| States and territories of Australia | |
| Map: | Australia states and territories labelled.svg |
| Territory: | Australia |
| Current Number: | 16 (6 states, 3 internal territories, and 7 external territories) |
| Population Range: | Smallest state:Largest state:Smallest territories:Largest territory: |
| Area Range: | Smallest state:Largest state:Smallest territory:Largest territories: |
| Subdivision: | Local government areas and unincorporated areas |
The states and territories are the second level of government of Australia. The states are administrative divisions that are self-governing polities that are partly sovereign, having ceded some sovereign rights to the federal government.[1] They have their own constitutions, legislatures, executive governments, judiciaries and law enforcement agencies that administer and deliver public policies and programs. Territories can be autonomous and administer local policies and programs much like the states in practice, but are still legally subordinate to the federal government.[2]
Australia has six federated states: New South Wales (including Lord Howe Island), Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania (including Macquarie Island), Victoria, and Western Australia. Australia also has ten federal territories,[3] out of which three are internal territories: the Australian Capital Territory, the Jervis Bay Territory, and the Northern Territory on the Australian mainland; and seven are external territories: the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Norfolk Island that are offshore dependent territories. Every state and internal territory (except the Jervis Bay Territory) is self-governing with its own independent executive government, legislative branch, and judicial system, while the rest only have local government status overseen by federal departments.[4]
State and territory governments may legislate on matters concerning their citizens, subject to the limits of the federal constitution (notably section 51 and section 109). Each state and internal territory (except Jervis Bay Territory) has its own legislature, although the Federal Parliament can override territorial legislation. The federal High Court of Australia acts as a final court of appeal for all matters, and has the authority to override any state judiciary.[5] [6] While all states and internal territories have their own judicial system (subject to appeal to the High Court), most external territories are subject to the judiciary and legislature of either a state or internal territory. Excluding the Heard Island and McDonald Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory (which are governed by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water), the external territories are governed by the federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.[7] Norfolk Island had its own legislature from 1979 to 2015.
Each state is a successor to historical British colonies, and each has its own constitution. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Northern Territory[8] for the most part operate indistinguishably from the states (for example, both have representation in the Parliament since 1948 and in the Senate since 1975),[9] [10] even though they do not have constitutional status as states and territorial legislation can be overridden.
See main article: Geography of Australia.
Surrounded by the Indian, Pacific, and Southern oceans, Australia is separated from Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea by the Arafura Sea, the Timor Sea, and the Torres Strait, from Island Melanesia by the Coral Sea, and from New Zealand by the Tasman Sea. The world's smallest continent, Australia is also the sixth-largest country by land area and sometimes considered the world's largest island. Australia has a mainland coastline of 32994km (20,502miles)[11] and claims an exclusive economic zone of about 8200000sqkm.[12]
See main article: Territorial evolution of Australia.
At Federation in 1901, what is now the Northern Territory was within South Australia, what are now the Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory were within New South Wales, and Coral Sea Islands was part of Queensland. Ashmore and Cartier Islands was accepted by Australia in 1934[13] and was annexed to the Northern Territory prior to adoption of the Statute of Westminster in 1942, deemed effective from 1939; it has thus become part of Australia.
| Flag | State | Postal | ISO[14] | Capital | Population (Sept 2023)[15] | Area (km2)[16] | Population Density (/km2) | No. of Reps. in Aus House[17] | Governor | Premier (Party) | State Government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | NSW | AU-NSW | Sydney | 800,150 | 10.49 | 47 | Margaret Beazley | Chris Minns (Labor) | |||||
| Victoria | VIC | AU-VIC | Melbourne | 227,416 | 30.18 | 38 | Margaret Gardner | Jacinta Allan (Labor) | Victorian Government | ||||
| Queensland | QLD | AU-QLD | Brisbane | 1,729,742 | 3.18 | 30 | Jeannette Young | Steven Miles (Labor) | Queensland Government | ||||
| Western Australia | WA | AU-WA | Perth | 2,527,013 | 1.15 | 16 | Chris Dawson | Roger Cook (Labor) | Government of Western Australia | ||||
