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Featured content represents the best of what Wikipedia has to offer. These are the articles, pictures, and other contributions that showcase the polished result of the collaborative efforts that drive Wikipedia. All "featured" content undergoes a thorough review process to ensure that it meets the highest standards and can serve as an example of our end goals. A "featured article" or "list" is indicated by the symbol () in the top right corner of a page. "Good articles" are those that are considered to be of very high quality, having undergone a similar review process to meet the good article criteria, but have not yet achieved featured article standards. The symbol () in the top right corner of a page indicates "good article" status.

As of 29 November 2024, there are 595 featured and 886 good articles within WikiProject Australia's scope.

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Quietly Confident Quartet

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In the News articles

Picture of the day pictures

07. Camel Profile, near Silverton, NSW, 07.07.2007
07. Japanese Garden Pano, Cowra, NSW, 22.09.2006
140611 - Jeremy Doyle - 3a - 2012 Team processing
2003 Mazda 6 (GG) Classic hatchback 01
2007 swifts creek lawnmower races04 edit
AUS-10-Commonwealth Bank of Australia-Half Sovereign (1923)
AUS-11b-Commonwealth Bank of Australia-One Pound (1923)
AUS-13a-Commonwealth Bank of Australia-5 Pounds (1924)
AUS-14-Commonwealth Bank of Australia-10 Pounds (1925)
AUS-3b-Commonwealth of Australia-10 Shillings (1918)
AUS-4d-Commonwealth of Australia-One Pound (1918)
AUS-5c-Commonwealth of Australia-5 Pounds (1918)
AUS-6b-Commonwealth of Australia-10 Pounds (1918)
AUS-7b-Commonwealth of Australia-20 Pounds (1918)
AUS-8c-Commonwealth of Australia-50 Pounds (1918)
AUS-9c-Commonwealth of Australia-100 Pounds (1918)
Abantiades latipennis
Acanthiza pusilla - Austin's Ferry
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris - Mogo Campground
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris female
Aegotheles chrisoptus - Catlereigh Nature Reserve
Albino Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus
Albury railway station, Australia
Alcedo azurea - Julatten
Alectura lathami - Centenary Lakes
Alice Manfield - Guide Alice, Mt Buffalo, c1900-30, SLV
Alstroemeria aurantiaca
Amanita muscaria After Rain
Amanita muscaria Marriott Falls 1
Anopterus glandulosus
Anthochaera chrysoptera 4
Anthochaera chrysoptera
Ants eating cicada, jjron 22.11.2009
Apricots
Arenaria interpres 2 - Boat Harbour (cropped)
Armillaria sp Marriott edit
Arthur Streeton - Golden summer, Eaglemont - Google Art Project
Australasian Shoveler - Goulds Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary
Australia green tree frog (Litoria caerulea) crop
Australia satellite plane
Australian Brushturkey 2 - Newington
Australian Mounted Police Victoria-edit1
Australian Wood Duck duckling
Australian blenny
Aythya australis female - Hurstville Golf Course
Aythya australis male - Hurstville Golf Course
Bell Miner 1 - Nepean Weir
Black-faced Woodswallow 1 - Sturt National Park
Brown-headed Honeyeater - Patchewollock
Buff-banded Rail 1 - Newington
Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher - Julatten
CSIRO ScienceImage 3881 Five Antennas at Narrabri - restoration1
CSIRO ScienceImage 4350 CSIROs Parkes Radio Telescope with moon in the background
Caligavis chrysops - Lake Parramatta Reserve
Canberra From Black Mountain Tower
Cape Raoul from Lookout
Cercophonius squama
Charadrius bicinctus 2 - Boat Harbour
Cinnamon Quail-thrush 0A2A9195
Cisticola exilis - Cornwallis Rd
Clavulinopsis sulcata - Lane Cove River
Clifton Beach 5
Columba leucomela - Brunkerville
Comet P1 McNaught02 - 23-01-07
Coral Outcrop Flynn Reef
Corvus coronoides - Doughboy Head
