Australia
Commonwealth of Australia
federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy
Australia as the 2025 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 155 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
Aboriginal Australians arrived on the continent at least 60,000 years ago and developed complex hunter-gatherer societies and oral histories. Dutch navigators led by Abel TASMAN were the first Europeans to land in Australia in 1606, and they mapped the western and northern coasts. They named the continent New Holland but made no attempts to permanently settle it. In 1770, Englishman James COOK sailed to the east coast of Australia, named it New South Wales, and claimed it for Great Britain.
In 1788 and 1825 respectively, Great Britain established New South Wales and then Tasmania as penal colonies. Great Britain and Ireland sent more than 150,000 convicts to Australia before ending the practice in 1868. As Europeans began settling areas away from the coasts, they came into more direct contact with Aboriginal Australians. Europeans also cleared land for agriculture, impacting Aboriginal Australians’ ways of life.
These issues, along with disease and a policy in the 1900s that forcefully removed Aboriginal children from their parents, reduced the Aboriginal Australian population from more than 700,000 pre-European contact to a low of 74,000 in 1933.
Four additional colonies were established in Australia in the mid-1800s: Western Australia (1829), South Australia (1836), Victoria (1851), and Queensland (1859). Gold rushes beginning in the 1850s brought thousands of new immigrants to New South Wales and Victoria, helping to reorient Australia away from its penal colony roots. In the second half of the 1800s, the colonies were all gradually granted self-government, and in 1901, they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia.
Australia contributed more than 400,000 troops to Allied efforts during World War I, and Australian troops played a large role in the defeat of Japanese troops in the Pacific in World War II. Australia severed most constitutional links with the UK in 1942 but remained part of the British Commonwealth. Australia’s post-war economy boomed and by the 1970s, racial policies that prevented most non-Whites from immigrating to Australia were removed, greatly increasing Asian immigration to the country.
In recent decades, Australia has become an internationally competitive, advanced market economy due in large part to economic reforms adopted in the 1980s and its proximity to East and Southeast Asia.
In the early 2000s, Australian politics became unstable with frequent attempts to oust party leaders, including five changes of prime minister between 2010 and 2018. As a result, both major parties instituted rules to make it harder to remove a party leader.
Geography
Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean
21 fieldsLand useshare of 7,741,220 sq km
Natural resources
alumina, coal, iron ore, copper, lithium, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, rare earth elements, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, opals, natural gas, petroleum
note 1: Australia is the world's largest net exporter of coal accounting for 26.5% of global coal exports in 2021; coal is the country’s most abundant energy resource, and coal ranks as the second-largest export commodity from Australia in terms of revenue;
in 2020, Australia held the third-largest recoverable coal reserves in the world behind the United States and Russia
note 2: Australia is by far the world's largest supplier of opals
note 3: Australia holds the largest uranium reserves in the world and was the second-largest global uranium producer behind Kazakhstan in 2020
note 4: Australia was the largest exporter of LNG in the world in 2020
Major lakes (area sq km)
- fresh water lake(s):
- Lake Alexandrina - 570 sq km
- salt water lake(s):
- Lake Eyre - 9,690 sq km;
- Lake Torrens (ephemeral) - 5,780 sq km;
- Lake Gairdner - 4,470 sq km;
- Lake Mackay (ephemeral) - 3,494 sq km;
- Lake Frome - 2,410 sq km;
- Lake Amadeus (ephemeral) - 1,032 sq km
Major rivers (by length in km)
- River Murray - 2,508 km;
- Darling River - 1,545 km;
- Murrumbidgee River - 1,485 km;
- Lachlan River - 1,339 km;
- Cooper Creek - 1,113 km;
- Flinders River - 1,004 km
Major watersheds (area sq km)
- Indian Ocean drainage:
- (Great Australian Bight) Murray-Darling (1,050,116 sq km)
- Internal (endorheic basin) drainage:
- Lake Eyre (1,212,198 sq km)
Population distribution
- population is primarily located on the periphery, with the highest concentration of people residing in the east and southeast;
- a secondary population center is located in and around Perth in the west;
- of the states and territories, New South Wales has, by far, the largest population;
- the interior, or "outback," has a very sparse population
Natural hazards
- cyclones along the coast;
- severe droughts;
- forest fires
- volcanism:
- volcanic activity on Heard and McDonald Islands
Geography - note
note 1: world's smallest continent but sixth-largest country; the largest country in Oceania, the largest country entirely in the Southern Hemisphere, and the largest country without land borders
note 2: the Great Dividing Range that runs along eastern Australia is that continent’s longest mountain range and the third-longest land-based range in the world;
the term "Great Dividing Range" refers to the fact that the mountains form a watershed crest from which all of the rivers of eastern Australia flow – east, west, north, and south
note 3: Australia is the only continent without glaciers; it is the driest inhabited continent on earth; Perth on the west coast is home to the invigorating sea breeze known as the "Fremantle Doctor," one of the most consistent winds in the world; Australia hosts 10% of the world's biodiversity, and a great number of its flora and fauna exist nowhere else in the world
People and Society
33 fieldsAge structuremale left, female right · (2024 est.)