| South Australia | SA | AU-SA | Adelaide | 984,321 | 1.89 | 10 | Frances Adamson | Peter Malinauskas (Labor) | Government of South Australia | ||||
| Tasmania | TAS | AU-TAS | Hobart | 64,519 | 8.89 | 5 | Barbara Baker | Jeremy Rockliff (Liberal) | Tasmanian Government | ||||
| Flag | Territory | Postal | ISO | Capital (or largest settlement) | Population (Sept 2023) | Area (km2) | Population Density (/km2) | No. of Reps. in Aus House | Administrator | Chief Minister (Party) | Territory Government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Capital Territory | ACT | AU-ACT | Canberra | 2,358 | 198.97 | 3 | None | Andrew Barr (Labor) | ACT Government | ||||
| Northern Territory | NT | AU-NT | Darwin | 1,347,791 | 0.19 | 2 | Hugh Heggie | Eva Lawler (Labor) | Northern Territory Government | ||||
| Jervis Bay Territory | ACT | – | None (Jervis Bay Village) | 67 | 6.04 | (Part of Division of Fenner) | None | None | |||||
| Flag | Territory | Postal | ISO | Capital (or largest settlement) | Population (Jun 2018) | Area (km2) | Population Density (/km2) | Seats in House of Representatives | Administrator | Shire President or Mayor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk Island | NSW | NF | Kingston | 35 | 74 | (Part of Division of Bean) | George Plant | Robin Adams (mayor)[18] | |||
| Christmas Island | WA | CX | Flying Fish Cove | 135 | 14 | (Part of Division of Lingiari) | Farzian Zainal | Gordon Thompson | |||
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | WA | CC | West Island | 14 | 39 | (Part of Division of Lingiari) | Farzian Zainal | Aindil Minkom[19] | |||
| Australian Antarctic Territory | TAS | AQ | None (Davis Station) | 5,896,500 | 0.0000102 | – | None | None | |||
| Coral Sea Islands | QLD | – | None (Willis Island) | 4 | 780,000 | 0.000005 | – | None | None | ||
| Ashmore and Cartier Islands | – | – | None (offshore anchorage) | 199 | 0 | – | None | None | |||
| Heard Island and McDonald Islands | TAS | HM | None (Atlas Cove) | 372 | 0 | – | None | None |
Each external territory is regulated by an Act of the federal Parliament. These Acts contain the majority of provisions determining the legal and political structure applying in that external territory. Under s 122 of the Australian Constitution the federal Parliament has plenary power to make laws for all territories including all external territories.The Cocos (Keeling) Islands voted for integration in 1984. Together with Christmas Island, these two territories comprise the Australian Indian Ocean Territories. Commonwealth laws apply automatically to the territories unless expressly stated otherwise[20] and residents of both external territories are associated with Northern Territory for federal elections. They are, thus, constitutionally part of Australia.
The Heard Island and McDonald Islands, although uninhabited, are treated as constitutionally part of Australia by the central government.[21]
Norfolk Island's status is controversial, with the present government taking measures to integrate the territory into Australia proper (including representation in parliament and compulsory voting). The Norfolk Islanders have not formally consented to this change in constitutional status and assert that they are not Australian.[22]
| Territory ! | Ref. | Subject to laws of | Subject to courts of | Part of electorate of | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for Senate | |||||
| Christmas Island | [23] | Northern Territory | |||
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | [24] | ||||
| Jervis Bay Territory | [25] | Australian Capital Territory | |||
| Norfolk Island | [26] [27] [28] | Norfolk Island New South Wales Queensland | Division of Bean | ||
| Ashmore and Cartier Islands | [29] | (no permanent population) | |||
| Australian Antarctic Territory | [30] | Australian Capital Territory | |||
| Heard Island and McDonald Islands | [31] | ||||
| Coral Sea Islands | [32] [33] | Norfolk Island | |||
Two internal territories established by the Australian federal government under Section 122 of the Constitution of Australia no longer exist:
Two present-day Oceanic countries, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Nauru, were administered by the federal government of Australia as de facto or de jure external territories for differing periods between 1902 and 1975.
1920–1949, under a League of Nations mandate. The territory was previously known as German New Guinea between 1884 and 1914; it was formally under Australian military occupation in 1914–1920).
Following World War II, the Papua and New Guinea Act 1949 placed the Territory of New Guinea in an "administrative union" with the Territory of Papua, and the combined Territory of Papua and New Guinea was created. However, both territories remained technically distinct for some administrative and legal purposes, until 1975, when the combined entity eventually was given independence as Papua New Guinea.
Nauru was previously under the German colonial empire as part of the German New Guinea. Following World War I, the Australian government received a League of Nations mandate for Nauru. After World War II, the Territory of Papua, Territory of New Guinea and Nauru were all controlled by the Australian government as United Nations trust territories. Nauru was granted independence in 1968.
