , convicts tended to integrate into colonial society. Convict rebellions and uprisings were suppressed under martial law, which lasted for two years following the 1808 Rum Rebellion , Australia's only successful coup d'état . During
600-706: A development or amateur one, participating in the tournament was dismissed. Australia did not compete internationally at any recognised level until the AFL Commission in 1998 formed a 10-year partnership with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), the AIS-AFL Academy, with national sports funding. The AFL Commission had been working towards Australian Institute of Sport recognition as early as 1982, which
700-543: A distinct nation , regardless of its previously derivative and colonial status. It encompasses a range of beliefs and values that are often rooted in Australia's history , geography , and socio-political context. Key elements of Australian nationalism include a sense of national pride, attachment to Australian symbols such as the flag and national anthem , and a focus on promoting Australia's sovereignty and independence. Historically, Australian nationalism emerged during
800-559: A fast moving and hard hitting side that was competitive against some of the VFL's strongest clubs, and was extremely determined to compete against Australia. In 1977 a Victorian U17 team travelled to Port Moresby and were almost defeated. PNG persevered and in 1978 sent a team to Adelaide, and in a historic match came close to beating Australia. However the Australian National Football Council withdrew its promise to admit PNG as
900-434: A historic win at Football Park in 1978 and New Zealand within a goal at Wellington Stadium in 2014. Early in the spread of football codes across the globe, international tours and tests played a pivotal role. However, from the sport's early days, although plans were tabled for tours to England, various leagues had lacked the resources and organisation to send tours overseas. H C A Harrison "Father of Australian Football"
1000-480: A national team. However representatives of the two strongest leagues, the Victorian Football League and South Australian Football League, in an effort to protect their primacy in Australia, lobbied the council to form a strict policy discouraging the game from being played overseas. Through the council they allocated all funds to interstate representation, and none to international representation. The policy
1100-568: A settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania ), and in 1813, Gregory Blaxland , William Lawson and William Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, opening the interior to European settlement. The British claim extended to the whole Australian continent in 1827 when Major Edmund Lockyer established a settlement on King George Sound (modern-day Albany ). The Swan River Colony (present-day Perth )
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#17328560153231200-548: A short distance off the north-east coast and extends for more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi). Mount Augustus , claimed to be the world's largest monolith, is located in Western Australia. At 2,228 m (7,310 ft), Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland. Even taller are Mawson Peak , at 2,745 m (9,006 ft), on the remote Australian external territory of Heard Island , and, in
1300-471: A team to Australia. This was to become the council's default stance. New Zealand had only one representative on the council, and faced opposition from most of the Australian colonies. Though it was given permission to send a side to the 1908 Melbourne Carnival (which defeated Queensland and New South Wales) the AFC never fielded a national team against them. Subsequent calls from overseas for Australia to send teams to
1400-567: A voting member, along with senior funding and plans to tour Papua New Guinea and the local competitions soon collapsed. This was in part due to the country's national sporting body withdrawing funding due to a lack of international competition. In turn this also left Australia with no opponent. When the International Australian Football Council was formed in 1995 one of its aims was to 'establish and promote an official World Cup of Australian Football'. The initial proposal
1500-411: A wide variety of landscapes, with tropical rainforests in the north-east, mountain ranges in the south-east, south-west and east, and desert in the centre. The desert or semi-arid land commonly known as the outback makes up by far the largest portion of land. Australia is the driest inhabited continent; its annual rainfall averaged over continental area is less than 500 mm. The population density
1600-663: A widening gap in interstate representative matches would make it almost impossible for other countries to compete. In the 1960s, the focus would shift. A promotional tour, known as the Australian Football World Tour , took place in 1967, with matches played in Ireland , the United Kingdom , and the United States , though without any local players no international matches of Australian rules were played. This resulted in
1700-692: A year based on their football performance as a 16 year old, their positive attitude to education and schooling and potential to play at professional AFL level. However, with the GAA cancelling both the senior and junior series in 2006, the AFL had to find another opponent in order to continue to receive national sports funding. which it sought to capitalise on burgeoning Australian investment in Australian rules football in South Africa . Following some highly unevenly matched contests,