Coturnix ypsilophora - Sydney Olympic Park
Crested Tern - Mortimer Bay
Cumulus clouds panorama
Dendrocygna eytoni - Macquarie University
Diomedea sanfordi - SE Tasmania 2019
Domestic Goose
Drone fly feeding on marigold
Dusky Grasswren 0A2A9591
Eastern Bristlebird - Penrith
Egretta sacra
Emu 1 - Tidbinbilla
Eopsaltria australis - Mogo Campground
Falcunculus frontatus - Dharug National Park
File-Pterodroma lessonii in flight 1 - SE Tasmania 2019
Flame Robin male 1 - Jenolan Caves
Fremantle Prison inmates and main front Iwel jpeg convert
Geastrum triplex - Bola Creek
Geopelia humeralis - Brunkerville
Glaucus atlanticus 1 cropped
Gliophorus chromolimoneus - Ferndale Park
Grey-crowned Babblers 1605
Haematopus fuliginosus - Doughboy Head
Haliotis laevigata 01
Halobaena caerulea in flight - SE Tasmania
Hrh Princess Elizabeth in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, April 1945 TR2832
Hygrocybe miniata - Ferndale Park
Jigging off Queenscliff Pier, Vic, jjron 5.12.2009
Koala climbing tree
Lake Pedder From Mt Eliza
Leptospermum squarrosum
Limosa lapponica 2 - Taren Point
Litoria phyllochroa
Loch Ard Gorge Panorama July 2005
Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus Bruny
Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus Juvenile 2
Major Mitchell's Cockatoo - Mt Grenfell
Major Mitchell's Cockatoo 1 - Mt Grenfell
Male yellow flower wasp02
Meehan Range and Old Beach
Melanodryas cucullata - Glen Davis
Melanodryas cucullata 2 - Glen Davis
Melbourne Docklands - Yarras Edge - marina panorama
Melbourne yarra twilight
Melithreptus lunatus
Mistletoebird - Round Hill Nature Reserve
Mitra stictica 01
Monarcha melanopsis 1 - Brunkerville
Mouse spider
Mt Anne from High Shelf Camp
Mt hotham alpine range scenery
Myzomela sanguinolenta 1 - Windsor Downs Nature Reserve
Nelumno nucifera open flower - botanic garden adelaide2
Orange Chat 9034
Origma solitaria 2 - Wattamolla
Oryctolagus cuniculus Tasmania 2
Oxyura australis male 2 - Penrith
Painted Cliffs
Palm Cockatoo 0A2A7769
Pardalotus punctatus - Glen Davis
Parliament House, Canberra, Pano jjron 25.9.2008-edit1
Perameles gunni
Peter Tatchell - Red Wall - 8by10 - 2016-10-15
Phascolarctos cinereus Bonorong
Philemon corniculatus - Glen Davis
Phyllopteryx taeniolatus1
Pitta versicolor - Kembla Heights
Plains-wanderer female 8173
Platycercus eximius diemenensis male
Podargus strigoides Bonorong
Polytelis anthopeplus 2 edit1
Psephotus haematonotus female - Cornwallis Rd
Psephotus haematonotus male - Cornwallis Rd
Pterodroma mollis light morph - SE Tasmania 2019
Ptilotula penicillata - Glen Davis
Red Knot 1 - Boat Harbour
Red sunset
Red wattlebird
Red-browed Finch - Penrith
Red-lored Whistler 0A2A8896
Rhipidura leucophrys - Glen Davis
Robbie McEwen, Cyclist, jjron, 2.01.10
Rose Robin 1 - Woodford
Russell Falls 2
Sandy Shores of Moreton Bay
Sawfly larvae - Pergidae sp
Scarlet Robin female - Blackheath
South Cape Bay edit2
Spinifex Pigeon 0A2A1585
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater 3434 - Patchewollock Conservation Reserve
Splendid Fairy Wren - Lake cargelligo - Spt 05 089
Splendid Fairywren 8352
Stagonopleura guttata 1 - Glen Alice
Stagonopleura guttata 2 - Glen Alice
Swamp-Wallaby-joey-Wallabia-bicolor-cropped
Swanston and Flinders St intersection 1927
Sydney opera house
Taeniopygia bichenovii 2 - Glen Davis
Tambo valley races 2006 edit
Tessellated Pavement Sunrise Landscape
Thalassarche impavida 2 - SE Tasmania
Three Sisters Sunset
Thylogale billardierii
Turnix varius - Castlereigh nature reserve
Ulysses Butterfly - melbourne zoo
Vincent van Gogh - s0273V1962 - Van Gogh Museum
Vombatus ursinus -Maria Island National Park
White-cheeked Honeyeater - Maddens Plains
Wineglass Bay from Lookout crop
Yarra Night Panorama, Melbourne - Feb 2005
Yarra Panorama
Yellow-throated Miner - Sturt National Park