The majority of Australians live in the eastern coastal mainland states of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory, which collectively forms 79% of the entire population of Australia (more than three-quarters of all Australians). Most of the major population centres are located east and south of the Great Dividing Range on the coastal plains and their associated hinterland regions.
| State / territory | Abbreviation | Land area | Population density | Notes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| km2 | sq mi | Rank | Number | Rank | /km2 | /sq mi | Rank | % | Rank | |||
| NSW | 801150km2 | 9.62/km2 | 63.0% | |||||||||
| VIC | 227444km2 | 26.56/km2 | 71.0% | |||||||||
| QLD | 1729742km2 | 2.79/km2 | 46.0% | |||||||||
| WA | 2527013km2 | 1.03/km2 | 73.4% | |||||||||
| SA | 984321km2 | 1.74/km2 | 73.5% | |||||||||
| TAS | 68401km2 | 7.58/km2 | 41.0% | |||||||||
| ACT | 2358km2 | 167.6/km2 | 99.6% | |||||||||
| NT | 1347791km2 | 0.18/km2 | 54.0% | |||||||||
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) Australian Statistical Geography Standard describes several main statistical divisions of Australia:[35]
The ABS also defines other divisions such as the Greater Capital City Statistical Area Structure, Significant Urban Area Structure, Remoteness Structure, and Indigenous Structure. Other non-ABS divisions include Local Government Areas, Postal Areas, electoral divisions, and tourism regions.
The states originated as separate British colonies prior to Federation in 1901. The Colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland, as well as Lord Howe Island, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and Van Diemen's Land, in addition to the area currently referred to as the state of New South Wales. During the 19th century, large areas were successively separated to form the Colony of Tasmania (initially established as a separate colony named Van Diemen's Land in 1825), the Colony of Western Australia (initially established as the smaller Swan River Colony in 1829), the Province of South Australia (1836), the Colony of New Zealand (1840),[36] the Victoria Colony (1851) and the Colony of Queensland (1859). Upon federation, the six colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania became the founding states of the new Commonwealth of Australia. The two territory governments (the Australian Capital Territory [ACT] and the Northern Territory [NT]), were created by legislation of the Federal Parliament—the NT in 1978 and the ACT in 1988.
The legislative powers of the states are protected by the Australian constitution, section 107,[37] and under the principle of federalism, Commonwealth legislation only applies to the states where permitted by the constitution. The territories, by contrast, are from a constitutional perspective directly subject to the Commonwealth government; laws for territories are determined by the Australian Parliament.[38]
Most of the territories are directly administered by the Commonwealth government, while two (the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory) have some degree of self-government although less than that of the states. In the self-governing territories, the Australian Parliament retains the full power to legislate, and can override laws made by the territorial institutions, which it has done on rare occasions. For the purposes of Australian (and joint Australia-New Zealand) intergovernmental bodies, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are treated as if they were states.
Each state has a governor, appointed by the monarch (currently King Charles III), which by convention he does on the advice of the state premier.[39] The Administrator of the Northern Territory, by contrast, is appointed by the governor-general.[40] The Australian Capital Territory has neither a governor nor an administrator. Instead, since the enacted of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (Cth), the functions of the head of the Executive – commissioning government, proroguing parliament and enacting legislation – are exercised by the Assembly itself and by the chief minister.[41]
Jervis Bay Territory is the only non-self-governing internal territory. Until 1989, it was administered as if it were a part of the ACT, although it has always been a separate territory. Under the terms of the Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act 1915,[42] the laws of the ACT apply to the Jervis Bay Territory insofar as they are applicable and providing they are not inconsistent with an ordinance.[43] Although residents of the Jervis Bay Territory are generally subject to laws made by the ACT Legislative Assembly, they are not represented in the assembly. They are represented in the Parliament of Australia as part of the Electoral Division of Fenner (named the Division of Fraser until 2016) in the ACT and by the ACT's two senators. In other respects, the territory is administered directly by the Federal Government through the Territories portfolio.[44]
The external territory of Norfolk Island possessed a degree of self-government from 1979 until 2015.[22]
Each state has a bicameral parliament, except Queensland, which abolished its upper house in 1922.[45] [46] The lower house is called the "legislative assembly", except in South Australia and Tasmania, where it is called the "house of assembly". Tasmania is the only state to use proportional representation for elections to its lower house; all others elect members from single member constituencies, using preferential voting. The upper house is called the "legislative council" and is generally elected from multi-member constituencies using proportional representation. Along with Queensland, the three self-governing territories, the ACT, the Northern Territory, and Norfolk Island, each have unicameral legislative assemblies.[46] The legislative assembly for the ACT is the only parliament with responsibility for both state/territory and local government functions.[46]
The head of government of each state is called the "premier", appointed by the state's governor.[47] In normal circumstances, the governor will appoint as premier whoever leads the party or coalition which exercises control of the lower house (in the case of Queensland, the only house) of the state parliament. However, in times of constitutional crisis, the governor can appoint someone else as premier. The head of government of the self-governing internal territories is called the "chief minister". The Northern Territory's chief minister, in normal circumstances whoever controls the legislative assembly, is appointed by the administrator.