1800-436: Is 3.4 inhabitants per square kilometre, although the large majority of the population lives along the temperate south-eastern coastline. The population density exceeds 19,500 inhabitants per square kilometre in central Melbourne. In 2021 Australia had 10% of the global permanent meadows and pastureland. Forest cover is around 17% of Australia's total land area. The Great Barrier Reef , the world's largest coral reef, lies
1900-413: Is a constitutional monarchy , a parliamentary democracy and a federation . The country has maintained its mostly unchanged constitution alongside a stable liberal democratic political system since Federation in 1901. It is one of the world's oldest federations, in which power is divided between the federal and state governments. The Australian system of government combines elements derived from
2000-474: Is governed by convention and their precise scope is unclear. The most notable exercise of these powers was the dismissal of the Whitlam government in the constitutional crisis of 1975 . Australian nationalism Australian nationalism is the ideology , movement and sentiment that emphasizes the identity, culture , and interests of Australia as a nation-state, asserting the identity of Australians as
2100-517: Is now Southeast Asia. It is uncertain how many waves of immigration may have contributed to these ancestors of modern Aboriginal Australians. The Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land is possibly the oldest site showing the presence of humans in Australia. The oldest human remains found are the Lake Mungo remains , which have been dated to around 41,000 years ago. Aboriginal Australian culture
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#17328560153232200-557: Is one of only two pristine Archaean 3.6–2.7 Ga (billion years ago) crusts identified on the Earth. Having been part of all major supercontinents , the Australian continent began to form after the breakup of Gondwana in the Permian , with the separation of the continental landmass from the African continent and Indian subcontinent. It separated from Antarctica over a prolonged period beginning in
2300-460: Is one of the oldest continuous cultures on Earth. At the time of first European contact, Aboriginal Australians belonged to wide range of societies, with diverse economies spread across at least 250 different language groups . Estimates of the Aboriginal population before British settlement range from 300,000 to 3 million. Aboriginal Australians cultures were (and remain) deeply connected with
2400-411: 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 . Australia has at least 755 species of reptile, more than any other country in the world. Besides Antarctica, Australia is the only continent that developed without feline species. Feral cats may have been introduced in the 17th century by Dutch shipwrecks, and later in
2500-636: The Australia international rules football team (this article is not about that team). While the All-Australian team does not compete, the AFL National Academy (known simply as the "AFL Academy") is a national team composed of underage (under-19) players. In the past it has played annual matches against New Zealand , though currently it competes only against semi-professional state league teams. History has shown that more than two thirds of Academy players go on to professional careers at senior level in
2600-585: The Australian Football League . Australia also has a history of fielding Australian Football sides both officially and unofficially recognised to compete at amateur and junior levels tours against national sides from other countries including New Zealand, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, the United States, as well as a combined side representing all of Europe. In addition, sides representing Indigenous Australia have competed internationally, including
2700-482: The British & Irish Lions and New Zealand Native team played matches against clubs in Australia but no recognised international tests. These tours were conditional on Australian leagues playing some matches under rugby rules to keep the competition fair. Generally games were won by the teams playing their own code and this led to the perception that the codes were by now too dissimilar for such matches to continue. Unlike
2800-519: The British government , but by the 1880s, and with the rise of nationalist movements in Europe, the efforts to establish a federation of the Australian colonies began to gather momentum. The British government supported federation as a means to cement British influence in the South Pacific. Figures like William Wentworth , John Dunmore Lang and Banjo Patterson championed Australian identity during
2900-731: The Colonial Office that it be formally adopted. In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially by that name. The first official published use of the new name came with the publication in 1830 of The Australia Directory by the Hydrographic Office . Colloquial names for Australia include " Oz ", " Straya " and " Down Under ". Other epithets include "the Great Southern Land", "the Lucky Country" (from
3000-524: The Commonwealth of Australia , is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands . Australia has a total area of 7,688,287 km (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world and the largest country by area in Oceania . It is the world's oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with some of