Featured pictures

07. Camel Profile, near Silverton, NSW, 07.07.2007
07. Japanese Garden Pano, Cowra, NSW, 22.09.2006
140611 - Jeremy Doyle - 3a - 2012 Team processing
2003 Mazda 6 (GG) Classic hatchback 01
2007 swifts creek lawnmower races04 edit
AUS-10-Commonwealth Bank of Australia-Half Sovereign (1923)
AUS-11b-Commonwealth Bank of Australia-One Pound (1923)
AUS-13a-Commonwealth Bank of Australia-5 Pounds (1924)
AUS-14-Commonwealth Bank of Australia-10 Pounds (1925)
AUS-3b-Commonwealth of Australia-10 Shillings (1918)
AUS-4d-Commonwealth of Australia-One Pound (1918)
AUS-5c-Commonwealth of Australia-5 Pounds (1918)
AUS-6b-Commonwealth of Australia-10 Pounds (1918)
AUS-7b-Commonwealth of Australia-20 Pounds (1918)
AUS-8c-Commonwealth of Australia-50 Pounds (1918)
AUS-9c-Commonwealth of Australia-100 Pounds (1918)
Abantiades latipennis
Acanthiza pusilla - Austin's Ferry
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris - Mogo Campground
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris female
Aegotheles chrisoptus - Catlereigh Nature Reserve
Albino Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus
Albury railway station, Australia
Alcedo azurea - Julatten
Alectura lathami - Centenary Lakes
Alice Manfield - Guide Alice, Mt Buffalo, c1900-30, SLV
Alstroemeria aurantiaca
Amanita muscaria After Rain
Amanita muscaria Marriott Falls 1
Anopterus glandulosus
Anthochaera chrysoptera 4
Anthochaera chrysoptera
Ants eating cicada, jjron 22.11.2009
Apricots
Arenaria interpres 2 - Boat Harbour (cropped)
Armillaria sp Marriott edit
Arthur Streeton - Golden summer, Eaglemont - Google Art Project
Australasian Shoveler - Goulds Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary
Australia green tree frog (Litoria caerulea) crop
Australia satellite plane
Australian Brushturkey 2 - Newington
Australian Mounted Police Victoria-edit1
Australian Wood Duck duckling
Australian blenny
Aythya australis female - Hurstville Golf Course
Aythya australis male - Hurstville Golf Course
Bell Miner 1 - Nepean Weir
Black Bittern- Warriewood Wetlands
Black-faced Woodswallow 1 - Sturt National Park
Black-fronted Dotterel 2 - Bow Bowing
Brown-headed Honeyeater - Patchewollock
Buff-banded Rail 1 - Newington
Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher - Julatten
CSIRO ScienceImage 3881 Five Antennas at Narrabri - restoration1
CSIRO ScienceImage 4350 CSIROs Parkes Radio Telescope with moon in the background
Caligavis chrysops - Lake Parramatta Reserve
Canberra From Black Mountain Tower
Cape Raoul from Lookout
Cercophonius squama
Charadrius bicinctus 2 - Boat Harbour
Cinnamon Quail-thrush 0A2A9195
Cisticola exilis - Cornwallis Rd
Clavulinopsis sulcata - Lane Cove River
Clifton Beach 5
Columba leucomela - Brunkerville
Comet P1 McNaught02 - 23-01-07
Coral Outcrop Flynn Reef
Corvus coronoides - Doughboy Head
Coturnix ypsilophora - Sydney Olympic Park
Crested Tern - Mortimer Bay
Cumulus clouds panorama
Dendrocygna eytoni - Macquarie University
Diomedea sanfordi - SE Tasmania 2019
Domestic Goose
Drone fly feeding on marigold
Dusky Grasswren 0A2A9591
Eastern Bristlebird - Penrith
Egretta sacra
Emu 1 - Tidbinbilla
Eopsaltria australis - Mogo Campground
Falcunculus frontatus - Dharug National Park
File-Pterodroma lessonii in flight 1 - SE Tasmania 2019
Flame Robin male 1 - Jenolan Caves
Fremantle Prison inmates and main front Iwel jpeg convert
Geastrum triplex - Bola Creek
Geopelia humeralis - Brunkerville
Gibson's Albatross 0A2A4153
Glaucus atlanticus 1 cropped
Gliophorus chromolimoneus - Ferndale Park
Grey-crowned Babblers 1605
Haematopus fuliginosus - Doughboy Head
Haliotis laevigata 01
Halobaena caerulea in flight - SE Tasmania
Hrh Princess Elizabeth in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, April 1945 TR2832
Hygrocybe miniata - Ferndale Park
Jigging off Queenscliff Pier, Vic, jjron 5.12.2009
Koala climbing tree
Lake Pedder From Mt Eliza
Leptospermum squarrosum
Leucosarcia melanoleuca - Brunkerville
Limosa lapponica 2 - Taren Point
Litoria phyllochroa
Loch Ard Gorge Panorama July 2005
Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus Bruny
Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus Juvenile 2
Major Mitchell's Cockatoo - Mt Grenfell
Major Mitchell's Cockatoo 1 - Mt Grenfell
Male yellow flower wasp02
Meehan Range and Old Beach
Melanodryas cucullata - Glen Davis
Melanodryas cucullata 2 - Glen Davis
Melbourne Docklands - Yarras Edge - marina panorama
Melbourne yarra twilight
Melithreptus lunatus
Mistletoebird - Round Hill Nature Reserve
Mitra stictica 01
Monarcha melanopsis 1 - Brunkerville
Mouse spider
Mt Anne from High Shelf Camp
Mt hotham alpine range scenery
Myzomela sanguinolenta 1 - Windsor Downs Nature Reserve
Nelumno nucifera open flower - botanic garden adelaide2
Orange Chat 9034
Origma solitaria 2 - Wattamolla
Oryctolagus cuniculus Tasmania 2
Oxyura australis male 2 - Penrith
Painted Cliffs
Palm Cockatoo 0A2A7769
Pardalotus punctatus - Glen Davis
Parliament House, Canberra, Pano jjron 25.9.2008-edit1
Perameles gunni
Peter Tatchell - Red Wall - 8by10 - 2016-10-15
Phascolarctos cinereus Bonorong
Philemon corniculatus - Glen Davis
Pitta versicolor - Kembla Heights
Plains-wanderer female 8173
Platycercus eximius diemenensis male
Podargus strigoides Bonorong
Polytelis anthopeplus 2 edit1
Psephotus haematonotus female - Cornwallis Rd
Psephotus haematonotus male - Cornwallis Rd
Pterodroma mollis light morph - SE Tasmania 2019
Ptilotula fusca - Glen Alice
Ptilotula penicillata - Glen Davis
Red Knot 1 - Boat Harbour
Red wattlebird
Red-browed Finch - Penrith
Red-lored Whistler 0A2A8896
Rhipidura leucophrys - Glen Davis
Robbie McEwen, Cyclist, jjron, 2.01.10
Rose Robin 1 - Woodford
Russell Falls 2
Sandy Shores of Moreton Bay
Sawfly larvae - Pergidae sp
Scarlet Robin female - Blackheath
South Cape Bay edit2
Southern Scrub-Robin 0A2A1672
Spinifex Pigeon 0A2A1585
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater 3434 - Patchewollock Conservation Reserve
Splendid Fairy Wren - Lake cargelligo - Spt 05 089
Splendid Fairywren 8352
Stagonopleura guttata 1 - Glen Alice
Stagonopleura guttata 2 - Glen Alice
Swamp-Wallaby-joey-Wallabia-bicolor-cropped
Swanston and Flinders St intersection 1927
Taeniopygia bichenovii 2 - Glen Davis
Tambo valley races 2006 edit
Tessellated Pavement Sunrise Landscape
Thalassarche impavida 2 - SE Tasmania
Three Sisters Sunset
Thylogale billardierii
Turnix varius - Castlereigh nature reserve
Ulysses Butterfly - melbourne zoo
Vincent van Gogh - s0273V1962 - Van Gogh Museum
Vombatus ursinus -Maria Island National Park
White-cheeked Honeyeater - Maddens Plains
White-faced Storm-petrel 0A2A9606
Wineglass Bay from Lookout crop
Yarra Night Panorama, Melbourne - Feb 2005
Yellow-throated Miner - Sturt National Park