Per 1,000 population(2025 est.)
Male · female(2023 est.)
Religions(2021 est.)
Ethnic groups
English 33%, Australian 29.9%, Irish 9.5%, Scottish 8.6%, Chinese 5.5%, Italian 4.4%, German 4%, Indian 3.1%, Australian Aboriginal 2.9%, Greek 1.7%, unspecified 4.7% (2021 est.) note: data represent self-identified ancestry, with the option of reporting two ancestries
Languages
English 72%, Mandarin 2.7%, Arabic 1.4%, Vietnamese 1.3%, Cantonese 1.2%, other 15.7%, unspecified 5.7% (2021 est.) note: data represent language spoken at home
Population distribution
- population is primarily located on the periphery, with the highest concentration of people residing in the east and southeast;
- a secondary population center is located in and around Perth in the west;
- of the states and territories, New South Wales has, by far, the largest population;
- the interior, or "outback," has a very sparse population
Sex ratio
- at birth:
- 1.06 male(s)/female
- 0-14 years:
- 1.07 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years:
- 1.01 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over:
- 0.85 male(s)/female
- total population:
- 0.99 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant mortality rate
- total:
- 3 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
- male:
- 3.2 deaths/1,000 live births
- female:
- 2.7 deaths/1,000 live births
Alcohol consumption per capita
- total:
- 9.51 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
- beer:
- 3.71 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
- wine:
- 3.67 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
- spirits:
- 1.32 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
- other alcohols:
- 0.81 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Environment
11 fieldsLand use(2023 est.)
Environmental issues
- soil erosion from overgrazing, deforestation, industrial development, urbanization, and poor farming practices;
- limited natural freshwater resources;
- soil salinity from use of poor-quality water, drought, desertification;
- habitat loss from agricultural clearing;
- floral extinctions;
- Great Barrier Reef preservation;
- overfishing;
- pollution;
- invasive species
International environmental agreements
- party to:
- Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling
- signed, but not ratified:
- none of the selected agreements
Urbanization
- urban population:
- 86.6% of total population (2023)
- rate of urbanization:
- 1.27% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
note: data include Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island
Carbon dioxide emissions
394.653 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
- from coal and metallurgical coke:
- 146.81 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
- from petroleum and other liquids:
- 154.346 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
- from consumed natural gas:
- 93.497 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
Methane emissions
- energy:
- 2,146 kt (2022-2024 est.)
- agriculture:
- 2,382.2 kt (2019-2021 est.)
- waste:
- 587.8 kt (2019-2021 est.)
- other:
- 144.1 kt (2019-2021 est.)
Waste and recycling
- municipal solid waste generated annually:
- 13.345 million tons (2024 est.)
- percent of municipal solid waste recycled:
- 52.9% (2022 est.)