3100-579: The Gulf Country —with their tropical climate—include forest, woodland, wetland, grassland, rainforest and desert. At the north-west corner of the continent are the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley , and below that the Pilbara . The Victoria Plains tropical savanna lies south of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land savannas, forming a transition between the coastal savannas and the interior deserts. At
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3200-542: The Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation , which is correlated with periodic drought , and the seasonal tropical low-pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia. These factors cause rainfall to vary markedly from year to year. Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical, predominantly summer-rainfall ( monsoon ). The south-west corner of the country has
3300-706: The Indigenous All-Stars against Papua New Guinea and the Flying Boomerangs . High-profile representatives include AFL Brownlow medallists Chris Judd , Patrick Dangerfield , Adam Cooney , several AFL club captains including Luke Hodge , Travis Boak , Trent Cotchin , Jack Viney , Jarryd Roughead , Shannon Hurn , Jarrad McVeigh , Marc Murphy , Joel Selwood , Steven May , Jack Ziebell , other AFL greats including Cyril Rioli , Brett Deledio and numerous All-Australian players. Australia remains undefeated, although Papua New Guinea came within two goals of
3400-529: The Iraq War from 2003 to 2009. The nation's trade relations also became increasingly oriented towards East Asia in the 21st century, with China becoming the nation's largest trading partner by a large margin. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic , several of Australia's largest cities were locked down for extended periods and free movement across the national and state borders was restricted in an attempt to slow
3500-638: The Menzies Government to ban the Communist Party of Australia , and a bitter split in the Labor Party in 1955. As a result of a 1967 referendum , the federal government gained the power to legislate with regard to Indigenous Australians, and Indigenous Australians were fully included in the census . Pre-colonial land interests (referred to as native title in Australia) was recognised in law for
3600-645: The Pacific Community ; the Commonwealth of Nations ; and the defence and security organisations ANZUS , AUKUS , and the Five Eyes . It is also a major non-NATO ally of the United States. The name Australia (pronounced / ə ˈ s t r eɪ l i ə / in Australian English ) is derived from the Latin Terra Australis ( ' southern land ' ), a name used for a hypothetical continent in
3700-520: The Permian and continuing through to the Cretaceous . When the last glacial period ended in about 10,000 BC, rising sea levels formed Bass Strait , separating Tasmania from the mainland. Then between about 8,000 and 6,500 BC, the lowlands in the north were flooded by the sea, separating New Guinea, the Aru Islands , and the mainland of Australia. The Australian continent is moving toward Eurasia at
3800-663: The Territory of Papua and New Guinea in 1949 and gained independence from Australia in 1975. In 1914, Australia joined the Allies in fighting the First World War, and took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front . Of about 416,000 who served, about 60,000 were killed and another 152,000 were wounded. Many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) at Gallipoli in 1915 as
3900-514: The Torres Strait Islands . The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent " New Holland " during the 17th century, and although no attempt at settlement was made, a number of shipwrecks left men either stranded or, as in the case of the Batavia in 1629, marooned for mutiny and murder, thus becoming the first Europeans to permanently inhabit
4000-551: The United States (1909), New Zealand (1910), Japan (1910) and Canada (1912) were all rejected by the AFC. Western Australia through the West Australian Football League and its junior Young Australia League organised unsanctioned tours of the US by Australian junior representative teams between 1911 and 1919 reciprocating young American tours of Australia from 1909, resulting in the first international match between
4100-623: The bombing of Darwin and other Japanese attacks on Australian soil , led to a widespread belief in Australia that a Japanese invasion was imminent , and a shift from the United Kingdom to the United States as Australia's principal ally and security partner. Since 1951, Australia has been allied with the United States under the ANZUS treaty. In the decades following World War II, Australia enjoyed significant increases in living standards, leisure time and suburban development. Governments encouraged
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4200-426: The emu and the kookaburra . Australia is home to many dangerous animals including some of the most venomous snakes in the world. The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000 BCE . Many animal and plant species became extinct soon after first human settlement, including the Australian megafauna ; others have disappeared since European settlement, among them
4300-584: The governor-general at the federal level and by the governors at the state level, who by section 63 of the Constitution and convention act on the advice of their ministers. Thus, in practice the governor-general acts as a legal figurehead for the actions of the prime minister and the Cabinet. The governor-general may in some situations exercise reserve powers : powers exercisable in the absence or contrary to ministerial advice. When these powers may be exercised