Former featured articles

Former good articles

Featured articles in portal - (scrolling list)

Fort Glanville Conservation Park is a protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia located in Semaphore Park, a seaside suburb of Adelaide consisting of a functional 19th century fort listed on the South Australian Heritage Register and some adjoining land used as a caravan park. The fort was built after more than 40 years of indecision over the defence of South Australia. It was the first colonial fortification in the state and is the best preserved and most functional in Australia. Fort Glanville was designed by Governor Major General Sir William Jervois and Lieutenant Colonel Peter Scratchley, both important figures in early Australian colonial defence. When built it was designed to defend both Semaphore's anchorage and shipping entering the Port River from naval attack. (Full article...)

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The ADF has a strength of just over 89,000 personnel and is supported by the Department of Defence alongside other civilian entities. (Full article...)

On 9 February 1945, a force of Allied Bristol Beaufighter aircraft suffered many losses during an attack on the German destroyer Z33 and its escorting vessels; the operation was called Black Friday by the survivors. The German ships were sheltering in a strong defensive position in Førde Fjord, Norway, forcing the Allied aircraft to attack through massed anti-aircraft fire (FlaK). (Full article...)

Hamersley is a residential suburb 14 kilometres (8.7 miles) north-northwest of the central business district of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, and six kilometres (4 mi) from the Indian Ocean. The suburb adjoins two major arterial roads—Mitchell Freeway to the west and Reid Highway to the south—and is within the City of Stirling local government area. It was built during the late 1960s and 1970s as part of the Government of Western Australia's response to rapidly increasing land prices across the metropolitan area. (Full article...)

Australia entered World War II on 3 September 1939, following the government's acceptance of the United Kingdom's declaration of war on Nazi Germany. Australia later entered into a state of war with other members of the Axis powers, including the Kingdom of Italy on 11 June 1940, and the Empire of Japan on 9 December 1941. By the end of the war almost one million Australians had served in the armed forces, whose military units fought primarily in the European theatre, North African campaign, and the South West Pacific theatre. In addition, Australia came under direct attack for the first time in its post-colonial history. Its casualties from enemy action during the war were 27,073 killed and 23,477 wounded. Many more suffered from tropical disease, hunger, and harsh conditions in captivity; of the 21,467 Australian prisoners taken by the Japanese, only 14,000 survived. (Full article...)

The red-bellied black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae, indigenous to Australia. Originally described by George Shaw in 1794 as a species new to science, it is one of eastern Australia's most commonly encountered snakes. Averaging around 1.25 m (4 ft 1 in) in length, it has glossy black upperparts, bright red or orange flanks, and a pink or dull red belly. It is not aggressive and generally retreats from human encounters, but will defend itself if provoked. Although its venom can cause significant illness, no deaths have been recorded from its bite, which is less venomous than other Australian elapid snakes. The venom contains neurotoxins, myotoxins, and coagulants and has haemolytic properties. Victims can also lose their sense of smell. (Full article...)

Section 116 of the Constitution of Australia precludes the Commonwealth of Australia (i.e., the federal parliament) from making laws for establishing any religion, imposing any religious observance, or prohibiting the free exercise of any religion. Section 116 also provides that no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth. The product of a compromise in the pre-Federation constitutional conventions, Section 116 is based on similar provisions in the United States Constitution. However, Section 116 is more narrowly drafted than its US counterpart, and does not preclude the states of Australia from making such laws. (Full article...)

The Shrine of Remembrance (commonly referred to as The Shrine) is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honour the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but now functions as a memorial to all Australians who have served in any war. It is a site of annual observances for Anzac Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November), and is one of the largest war memorials in Australia. (Full article...)