The term interstate is used within Australia to refer to a number of events, transactions, registrations, travel, etc. which occurs across borders or outside of the particular state or territory of the user of the term. Examples of use include motor vehicle registration,[48] travel,[49] applications to educational institutions out of one's home state.[50]
There are very few urban areas bifurcated by state or territory borders. The Queensland-New South Wales border runs through Coolangatta (Queensland) and Tweed Heads (New South Wales) and splits Gold Coast Airport. Oaks Estate, a contiguous residential of Queanbeyan, was excised out of New South Wales when the Australian Capital Territory was established in 1909. Some Urban Centres and Localities reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics include some agglomerations of cities spreading across state borders, including Gold Coast–Tweed Heads, Canberra–Queanbeyan, Albury–Wodonga (New South Wales-Victoria) and Mildura–Wentworth (Victoria-New South Wales)
| Entity | Type of entity | Tie to the monarch | Domestic administrator | Head of government | Upper House of Parliament | Lower House of Parliament | Member of Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper house | Lower house[51] | ||||||||
| Commonwealth of Australia | Federal government | Direct | Governor-general | Prime minister | Senate | House of Representatives | Senator | ||
| South Australia | Federated state | Direct (established by the Australia Act 1986) | Governor | Premier | Legislative Council | House of Assembly | |||
| Tasmania | |||||||||
| New South Wales | Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| Victoria | |||||||||
| Western Australia | |||||||||
| Queensland | MP | ||||||||
| Australian Capital Territory | Self-governing territory | Indirect (through the governor-general acting as "administrator") | Assembly and chief minister | Chief minister | MLA | ||||
| Northern Territory | Indirect (through the governor-general) | Administrator | |||||||
| Christmas Island | External territory | Shire president | Shire Council | Councillor | |||||
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | |||||||||
| Norfolk Island | Mayor | Regional Council[52] | |||||||
| Note: | |||||||||
See main article: Governors of the Australian states.
See main article: Premiers and chief ministers of the Australian states and territories.
See main article: Parliaments of the Australian states and territories.
See main article: Law enforcement in Australia.
| State/territory | Abbrev. | Call signs | Postal | Telephone numbers in Australia | Time zone | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM/FM | TV | Amateur | Abbrev. | Postcode | Std | Summer | ||||
| New South Wales | NSW | 2xx(x) | xx(x)Nn | VK2xx | NSW | 1nnn, 2nnn | [53] | +10 (+ +) [54] | +11 (+) [55] | |
| Victoria | Vic | 3xx(x) | xx(x)Vn | VK3xx | VIC | 3nnn, 8nnn | +61 3 xxxx xxxx | +10 | +11 | |
| Queensland | Qld | 4xx(x) | xx(x)Qn | VK4xx | QLD | 4nnn, 9nnn | +61 7 xxxx xxxx | +10 | ||
| Western Australia | WA | 6xx(x) | xx(x)Wn | VK6xx | WA | 6nnn | +61 8 9xxx xxxx +61 8 6xxx xxxx | +8 | ||
| South Australia | SA | 5xx(x) | xx(x)Sn | VK5xx | SA | 5nnn | +61 8 8xxx xxxx +61 8 7xxx xxxx | + | + | |
| Tasmania | Tas | 7xx(x) | xx(x)Tn | VK7xx | TAS | 7nnn | +61 3 6xxx xxxx | +10 | +11 | |
| Australian Capital Territory | ACT | 1xx(x)[56] | xx(x)Cn | VK1xx | ACT | 02nn,[57] 26nn, 29nn | +61 2 62xx xxxx +61 2 61xx xxxx | +10 | +11 | |
| Northern Territory | NT | 8xx(x) | xx(x)Dn | VK8xx | NT | 08nn | +61 8 89xx xxxx | + | ||
| External territories | ||||||||||
| Christmas Island | 6xx(x) | xx(x)Wn | VK9xx | WA | 6798 | +61 8 9164 xxxx | +7 | |||
| Norfolk Island | 2xx(x) | xx(x)Nn | VK2xx | NSW | 2899 | +672 3 xx xxx | +11 | +12 | ||
| Cocos Island | 6xx(x) | xx(x)Wn | VK9xx | WA | 6799 | +61 8 9162 xxxx | + | |||
| Australian Antarctic Territory | AAT | none | VK0xx | TAS | 7151 | +672 1 | +6 to +8 | |||
National Location Information
. 15 May 2014 . 2 November 2016.