4400-643: The "baptism of fire" that forged the new nation's identity . The beginning of the campaign is commemorated annually on Anzac Day , a date which rivals Australia Day as the nation's most important. From 1939 to 1945, Australia joined the Allies in fighting the Second World War. Australia's armed forces fought in the Pacific , European and Mediterranean and Middle East theatres . The shock of Britain's defeat in Singapore in 1942, followed soon after by
4500-575: The "island continent" and is sometimes considered the world's largest island . Australia has 34,218 km (21,262 mi) of coastline (excluding all offshore islands), and claims an extensive exclusive economic zone of 8,148,250 square kilometres (3,146,060 sq mi). This exclusive economic zone does not include the Australian Antarctic Territory . Mainland Australia lies between latitudes 9° and 44° south , and longitudes 112° and 154° east . Australia's size gives it
4600-543: The 150th anniversary of the game, was the appropriate date. The idea of Australia eventually entering an amateur side was first proposed. In 1999 a proposal was received from the New Zealand Australian Football League (NZAFL), suggesting that the World Cup be brought forward to 2002. An approach was then made to the national body, the AFL, asking for their support in staging the event. The AFL agreed on
4700-428: The 18th century by European settlers. They are now considered a major factor in the decline and extinction of many vulnerable and endangered native species. Seafaring immigrants from Asia are believed to have brought the dingo to Australia sometime after the end of the last ice age—perhaps 4000 years ago—and Aboriginal people helped disperse them across the continent as pets, contributing to the demise of thylacines on
4800-524: The 1964 book of the same name ), "the Sunburnt Country", and "the Wide Brown Land". The latter two both derive from Dorothea Mackellar 's 1908 poem " My Country ". Indigenous Australians comprise two broad groups: Human habitation of the Australian continent is estimated to have begun 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea crossings from what
4900-529: The 2018 Environmental Performance Index . There are more than 1,800 animals and plants on Australia's threatened species list, including more than 500 animals. Paleontologists discovered a fossil site of a prehistoric rainforest in McGraths Flat , in South Australia, that presents evidence that this now arid desert and dry shrubland / grassland was once home to an abundance of life. Australia
5000-635: The Australian Antarctic Territory, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies , at 3,492 m (11,457 ft) and 3,355 m (11,007 ft) respectively. Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range , which runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, New South Wales and much of Victoria. The name is not strictly accurate, because parts of the range consist of low hills, and the highlands are typically no more than 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in height. The coastal uplands and
5100-545: The Australian mainland. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken , captained by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon . He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, and made landfall on 26 February 1606 at the Pennefather River near the modern town of Weipa on Cape York. Later that year, Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through and navigated
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#17328560153235200-593: The Commonwealth of Australia. This continued a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 , and culminating in the Australia Acts of 1986. Australia is a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and ten territories . Its population of more than 28 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on
5300-586: The Southern Hemisphere since ancient times. Several 16th-century cartographers used the word Australia on maps, but not to identify modern Australia. When Europeans began visiting and mapping Australia in the 17th century, the name Terra Australis was applied to the new territories. Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as New Holland , a name first applied by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 (as Nieuw-Holland ) and subsequently anglicised. Terra Australis still saw occasional usage, such as in scientific texts. The name Australia
5400-456: The basis that the event was renamed the "International Cup", that an Australian side would not compete and that there be strict eligibility criteria to exclude Australian players. In 2004, the AFL formed its own International Policy, pushed for the dissolution of the IAFC to became formally recognised as the world governing body for the sport. It took the International Cup over and put it under its development arm. The idea of an Australian team, even
5500-438: The centre and Phanerozoic sedimentary basins , metamorphic and igneous rocks in the east. The Australian mainland and Tasmania are situated in the middle of the tectonic plate and have no active volcanoes, but due to passing over the East Australia hotspot , recent volcanism has occurred during the Holocene , in the Newer Volcanics Province of western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. Volcanism also occurs in
5600-420: The colonies was achieved after a decade of planning, constitutional conventions and referendums , resulting in the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia as a nation under the new Australian Constitution . After the 1907 Imperial Conference , Australia and several other self-governing British settler colonies were given the status of self-governing dominions within the British Empire. Australia