From 31 May to 8 June 1942, during World War II, Imperial Japanese Navy submarines made a series of attacks on the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle. On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarines, (M-14, M-21 and M-24) each with a two-member crew, entered Sydney Harbour, avoided the partially constructed Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net, and attempted to sink Allied warships. Two of the midget submarines were detected and attacked before they could engage any Allied vessels. The crew of M-14 scuttled their submarine, whilst M-21 was successfully attacked and sunk. The crew of M-21 killed themselves. These submarines were later recovered by the Allies. The third submarine attempted to torpedo the heavy cruiser USS Chicago, but instead sank the converted ferry HMAS Kuttabul, killing 21 sailors. This midget submarine's fate was unknown until 2006, when amateur scuba divers discovered the wreck off Sydney's northern beaches. (Full article...)

The Victoria Cross for Australia is the highest award in the Australian honours system, superseding the British Victoria Cross for issue to Australians. The Victoria Cross for Australia is the "decoration for according recognition to persons who in the presence of the enemy, perform acts of the most conspicuous gallantry, or daring or pre-eminent acts of valour or self-sacrifice or display extreme devotion to duty". (Full article...)

The Australian raven (Corvus coronoides) is a passerine corvid bird native to Australia. Measuring 46–53 centimetres (18–21 in) in length, it has an all-black plumage, beak and mouth, as well as strong, greyish-black legs and feet. The upperparts of its body are glossy, with a purple-blue, greenish sheen; its black feathers have grey bases. The Australian raven is distinguished from the Australian crow, and other related corvids, by its long chest feathers, or throat hackles, which are prominent in mature birds. Older individuals and subadults have white irises, while the younger birds' eyes display blue inner rims; hatchlings and young birds have brown, dark irises until about fifteen months of age, at which point their irises become hazel-coloured, with an inner blue rim around each pupil, this lasting until they are roughly 2.5 to 3 years of age. Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield described the Australian raven in 1827, its species name coronoides highlighting its similarity with the carrion crow (C. corone). Two subspecies are recognised, which differ slightly in their vocalisations, and are quite divergent, genetically. (Full article...)

The Australian Air Corps (AAC) was a temporary formation of the Australian military that existed in the period between the disbandment of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) of World War I and the establishment of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in March 1921. Raised in January 1920, the AAC was commanded by Major William Anderson, a former AFC pilot. Many of the AAC's members were also from the AFC and would go on to join the RAAF. Although part of the Australian Army, for most of its existence the AAC was overseen by a board of senior officers that included members of the Royal Australian Navy. (Full article...)

The Australian green tree frog (Ranoidea caerulea/Litoria caerulea), also known as simply green tree frog in Australia, White's tree frog, or dumpy tree frog, is a species of tree frog native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in the United States and New Zealand, though the latter is believed to have died out. It is morphologically similar to some other members of its genus, particularly the magnificent tree frog (R. splendida) and the white-lipped tree frog (R. infrafrenata). (Full article...)

The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), also called the short-nosed echidna, is one of four living species of echidna, and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus. It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snout and a specialised tongue, which it uses to catch its insect prey at a great speed. Like the other extant monotremes, the short-beaked echidna lays eggs; the monotremes are the only living group of mammals to do so. (Full article...)

The history of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) as a separate administrative division began in 1911, when it was transferred from New South Wales to the Australian federal government. The territory contains Australia's capital city Canberra and various smaller settlements. Until 1989, it also administered the Jervis Bay Territory, a small coastal region. (Full article...)

St James' Church, commonly known as St James', King Street, is an Australian heritage-listed Anglican parish church located at 173 King Street, in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales. Consecrated in February 1824 and named in honour of St James the Great, it became a parish church in 1835. Designed in the style of a Georgian town church by the transported convict architect Francis Greenway during the governorship of Lachlan Macquarie, St James' is part of the historical precinct of Macquarie Street which includes other early colonial era buildings such as the World Heritage listed Hyde Park Barracks. (Full article...)

The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), sometimes called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae. Its closest living relatives are the wombats. The koala is found in coastal areas of the island's eastern and southern regions, inhabiting Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is easily recognisable by its stout, tailless body and large head with round, fluffy ears and large, dark nose. The koala has a body length of 60–85 cm (24–33 in) and weighs 4–15 kg (8.8–33.1 lb). Fur colour ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas from the northern populations are typically smaller and lighter in colour than their counterparts further south. These populations are possibly separate subspecies, but not all researchers accept this. (Full article...)

Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Walter Burley Griffin, the architect who won the competition to design the city of Canberra. (Full article...)

Muckaty Station, also known as Warlmanpa, is a 2,380-square-kilometre (920 sq mi) Aboriginal freehold landholding in Australia's Northern Territory, 110 kilometres (68 mi) north of Tennant Creek, and approximately 800 kilometres (500 mi) south of Darwin. Originally under traditional Indigenous Australian ownership, the area became a pastoral lease in the late 19th century and for many years operated as a cattle station. It is traversed by the Stuart Highway, built in the 1940s along the route of the service track for the Australian Overland Telegraph Line. It is also crossed by the Amadeus Gas Pipeline built in the mid-1980s, and the Adelaide–Darwin railway, completed in early 2004. Muckaty Station was returned to its Indigenous custodians in 1999. (Full article...)