Total water withdrawal
- municipal:
- 2.43 billion cubic meters (2022)
- industrial:
- 3.11 billion cubic meters (2022)
- agricultural:
- 11.19 billion cubic meters (2022)
Government
Federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022); Prime Minister Anthony ALBANESE (since 23 May 2022)
27 fieldsCountry name
- conventional long form:
- Commonwealth of Australia
- conventional short form:
- Australia
- etymology:
- the name Australia derives from the Latin australis meaning "southern;" the Australian landmass was long referred to as "Terra Australis," or the Southern Land
Government type
federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Capital
- name:
- Canberra
- geographic coordinates:
- 35 16 S, 149 08 E
- time difference:
- UTC+11 (16 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
- daylight saving time:
- +1hr, begins first Sunday in October; ends first Sunday in April
- time zone note:
- Australia has six time zones, including Lord Howe Island (UTC+11)
- etymology:
- the name may derive from the Aboriginal word nganbirra , meaning "meeting place"
Administrative divisions
6 states and 2 territories*; Australian Capital Territory*, New South Wales, Northern Territory*, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Dependent areas
Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Jervis Bay, Norfolk Island (7)
Constitution
- history:
- approved in a series of referenda from 1898 through 1900 and became law 9 July 1900, effective 1 January 1901
- amendment process:
- proposed by Parliament;
- passage requires approval of a referendum bill by absolute majority vote in both houses of Parliament, approval in a referendum by a majority of voters in at least four states and in the territories, and Royal Assent;
- proposals that would reduce a state’s representation in either house or change a state’s boundaries require that state’s approval prior to Royal Assent
International law organization participation
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Citizenship
- citizenship by birth:
- no
- citizenship by descent only:
- at least one parent must be a citizen or permanent resident of Australia
- dual citizenship recognized:
- yes
- residency requirement for naturalization:
- 4 years
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022); represented by Governor General Samantha (Sam) MOSTYN (since 1 July 2024)
- head of government:
- Prime Minister Anthony ALBANESE (since 23 May 2022)
- cabinet:
- Cabinet nominated by the prime minister from among members of Parliament and sworn in by the governor general
- election/appointment process:
- the monarchy is hereditary;
- governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister;
- following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is sworn in as prime minister by the governor general
Legislative branch - lower chamber
- chamber name:
- House of Representatives
- number of seats:
- 150 (all directly elected)
- electoral system:
- plurality/majority
- scope of elections:
- full renewal
- term in office:
- 3 years
- most recent election date:
- 5/3/2025
- parties elected and seats per party:
- Australian Labor Party (ALP) (94);
- Liberal National coalition (43);
- Independents (10);
- Other (3)
- percentage of women in chamber:
- 46%
- expected date of next election:
- May 2028
Legislative branch - upper chamber
- chamber name:
- Senate
- number of seats:
- 76 (all directly elected)
- electoral system:
- proportional representation
- scope of elections:
- partial renewal
- term in office:
- 6 years
- most recent election date:
- 5/3/2025
- parties elected and seats per party:
- Australian Labor Party (ALP) (16);
- Liberal (6);
- The Greens (6);
- Liberal/Nationals (4);
- Pauline Hanson's One Nation (3);
- Liberal National Party of Queensland (2);
- Other (3)
- percentage of women in chamber:
- 56.6%
- expected date of next election:
- May 2028
Judicial branch
- highest court(s):
- High Court of Australia (consists of 7 justices, including the chief justice);
- each of the 6 states, 2 territories, and Norfolk Island has a Supreme Court;
- the High Court is the final appellate court
- judge selection and term of office:
- justices appointed by the governor-general in council for life with mandatory retirement at age 70
- subordinate courts:
- subordinate courts: at the federal level: Federal Court;
- Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia;
- at the state and territory level: Local Court - New South Wales;
- Magistrates' Courts – Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory;
- District Courts – New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia;
- County Court – Victoria;
- Family Court – Western Australia;
- Court of Petty Sessions – Norfolk Island
Political parties
- Australian Greens Party or The Greens
- Australian Labor Party or ALP
- Australia's Voice
- Centre Alliance (formerly known as the Nick Xenophon Team or NXT)
- Jacqui Lambie Network or JLN
- Katter's Australian Party (KAP)
- Liberal Party of Australia
- The Nationals
- Pauline Hanson's One Nation or ONP
- United Australia Party