5700-475: The continent. In 1770, Captain James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named " New South Wales " and claimed for Great Britain. Following the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the First Fleet , under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip , to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales . A camp was set up and the Union Flag raised at Sydney Cove , Port Jackson , on 26 January 1788,
5800-478: The convict system culminated in its abolition in the eastern colonies by the 1850s. Initially a free colony, Western Australia practised penal transportation from 1850 to 1868. The six colonies individually gained responsible government between 1855 and 1890, thus becoming elective democracies managing most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire . The Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, notably foreign affairs. In
5900-425: The country's economy. It ranks highly for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights. Australia is a middle power , and has the world's thirteenth-highest military expenditure . It is a member of international groups including the United Nations; the G20 ; the OECD ; the World Trade Organization ; Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ; the Pacific Islands Forum ;
6000-416: The early 19th century, Australia was governed as a series of six largely self-governing colonies that were spread across the continent and were part of the British Empire . The name Australia was popularised by explorer Matthew Flinders and first used officially by Governor Macquarie . Attempts to coordinate governance had failed in the 1860s due to a lack of popular support and lack of interest from
6100-459: The early 2010s after the 2000s Australian drought . Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, the continent includes a diverse range of habitats from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests . Fungi typify that diversity—an estimated 250,000 species—of which only 5% have been described—occur in Australia. Because of the continent's great age, extremely variable weather patterns, and long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota
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#17328560153236200-481: The eastern seaboard. Canberra is the nation's capital, while its most populous cities are Sydney and Melbourne , both with a population of more than 5 million. Australia's culture is diverse, and the country has one of the highest foreign-born populations in the world . It has a highly developed market economy and one of the highest per capita incomes globally . Its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to
6300-433: The end of 2018, the AFL put an end to overseas tours for its AFL Academy, which meant that international sides would once again require to travel to Australia to compete. Unable to secure nationals sports funding the AFL also restructured the AFL Academy into state-based academies, diverting funding intended for overseas tours into academies featuring its clubs in developing states of New South Wales and Queensland. Since 2019
6400-400: The first International Rules matches played between Australia and a touring County Meath Gaelic football team, Meath being the reigning All-Ireland senior football champions . The national side was known as the "Galahs". Ireland would maintain the VFL's primary international focus (especially given its ongoing Irish Experiment recruiting initiative) through to the 21st century. Though it
6500-601: The first time when the High Court of Australia held in Mabo v Queensland (No 2) that Australia was neither terra nullius ( ' land belonging to no one ' ) or "desert and uncultivated land" at the time of European settlement. Following the abolition of the last vestiges of the White Australia policy in 1973, Australia's demography and culture transformed as a result of a large and ongoing wave of non-European immigration, mostly from Asia. The late 20th century also saw an increasing focus on foreign policy ties with other Pacific Rim nations. The Australia Acts severed
6600-446: The football codes with less players sending squads of 18 to 22 players on international tours would prove to be an expensive exercise and sharing the costs across multiple colonies would prove much more difficult than, for example, New South Wales sending a national rugby team. It wasn't until the formation of the national body, the Australasian Football Council in 1906 that the opportunity presented itself for funding and organisation for
6700-437: The gap between the two countries drew comments from AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou the South Africans would be better suited to playing a game with a round ball (referring to International Rules but possibly also soccer). In 2011, the program expanded to include two squads however the AFL abandoned the South African program and sent a side on tour to Europe to play against a combined side. The Australian Institute of Sport withdrew from
6800-412: The heart of the country are the uplands of central Australia . Prominent features of the centre and south include Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), the famous sandstone monolith, and the inland Simpson , Tirari and Sturt Stony , Gibson , Great Sandy, Tanami , and Great Victoria deserts, with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast. The Western Australian mulga shrublands lie between