Persoonia lanceolata, commonly known as lance-leaf geebung, is a shrub native to New South Wales in eastern Australia. It reaches 3 m (10 ft) in height and has smooth grey bark and bright green foliage. Its small yellow flowers grow on racemes and appear in the austral summer and autumn (January to April), followed by green fleshy fruits (known as drupes) which ripen the following spring (September to October). Within the genus Persoonia, P. lanceolata belongs to the lanceolata group of 58 closely related species. It interbreeds with several other species found in its range. (Full article...)

The Riverina (/ˌrɪvəˈriːnə/) is an agricultural region of southwestern New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop into one of the most productive and agriculturally diverse areas of Australia. Bordered on the south by the state of Victoria and on the east by the Great Dividing Range, the Riverina covers those areas of New South Wales in the Murray and Murrumbidgee drainage zones to their confluence in the west. (Full article...)

The Sydney Riot of 1879 was an instance of civil disorder that occurred at an early international cricket match. It took place on 8 February 1879 at what is now the Sydney Cricket Ground (at the time known as the Association Ground), during a match between New South Wales, captained by Dave Gregory, and a touring English team, captained by Lord Harris. (Full article...)

The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It was formerly present across mainland Australia, but became extinct there around 3,500 years ago; it is now confined to the island of Tasmania. The size of a small dog, the Tasmanian devil became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936. It is related to quolls, and distantly related to the thylacine. It is characterised by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odour, extremely loud and disturbing screech, keen sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding. The Tasmanian devil's large head and neck allow it to generate among the strongest bites per unit body mass of any extant predatory land mammal. It hunts prey and scavenges on carrion. (Full article...)

Waterfall Gully is an eastern suburb of the South Australian capital city of Adelaide. It is located in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges around 5 km (3.1 mi) east-south-east of the Adelaide city centre. For the most part, the suburb encompasses one long gully with First Creek at its centre and Waterfall Gully Road running adjacent to the creek. At the southern end of the gully is First Falls, the waterfall for which the suburb was named. Part of the City of Burnside, Waterfall Gully is bounded to the north by the suburb of Burnside, from the north-east to south-east by Cleland National Park (part of the suburb of Cleland), to the south by Crafers West, and to the west by Leawood Gardens and Mount Osmond. (Full article...)

The Aboriginal Memorial is a work of contemporary Indigenous Australian art from the late 1980s, and comprises 200 decorated hollow log coffins (also known as memorial poles, dupun, ḻarrakitj and other terms). It was conceived by Djon (John) Mundine in 1987–88 and realised by 43 artists from Ramingining and neighbouring communities of Central Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory. Artists who participated in its creation included David Malangi and George Milpurrurru. (Full article...)

Nuclear weapons testing, uranium mining and export, and nuclear power have often been the subject of public debate in Australia, and the anti-nuclear movement in Australia has a long history. Its origins date back to the 1972–1973 debate over French nuclear testing in the Pacific and the 1976–1977 debate about uranium mining in Australia. (Full article...)

The Gallipoli campaign, the Dardanelles campaign, the Defence of Gallipoli or the Battle of Gallipoli (Turkish: Gelibolu Muharebesi, Çanakkale Muharebeleri or Çanakkale Savaşı) was a military campaign in the First World War on the Gallipoli peninsula (now Gelibolu) from 19 February 1915 to 9 January 1916. The Entente powers, Britain, France and the Russian Empire, sought to weaken the Ottoman Empire, one of the Central Powers, by taking control of the Ottoman straits. This would expose the Ottoman capital at Constantinople to bombardment by Entente battleships and cut it off from the Asian part of the empire. With the Ottoman Empire defeated, the Suez Canal would be safe and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits would be open to Entente supplies to the Black Sea and warm-water ports in Russia. (Full article...)

The history of the Royal Australian Navy traces the development of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from the colonisation of Australia by the British in 1788. Until 1859, vessels of the Royal Navy made frequent trips to the new colonies. In 1859, the Australia Squadron was formed as a separate squadron and remained in Australia until 1913. Until Federation, five of the six Australian colonies operated their own colonial naval force, which formed on 1 March 1901 the Australian Navy's (AN) Commonwealth Naval Force which received Royal patronage in July 1911 and was from that time referred to as Royal Australian Navy (RAN). On 4 October 1913 the new replacement fleet for the foundation fleet of 1901 steamed through Sydney Heads for the first time. (Full article...)

Featured bio's in portal - (scrolling list)

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet (3 September 1899 – 31 August 1985), usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virologist known for his contributions to immunology. He won a Nobel Prize in 1960 for predicting acquired immune tolerance. He also developed the theory of clonal selection. (Full article...)

Thomas Charles Richmond Baker, (2 May 1897 – 4 November 1918) was an Australian soldier, aviator, and flying ace of the First World War. Born in Smithfield, South Australia, he was an active sportsman in his youth and developed a keen interest in aviation. He was employed as a clerk with the Bank of New South Wales, before he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915, for service in World War I. Posted to an artillery unit on the Western Front, he was awarded the Military Medal for carrying out numerous repairs on a communications line while subject to severe artillery fire. In June 1917, Baker was awarded a bar to his decoration for his part in quelling a fire in one of the artillery gun pits that was endangering approximately 300 rounds of shrapnel and high explosive. (Full article...)