note: the Labor Party is Australia’s oldest political party, established federally in 1901; the present Liberal Party was formed in 1944; the Country Party was formed in 1920, renamed the National Country Party in 1975, the National Party of Australia in 1982, and since 2003 has been known as the Nationals;
since the general election of 1949, the Liberal Party and the Nationals (under various names) when forming government have done so as a coalition
Diplomatic representation in the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Kevin Michael RUDD (since 19 April 2023)
- chancery:
- 1601 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036
- telephone:
- [1] (202) 797-3000
- FAX:
- [1] (202) 797-3168
- email address and website:
- [email protected]; https://usa.embassy.gov.au/
- consulate(s) general:
- Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Erika OLSON (since January 2025)
- embassy:
- Moonah Place, Yarralumla, Australian Capital Territory 2600
- mailing address:
- 7800 Canberra Place, Washington DC 20512-7800
- telephone:
- [61] (02) 6214-5600
- FAX:
- [61] (02) 9373-9184
- email address and website:
- [email protected]; https://au.usembassy.gov/
- consulate(s) general:
- Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
International organization participation
ADB, ANZUS, APEC, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, C, CD, CP, EAS, EBRD, EITI (implementing country), FAO, FATF, G-20, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NEA, NSG, OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PIF, SAARC (observer), Quad, SICA (observer), Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNMISS, UNMIT, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
National holiday
- Australia Day (commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet of Australian settlers), 26 January (1788);
- ANZAC Day (commemorates the anniversary of the landing of troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I at Gallipoli, Turkey), 25 April (1915)
Flag
- description:
- blue, with the UK flag in the upper-left quadrant and a large seven-pointed star in the lower-left quadrant;
- on the right half is a representation of the Southern Cross constellation in white, with one small five-pointed star and four larger seven-pointed stars
- meaning:
- the largest star is known as the Commonwealth or Federation Star and represents the federation of the Australian colonies in 1901;
- the star has one point for each of the six original states, plus one representing all of Australia's internal and external territories
National symbol(s)
Commonwealth Star (seven-pointed Star of Federation), golden wattle tree ( Acacia pycnantha ), kangaroo, emu
National coat of arms
- King George V of the United Kingdom granted the current Commonwealth Coat of Arms to Australia on 19 September 1912;
- the center of the shield has the symbols of Australia’s six states;
- the kangaroo and the emu symbolize a nation moving forward, since neither animal can move backward easily;
- the gold Commonwealth star sits above the shield, with six points representing the Australian states and the seventh representing the territories;
- the gold and blue in the wreath under the star are the livery, or identifying, colors for the coat of arms;
- Australia’s floral emblem, the golden wattle, frames the shield
National anthem(s)
- title:
- Advance Australia Fair
- lyrics/music:
- Peter Dodds McCORMICK
- history:
- adopted 1984; although originally written in the late 19th century, the anthem was not used for all official occasions until 1984; _____
- title:
- "God Save the King"
- lyrics/music:
- unknown
- history:
- royal anthem, as a Commonwealth country
note: the well-known and much-loved bush ballad "Waltzing Matilda" is often referred to as Australia's unofficial national anthem; Australian poet Banjo PATERSON wrote the original lyrics in 1895, and they were first published as sheet music in 1903; since 2012, a Waltzing Matilda Day has been held annually on 6 April, the anniversary of the first performance of the song in 1895
National heritage
- total World Heritage Sites:
- 21 (5 cultural, 12 natural, 4 mixed)
- selected World Heritage Site locales:
- Great Barrier Reef (n);
- Greater Blue Mountains Area (n);
- Fraser Island (n);
- Gondwana Rainforests (n);
- Lord Howe Island Group (n);
- Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens (c);
- Shark Bay (n);
- Sydney Opera House (c);
- Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park (m);
- Kakadu National Park (m);
- Murujuga Cultural Landscape (c)
note: includes one site on Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Economy
30 fieldsTrading partnersexports left, imports right
By end use% of GDP · (2024 est.)
Budget(2022 est.)
Economic overview
- high-income and globally integrated economy;
- strong mining, manufacturing, and service sectors driving slow but steady growth;
- net exporter, driven by commodities to East Asian trade partners;
- weak productivity and aging population straining labor force participation
GDP - composition, by sector of origin
- agriculture:
- 2.2% (2024 est.)