6900-407: The interior deserts and Mediterranean-climate Southwest Australia . Lying on the Indo-Australian Plate , the mainland of Australia is the lowest and most primordial landmass on Earth with a relatively stable geological history. The landmass includes virtually all known rock types and from all geological time periods spanning more than 3.8 billion years of the Earth's history. The Pilbara Craton
7000-417: The island of New Guinea (considered geologically as part of the Australian continent), and in the Australian external territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands . Seismic activity in the Australian mainland and Tasmania is also low, with the greatest number of fatalities having occurred in the 1989 Newcastle earthquake . The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including
7100-620: The land and the environment, with stories of The Dreaming maintained through oral tradition , songs , dance and paintings. Certain groups engaged in fire-stick farming , fish farming , and built semi-permanent shelters . These practices have variously been characterised as " hunter-gatherer ", " agricultural ", "natural cultivation" and "intensification". Torres Strait Islander people first settled their islands at least 2,500 years ago. Culturally and linguistically distinct from mainland Aboriginal peoples, they were seafarers and obtained their livelihood from seasonal horticulture and
7200-438: The late 19th and early 20th centuries as Australia moved towards federation and gained independence from British colonial rule , developing itself in three pivotal historical traditions: the labour movement , the republican movement and the native - nationalist movement. It was shaped by factors such as the experiences of early settlers and the desire for a distinct Australian identity separate from British influence. By
7300-447: The least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country , and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along the coast . The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the last glacial period . By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct languages and had
7400-494: The location for the future federal capital of Canberra . While it was being constructed, Melbourne served as the temporary capital from 1901 to 1927. The Northern Territory was transferred from the control of South Australia to the Commonwealth in 1911. Australia became the colonial ruler of the Territory of Papua (which had initially been annexed by Queensland in 1883) in 1902 and of the Territory of New Guinea (formerly German New Guinea ) in 1920. The two were unified as
7500-448: The mainland. Australia is also one of 17 megadiverse countries. Australian forests are mostly made up of evergreen species, particularly eucalyptus trees in the less arid regions; wattles replace them as the dominant species in drier regions and deserts. Among well-known Australian animals are the monotremes (the platypus and echidna ); a host of marsupials , including the kangaroo , koala , and wombat , and birds such as
7600-466: The mid-19th century, explorers such as Burke and Wills charted Australia's interior. A series of gold rushes beginning in the early 1850s led to an influx of new migrants from China , North America and continental Europe, as well as outbreaks of bushranging and civil unrest; the latter peaked in 1854 when Ballarat miners launched the Eureka Rebellion against gold license fees. The 1860s saw
7700-602: The next two decades, social and economic reforms, together with the establishment of a Legislative Council and Supreme Court , saw the penal colony transition to a civil society. The indigenous population declined for 150 years following European settlement, mainly due to infectious disease. British colonial authorities did not sign any treaties with Aboriginal groups . As settlement expanded, tens of thousands of Indigenous people and thousands of settlers were killed in frontier conflicts while settlers dispossessed surviving Indigenous peoples of most of their land. In 1803,
7800-498: The oldest living culture in the world. Australia's written history commenced with Dutch exploration of most of the coastline in the 17th-century. British colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of the penal colony of New South Wales . By the mid-19th century, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and five additional self-governing British colonies were established, each gaining responsible government by 1890. The colonies federated in 1901, forming
7900-609: The partnership in 2013 to focus on Olympics recognised sports. The National Australia Bank extended its Australian Football sponsorship to the AFL Academy to fill the gap left by the AIS. The AFL's partnership in New Zealand with Wellington Regional Stadium helped fill the gap left by the AIS and it began playing its development team against an open aged NZ sides in 2012. Competing as the AFL Academy (or Australia U17) an annual series of tours
8000-428: The political systems of the United Kingdom (a fused executive , constitutional monarchy and strong party discipline ) and the United States ( federalism , a written constitution and strong bicameralism with an elected upper house), resulting in a distinct hybrid. Federal government power is partially separated between three groups: Charles III reigns as King of Australia and is represented in Australia by
