50 Australian Facts That Prove We’re Not Just Kangaroos and Beaches

Australia is an incredible country, full of surprises and unique quirks. We’re all about celebrating the land we work on and the people who make it thrive. Whether you’re a backpacker, a local, or just curious about this vast island nation, here are 50 facts that will give you a fresh perspective on Australia!

1. The Australian Alps get more snow than the Swiss Alps.
   
2. 90% of Australians live on the coast.
3. Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world.
4. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest ecosystem in the world and can even be seen from space.
5. Australia boasts over 60 separate wine regions.
6. K’gari Island is the largest sand island in the world.
7. The Indian Pacific train has the longest straight stretch of train track in the world.
8. The Great Ocean Road is the world’s largest war memorial.
   
9. 80% of Australian animals are unique to the continent.
10. Uluru is more than just what you see above ground, 5 km of it is underground!
11. Australia is home to the world’s longest golf course at more than 1,350 km long.
12. 21 of the world’s 25 most venomous snakes call Australia home.
13. Perth is the only city where planes can land in its CBD.
14. Mainland Australia is nearly the same size as mainland USA.
15. Anna Creek Ranch is the largest cattle station in the world, bigger than Israel!
    
16. The first Australian police force was made up of well behaved convicts.
17. It would take you 29 years to visit a new Aussie beach every day, with 10,685 beaches to explore.
18. AFL was invented to keep cricketers fit during the off season. Some say it may have been inspired by Indigenous Australians.
19. Mount Augustus in WA is the largest rock in the world, twice the size of Uluru.
20. Australia is the 6th largest country in the world.
21. A million wild camels roam Australia’s deserts, and they’re even exported to the Middle East.
22. You can fly from Perth to Melbourne faster than you can fly across Western Australia.
23. There are over 60 types of kangaroos, and newborn kangaroos are just 2 cm long!
24. Aboriginal culture is the oldest living culture on Earth, dating back 40,000–60,000 years.
    
25. Australia boasts 19 World Heritage listed sites.
26. 91% of the country is covered by native vegetation.
27. 33% of Australians were born in another country.
28. More than 300 languages are spoken in Australia, including 45 Indigenous languages.
29. WA is home to Stromatolites, thought to be the oldest lifeforms on Earth.
30. Australia is the only continent without an active volcano.
31. Sheep outnumber people in Australia by 2.5 to 1.
    
32. Australia was the second country to give women the right to vote, in 1902.
33. Australians spend more per capita on gambling than any other nation.
34. Canberra was chosen as the capital because Sydney and Melbourne couldn’t agree.
35. The Dingo Fence, originally built to keep dingoes away, is the longest fence in the world, at 5,614 km.
36. The Australian dollar is one of the world’s most advanced currencies: waterproof and hard to counterfeit.
37. Australia is the only continent fully governed by one country.
38. The world’s oldest fossil, 3.4 billion years old, was found in Australia.
39. Australia has over 600 varieties of eucalyptus trees.
40. Australia was one of the founding members of the United Nations.
41. Australia introduced the 8 hour workday in 1856, thanks to stonemasons.
42. In Aboriginal culture, women are traditionally not allowed to play the didgeridoo.
43. The venom of the elusive platypus can kill a small dog.
44. The Box Jellyfish is Australia’s deadliest marine creature, responsible for more deaths than sharks, snakes, or crocodiles.
    
45. The only egg laying mammals in the world, the echidna and the platypus, are native to Australia.
46. Megafauna like 3 meter tall kangaroos and leopard sized marsupial lions once roamed Australia.
47. Kangaroos and emus can’t walk backwards, symbolising Australia’s forward thinking spirit, they feature on the coat of arms for this reason.
48. Termite mounds in Australia are the tallest animal-made structures on Earth.
49. Australia is home to more than 1,500 species of spiders (don’t worry, they’re not all dangerous!).
50. The Great Victoria Desert is larger than the entire United Kingdom.

Australia is full of incredible opportunities, and these facts just scratch the surface! From the vast outback to our unique wildlife, there’s so much to explore. If you’re up for an adventure, come join the Left Field team and discover the heart of Australia while working on one of our incredible farms!