Eric Martin Andrew Banadinović (born 9 August 1968), known professionally as Eric Bana (/ˈbænə/), is an Australian actor, comedian, producer, and director. He began his career in the sketch comedy series Full Frontal before gaining notice in the comedy drama The Castle (1997). He achieved further critical recognition for starring in the biographical crime film Chopper (2000), and as the titular character in Hulk (2003). (Full article...)

Bronwyn Bancroft (born 1958) is an Aboriginal Australian artist, administrator, book illustrator, and among the first three Australian fashion designers to show their work in Paris. She was born in Tenterfield, New South Wales, and trained in Canberra and Sydney. (Full article...)

Sidney George Barnes (5 June 1916 – 16 December 1973) was an Australian cricketer and cricket writer, who played 13 Test matches between 1938 and 1948. Able to open the innings or bat down the order, Barnes was regarded as one of Australia's finest batsmen in the period immediately following World War II. He helped create an enduring record when scoring 234 in the second Test against England at Sydney in December 1946; exactly the same score as his captain, Don Bradman, in the process setting a world-record 405-run fifth wicket partnership. Barnes averaged 63.05 over 19 innings in a career that, like those of most of his contemporaries, was interrupted by World War II. (Full article...)

Mary Teston Luis Bell (3 December 1903 – 6 February 1979) was an Australian aviator and founding leader of the Women's Air Training Corps (WATC), a volunteer organisation that provided support to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. She later helped establish the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF), the country's first and largest women's wartime service, which grew to more than 18,000 members by 1944. (Full article...)

Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician, statesman and businessman who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929. He held office as the leader of the Nationalist Party, having previously served as the treasurer of Australia from 1921 to 1923. (Full article...)

Vere Gordon Childe (14 April 1892 – 19 October 1957) was an Australian archaeologist who specialised in the study of European prehistory. He spent most of his life in the United Kingdom, working as an academic for the University of Edinburgh and then the Institute of Archaeology, London. He wrote twenty-six books during his career. Initially an early proponent of culture-historical archaeology, he later became the first exponent of Marxist archaeology in the Western world. (Full article...)

Phillip Davey, (10 October 1896 – 21 December 1953) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in battle that could be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces at the time. Davey enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in December 1914 for service in World War I, and joined his unit, the 10th Battalion, on the island of Lemnos on 10 April 1915. Along with his battalion, he landed at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, on 25 April. He fought at Anzac until he was evacuated sick in early November, returning to Australia the following January. (Full article...)

Steve Dodd (1 June 1928 – 10 November 2014) was an Aboriginal Australian actor, notable for playing Aboriginal characters across seven decades of Australian film. After beginning his working life as a stockman and rodeo rider, Dodd was given his first film roles by prominent Australian actor Chips Rafferty. His career was interrupted by six years in the Australian Army during the Korean War, and limited by typecasting. (Full article...)

Florence Ada Fuller (1867 – 17 July 1946) was a South African-born Australian artist. Originally from Port Elizabeth, Fuller migrated as a child to Melbourne with her family. There she trained with her uncle Robert Hawker Dowling and teacher Jane Sutherland and took classes at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, becoming a professional artist in the late 1880s. In 1892 she left Australia, travelling first to South Africa, where she met and painted for Cecil Rhodes, and then on to Europe. She lived and studied there for the subsequent decade, except for a return to South Africa in 1899 to paint a portrait of Rhodes. Between 1895 and 1904 her works were exhibited at the Paris Salon and London's Royal Academy. (Full article...)

Sidney Charles Bartholemew "Ben" Gascoigne (11 November 1915 – 25 March 2010) was a New Zealand-born optical astronomer and expert in photometry who played a leading role in the design and commissioning of Australia's largest optical telescope, the Anglo-Australian Telescope, which for a time was one of the world's most important astronomical facilities. Born in Napier, New Zealand, Gascoigne trained in Auckland and at the University of Bristol, before moving to Australia during World War II to work at the Commonwealth Solar Observatory at Mount Stromlo in Canberra. He became skillful in the design and manufacture of optical devices such as telescope elements. (Full article...)

Karmichael Neil Matthew Hunt (born 17 November 1986) is an Australian professional rugby league coach and former player who is the current head coach of the Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup, as well as the Cook Islands national rugby league team. (Full article...)

Lieutenant General Sir James Whiteside McCay, (21 December 1864 – 1 October 1930), who often spelt his surname M'Cay, was an Australian general and politician. (Full article...)

Sandra Anne Morgan (born 6 June 1942), also known by her married name Sandra Beavis, or as Sandra Morgan-Beavis, is an Australian former freestyle swimmer who was part of the gold medal-winning team in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. At the age of 14 years and 6 months, she became the youngest Australian to win an Olympic gold medal, a record that was broken by Arisa Trew at the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Full article...)

Sir Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant, (8 October 1901 – 14 July 2000) was an Australian physicist and humanitarian who played an important role in the first experimental demonstration of nuclear fusion and in the development of nuclear weapons. (Full article...)