- industry:
- 26% (2024 est.)
- services:
- 65.5% (2024 est.)
note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data
Agricultural products
wheat, sugarcane, barley, rapeseed, milk, cotton, sorghum, beef, lentils, grapes (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
Labor force
14.912 million (2024 est.) note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work
Unemployment rate
4.1% (2024 est.) · 3.7% (2023 est.) · 3.8% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)
- total:
- 9.5% (2024 est.)
- male:
- 10.2% (2024 est.)
- female:
- 8.7% (2024 est.)
note: % of labor force ages 15-24 seeking employment
Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income
34.3 (2018 est.) note: index (0-100) of income distribution; higher values represent greater inequality
Average household expenditures
- on food:
- 9.9% of household expenditures (2023 est.)
- on alcohol and tobacco:
- 3.6% of household expenditures (2023 est.)
Remittances
0.1% of GDP (2024 est.) · 0.1% of GDP (2023 est.) · 0.1% of GDP (2022 est.) note: personal transfers and compensation between resident and non-resident individuals/households/entities
Taxes and other revenues
23.6% (of GDP) (2022 est.) note: central government tax revenue as a % of GDP
Current account balance
-$34.402 billion (2024 est.) · -$5.186 billion (2023 est.) · $5.707 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars
Exports
$425.16 billion (2024 est.) · $448.507 billion (2023 est.) · $465.99 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars
Exports - commodities
iron ore, coal, natural gas, gold, minerals (2023) note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
Imports
$405.336 billion (2024 est.) · $389.211 billion (2023 est.) · $379.981 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars
Imports - commodities
refined petroleum, cars, trucks, broadcasting equipment, garments (2023) note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$60.404 billion (2024 est.) · $61.703 billion (2023 est.) · $56.702 billion (2022 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars
Exchange rates
Australian dollars (AUD) per US dollar - 1.515 (2024 est.) · 1.505 (2023 est.) · 1.442 (2022 est.) · 1.331 (2021 est.) · 1.453 (2020 est.)
Energy
7 fieldsElectrification% of population · (2022 est.)
Installed generating capacity, 108.193 million kW(2023 est.)
Coal
- production:
- 445.077 million metric tons (2023 est.)
- consumption:
- 95.667 million metric tons (2023 est.)
- exports:
- 348.32 million metric tons (2023 est.)
- imports:
- 630,000 metric tons (2023 est.)
- proven reserves:
- 149.472 billion metric tons (2023 est.)
Petroleum
- total petroleum production:
- 386,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)
- refined petroleum consumption:
- 1.151 million bbl/day (2024 est.)
- crude oil estimated reserves:
- 2.446 billion barrels (2021 est.)
Natural gas
- production:
- 151.307 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)
- consumption:
- 48.845 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)
- exports:
- 105.146 billion cubic meters (2023 est.)
- imports:
- 521.034 million cubic meters (2023 est.)
- proven reserves:
- 3.228 trillion cubic meters (2021 est.)
Communications
6 fieldsPer 100 inhabitants(2023–24 est.)