8100-572: The protection of threatened species. Numerous protected areas have been created under the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity to protect and preserve unique ecosystems; 65 wetlands are listed under the Ramsar Convention , and 16 natural World Heritage Sites have been established. Australia was ranked 21st out of 178 countries in the world on
8200-475: The rate of 6 to 7 centimetres a year. The Australian mainland's continental crust , excluding the thinned margins, has an average thickness of 38 km, with a range in thickness from 24 km to 59 km. Australia's geology can be divided into several main sections, showcasing that the continent grew from west to east: the Archaean cratonic shields found mostly in the west, Proterozoic fold belts in
8300-533: The remaining constitutional ties between Australia and the United Kingdom while maintaining the monarch in her independent capacity as Queen of Australia . In a 1999 constitutional referendum , 55% of voters rejected abolishing the monarchy and becoming a republic. Following the September 11 attacks on the United States, Australia joined the United States in fighting the Afghanistan War from 2001 to 2021 and
8400-419: The resources of their reefs and seas. Agriculture also developed on some islands and villages appeared by the 1300s. By the mid-18th century in northern Australia, contact, trade and cross-cultural engagement had been established between local Aboriginal groups and Makassan trepangers , visiting from present-day Indonesia. The Dutch are the first Europeans that recorded sighting and making landfall on
8500-491: The rise of blackbirding , where South Sea Islanders were coerced or abducted into indentured labour, mainly by Queensland colonists. From 1886, Australian colonial governments began removing many Aboriginal children from their families and communities, justified on the grounds of child protection and forced assimilation policies. The Second Boer War (1899–1902) marked the largest overseas deployment of Australia's colonial forces . On 1 January 1901, federation of
8600-709: The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus . Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans, Australia is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and the Tasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand. The world's smallest continent and sixth-largest country by total area , Australia—owing to its size and isolation—is often dubbed
8700-3365: The state-based academies have formed the basis of the AFL National Academy teams for boys and girls, made up of primarily players in the under-18 age bracket. The boys team have played once-a-year fixtures against teams from the Victorian Football League and South Australian National Football League , while the girls have competed against combined under-23 state teams. Both teams undertake regular training and high-development camps, as well as partake in yearly formal matches against opposition. Taj Schofield ; Nathan O'Driscoll ; Brandon Walker ; Zane Trew ; Logan McDonald ; Denver Grainger-Barras ; Will Phillips ; Connor Downie ; Campbell Edwardes ; Nikolas Cox ; Tanner Bruhn ; Oliver Henry ; Elijah Hollands ; Ethan Baxter ; Jamarra Ugle-Hagan ; Oliver Davis ; Sam Collins ; Jackson Callow ; Corey Durdin ; Zachary Dumesny ; Jye Sinderberry ; Luke Edwards ; Kaine Baldwin ; Riley Thilthorpe ; Alex Davies ; Errol Gulden ; Braeden Campbell Kysaiah Pickett ; Rhai Arn Cox ; Connor Budarick ; Caleb Serong ; Jack Mohony ; Matthew Rowell ; Hewago Paul-Oea ; Deven Robertson ; Cameron Taheny ; Dylan Stephens ; Sam Flanders ; Hayden Young ; Dylan Williams ; Cooper Stephens ; Noah Anderson ; Joshua Rayner ; Jamieson Rossiter ; Brodie Kemp ; Liam Delahunty ; Fischer McAsey ; Emerson Jeka ; Mitch O'Neill ; Anthony Davis ; Jack Buller ; Andrew Courtney Ruben Flinn , Jackson Hately , Jack Lukosius , Hugo Munn , Izak Rankine , Connor Rozee , Luke Valente , Jack Bytel , Max King , Ben King , Rhylee West , Buku Khamis , Zane Barzen , Jye Caldwell , Sam Fletcher , Hudson Garoni , Sam Walsh , Ajak Dang , Jason Carter , Ian Hill , Tom Joyce , Sydney Stack , Chayce Jones , Tarryn Thomas , Nick Blakey , Matthew Walker , Bailey Scott , Michael Mummery Zachary Sproule , Kobe Mutch , Will Setterfield , Harrison Macreadie , Matthew Scharenberg , Jack Graham , Steven Slimming , Jack Bowes , Brad Scheer , Jacob Allison , Curtis Marsden , Jarrod Berry , Will Brodie , Ben Ainsworth , Jarrod Korewha , Jordan Galluci , Jack Scrimshaw , Noah Hura , Sam Petrevski-Seton , Sam Powell-Pepper , Jeremy Goddard , Luke Strnadica , Joshua Rotham , Ben McGuinness , Brandon Parfitt Isaac Heeney , Sam Durdin , Lachlan Weller , Liam Dawson , Matthew Hammelmann , Jaden McGrath , Tom Lamb , Hugh Goddard , Liam Duggan , Angus Brayshaw , Jake Lever , Darcy Moore , Peter Wright , Jarrod Pickett , Clem Smith , Bradley Walsh , Nakia Cockatoo , Duom Dawam, Liam Griffiths, Nicholas Coughlan, Jack Donkersley, Mac Bower, Bohdi Walker, Daniel Caprion, Jesse Watchman, Peter Spurling, Ryan Lim, Jermaine Miller-Lewis, Matthew Ah Siu, Warrick Wilson Jack Billings , Luke McDonald , Billy Hartung , Jesse Hogan , James Aish , Ben Lennon , Luke Dunstan , Matt Scharenberg , Jack Martin , Dallas Willsmore Clayton McCartney, Dylan Loo, Cain Tickner, Sam Garstone Tom Mitchell , Daniel Gorringe , Adam Treloar , Michael Bussey, Piers Flanagan , Sam Gordon, Chad Wingard , Jonathon Patton Australia Australia , officially
8800-406: The thylacine. Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced animal, chromistan , fungal and plant species. All these factors have led to Australia's having the highest mammal extinction rate of any country in the world. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the legal framework for