Hilda Rix Nicholas (née Rix, later Wright, 1 September 1884 – 3 August 1961) was an Australian artist. Born in the Victorian city of Ballarat, she studied under a leading Australian Impressionist, Frederick McCubbin, at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School from 1902 to 1905 and was an early member of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors. Following the death of her father in 1907, Rix, her only sibling Elsie and her mother travelled to Europe where she undertook further study, first in London and then Paris. Her teachers during the period included John Hassall, Richard Emil Miller and Théophile Steinlen. (Full article...)

Norman Selfe (9 December 1839 – 15 October 1911) was an Australian engineer, naval architect, inventor, urban planner and outspoken advocate of technical education. After emigrating to Sydney with his family from England as a boy he became an apprentice engineer, following his father's trade. Selfe designed many bridges, docks, boats, and much precision machinery for the city. He also introduced new refrigeration, hydraulic, electrical and transport systems. For these achievements he received international acclaim during his lifetime. Decades before the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built, the city came close to building a Selfe-designed steel cantilever bridge across the harbour after he won the second public competition for a bridge design. (Full article...)

Issy Smith (18 September 1890 – 10 September 1940) was a British-Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to eligible forces of the Commonwealth and United Kingdom. In recognition of his VC, he was also awarded the French Croix de Guerre and Russian Cross of St. George (4th class) by the respective governments. (Full article...)

Clare Grant Stevenson, AM, MBE (18 July 1903 – 22 October 1988) was the inaugural Director of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF), from May 1941 to March 1946. As such, she was described in 2001 as "the most significant woman in the history of the Air Force". Formed as a branch of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in March 1941, the WAAAF was the first and largest uniformed women's service in Australia during World War II, numbering more than 18,000 members by late 1944 and making up over thirty per cent of RAAF ground staff. (Full article...)

Constance Stokes (née Parkin, 22 February 1906 – 14 July 1991) was an Australian modernist painter who worked in Victoria. She trained at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School until 1929, winning a scholarship to continue her study at London's Royal Academy of Arts. Although Stokes painted few works in the 1930s, her paintings and drawings were exhibited from the 1940s onwards. She was one of only two women, and two Victorians, included in a major exhibition of twelve Australian artists that travelled to Canada, the United Kingdom and Italy in the early 1950s. (Full article...)

Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 1916 – 21 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being the head of a reformist and socially progressive government that ended with his controversial dismissal by the then-governor-general of Australia, Sir John Kerr, at the climax of the 1975 constitutional crisis. Whitlam remains the only Australian prime minister to have been removed from office by a governor-general. (Full article...)

Sir Michael Francis Addison Woodruff, (3 April 1911 – 10 March 2001) was an English surgeon and scientist principally remembered for his research into organ transplantation. Though born in London, Woodruff spent his youth in Australia, where he earned degrees in electrical engineering and medicine. Having completed his studies shortly after the outbreak of World War II, he joined the Australian Army Medical Corps, but was soon captured by Japanese forces and imprisoned in the Changi Prison Camp. While there, he devised an ingenious method of extracting nutrients from agricultural wastes to prevent malnutrition among his fellow POWs. (Full article...)

Peter Geoffrey Edwards, AM (born 29 August 1945) is an Australian diplomatic and military historian. Educated at the University of Western Australia and the University of Oxford, Edwards worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Australian National University and the University of Adelaide before being appointed Official Historian and general editor of The Official History of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1975 in 1982. The nine-volume history was commissioned to cover Australia's involvement in the Malayan Emergency, Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation and Vietnam War. Edwards spent fourteen years at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) writing two of the volumes, while also researching, editing, and dealing with budget limitations and problems with staff turnover. Since leaving the AWM in 1996, Edwards has worked as a senior academic, scholar and historical consultant. In 2006 his book Arthur Tange: Last of the Mandarins won the Queensland Premier's History Book Award and the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Non-Fiction. (Full article...)

Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia and the leader of the Labor Party (ALP) from 2010 to 2013. She was the member of parliament (MP) for the Victorian division of Lalor from 1998 to 2013. She previously served as the 13th deputy prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010, under Kevin Rudd. She is the first and only woman to hold either office in Australian history. (Full article...)

John Hadley (born 27 September 1966) is an Australian philosopher whose research concerns moral and political philosophy, including animal ethics, environmental ethics, and metaethics. He is currently a senior lecturer in philosophy in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at Western Sydney University. He has previously taught at Charles Sturt University and the University of Sydney, where he studied as an undergraduate and doctoral candidate. In addition to a variety of articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited collections, he is the author of the 2015 monograph Animal Property Rights (Lexington Books) and the 2019 monograph Animal Neopragmatism (Palgrave Macmillan). He is also the co-editor, with Elisa Aaltola, of the 2015 collection Animal Ethics and Philosophy (Rowman & Littlefield International). (Full article...)

Helen Mary Mayo (1 October 1878 – 13 November 1967) was an Australian medical doctor and medical educator, born and raised in Adelaide. In 1896, she enrolled at the University of Adelaide, where she studied medicine. After graduating, Mayo spent two years working in infant health in England, Ireland and British India. She returned to Adelaide in 1906, starting a private practice and taking up positions at the Adelaide Children's Hospital and Adelaide Hospital (later the Royal Adelaide). (Full article...)