8900-444: The two countries in 1911 (though the teams were composed mostly of West Australians) and helping establish Australian rules football in the United States . For a country with less than a thousand players, USA's junior athletes proved highly competitive against the Australian sides. In 1912, Canada sent a junior touring side to Australia, however the tour was not recognised by the AFC and as such no composite Australian representative side
9000-615: Was Australia's warmest recorded year, and the 2019–2020 bushfire season was the country's worst on record . Australia's greenhouse gas emissions per capita are among the highest in the world. Water restrictions are frequently in place in many regions and cities of Australia in response to chronic shortages due to urban population increases and localised drought. Throughout much of the continent, major flooding regularly follows extended periods of drought, flushing out inland river systems, overflowing dams and inundating large inland flood plains, as occurred throughout Eastern Australia in
9100-568: Was a supporter of the idea of international matches against England and New Zealand, and in London in 1884, pitched playing under compromise rules, however the idea was rejected. The idea was made more difficult as prior to the Federation of Australia the Australian colonies could still not reach a consensus on the idea of fielding a national side. Some teams did however tour and played matches in Australia against Australian sides, notably in 1888 and 1889,
9200-464: Was boosted by a wave of post-Federation Australian nationalism . In 1906 the council's official policy became "one flag, one destiny, one football game" and chose to play all matches under an Australian flag, on Australian turf with an Australian manufactured ball. The first request for international tour came in 1906 from Australian rules football in South Africa , the AFC therefore replied that if it wanted to play against Australia, it would have to send
9300-614: Was established against New Zealand as part of a junior development pathway with AFL New Zealand . The AFL also sent tours to Europe in 2013 and 2014 to compete against a combined AFL Europe side known as the European Legion. The AFL also set up International Combines in Europe and New Zealand from which some of the athletes participated as the Academy's opposition. New Zealand matches were later extended to include women's matches however COVID-19 pandemic put international matches on hold. At
9400-413: Was established in 1829, evolving into the largest Australian colony by area, Western Australia . In accordance with population growth, separate colonies were carved from New South Wales: Tasmania in 1825, South Australia in 1836, New Zealand in 1841, Victoria in 1851, and Queensland in 1859. South Australia was founded as a free colony—it never accepted transported convicts. Growing opposition to
9500-407: Was fielded against them. With the rapid growth in the United States, the AFC's delegate from Western Australia strongly argued for sanctioned tours to both the United States and Canada, however the governing body elected not to. The result was that most competitions outside Australia went into permanent recess by the end of the 1920s. In contrast, the top leagues in Australia were going professional and
9600-400: Was for similar eligibility criteria to other football codes which would mean that it could draw the significant pool of Australians born overseas or with a parent or grandparent from the country they chose to represent. This would in turn reduce the logistical and financial burden on overseas clubs who would send their best players to top up the squads. At the time it was thought that 2008, being
9700-514: Was made more difficult by not having significant matches played in Canberra or international competition, however the commission believed that expanding into a national competition was the best way to gain national recognition. The AIS junior development funding was contingent on international competition, which the AFL was able to satisfy through a junior International Rules Series against Ireland. The AIS funded scholarships to 30 17 year old players for
9800-624: Was not officially endorsed by the AFC, support for the idea was continued by the VFL/AFL and later Australian Amateur Football Council . In the 1960s and 1970s, Australian rules was unexpectedly booming in the Pacific in Papua New Guinea and Nauru . While Nauru had been soundly defeated by PNG it was considered far too small a nation to field a competitive side against Australia. Papua New Guinea however with tens of thousands of players to draw from, had
9900-565: Was one of the founding members of the League of Nations in 1920, and the United Nations in 1945. The Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended the ability of the UK to pass federal laws without Australia's consent. Australia adopted it in 1942, but it was backdated to 1939 to confirm the validity of legislation passed during World War II. The Australian Capital Territory was formed in 1911 as
10000-466: Was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders , who said it was "more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the Earth". The first time that Australia appears to have been officially used was in April 1817, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledged the receipt of Flinders' charts of Australia from Lord Bathurst . In December 1817, Macquarie recommended to
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