Broadcast media
- tradition of public broadcasting, but privately owned TV and radio have the biggest audiences;
- ownership of print and broadcast media is concentrated;
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) runs national and local public radio and TV;
- other main public broadcaster is the multilingual Special Broadcasting Service (SBS);
- national commercial TV is dominated by three big free-to-air networks;
- broadcasters must carry a minimum percentage of Australian-made programs;
- pay TV via cable, satellite, and IPTV has a strong foothold (2023)
Transportation
6 fieldsMerchant marine, 604 ships by type(2023)
Railways
- total:
- 32,606 km (2022) 3,448 km electrified
- standard gauge:
- 18,007 km (2022) 1.435 mm
- narrow gauge:
- 11,914 km (2022) 1.067 mm
- broad gauge:
- 2,685 km (2022) 1.600 mm
Ports
- total ports:
- 66 (2024)
- large:
- 5
- medium:
- 8
- small:
- 24
- very small:
- 29
- ports with oil terminals:
- 38
- key ports:
- Brisbane, Dampier, Darwin, Fremantle, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Port Adelaide, Port Dalrymple, Port Kembla, Port Lincoln, Sydney
Military and Security
7 fieldsPersonnel strengthsone square, 1,000 people · (2025)
Military and security forces
- Australian Defense Force (ADF):
- Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Force (2025)
note: the Australian Federal Police (AFP) is an independent agency of the Attorney-General’s Department; the AFP, state, and territorial police forces are responsible for internal security;
the Australian Border Force (ABF) is under the Department of Home Affairs
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
- the military's inventory includes a mix of domestically produced and imported Western weapons systems;
- in recent years, the US has been the largest supplier of arms;
- the Australian defense industry produces a variety of land and sea weapons platforms;
- the defense industry also participates in joint development and production ventures with other Western countries, including the US and Canada (2025)
note: in 2023, the Australian defense ministry announced a new strategic review that called for the acquisition of more long-range deterrence capabilities, including missiles, submarines, and cyber tools;
in early 2024, Australia announced a 10-year plan to more than double the number of the Navy's major surface combatant ships
Military service age and obligation
17 years of age (with parental consent; 18 years of age to deploy) for voluntary military service for men and women; no conscription (abolished 1972) (2025)
note 1: as of July 2024, New Zealanders who are permanent residents and have lived in Australia for at least 12 months could apply to join the ADF; from January 2025,
eligible permanent residents from Canada, the UK, and the US were also to be allowed to apply
note 2: women have served in all roles, including combat arms, since 2013; in 2024, they comprised slightly more than 20% of the military
Military deployments
note: the number of Australian military forces varies by mission; since the 1990s, Australia has deployed more than 30,000 personnel on nearly 100 UN peacekeeping and coalition military operations around the World
Military - note
the ADF's missions include protecting Australia’s borders and maritime interests, responding to domestic natural disasters, and deploying overseas for humanitarian, peacekeeping, and other security-related missions; in 2024, it established a cyber command; the ADF regularly participates in bi-lateral and multi-lateral exercises with foreign militaries
Australia has been part of the Australia, New Zealand, and US Security (ANZUS) Treaty since 1951; Australia is also a member of the Five Powers Defense Arrangements (FPDA), a series of mutual assistance agreements reached in 1971 embracing Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK
Australia has long-standing bi-lateral defense and security ties to the UK, including defense and security cooperation treaties in 2024 and 2013; the Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN) is their premier bilateral forum on foreign policy, defense, and security issues
Australia also has a long-standing military relationship with the US; Australian and US forces first fought together in France in 1918 and have fought together in every major US conflict since; Australia and the US signed an agreement in 2014 that allowed for closer bi-lateral defense and security cooperation, including rotations of US military forces and equipment to Australia;
Australian military forces train often with US forces; Australia has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the US, a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation
in 2021, Australia, the UK, and the US announced an enhanced trilateral security partnership called “AUKUS” which would build on existing bilateral ties, including deeper integration of defense and security-related science, technology, industrial bases, and supply chains, as well as deeper cooperation on a range of defense and security capabilities (2025)
Space
4 fieldsSpace agency/agencies
Australian Space Agency (ASA; established 2018; headquarters opened in 2020) (2025) note: Australia established a Defense Space Command in 2022
Space launch site(s)
- Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex (commercial site, South Australia);
- Arnhem Space Center (commercial site, Northern Territory);
- Bown Orbital Spaceport (commercial site, North Queensland) (2025)
Space program overview
- has a history of involvement in space-related activities, including astronomy, rockets, satellites, and space tracking;
- develops, builds, operates, and tracks satellites, including communications, remote sensing (RS), and navigational, often in partnership with other countries;
- develops other space technologies, including communications, RS capabilities, and telescopes;
- encouraging growth in domestic commercial space-industry sector, including satellite launch vehicles;
- cooperates with a variety of foreign space agencies and industries, including those of China, the ESA, individual ESA member states, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK, and the US;
- co-leads the Global Earth Observation System of Systems and hosts one of the telescopes for the international Square Kilometer Array radio telescope (2025)
Key space-program milestones
- 1960 - built first space-tracking station outside the US
- 1967 - first domestically built satellite (WRSEA) launched on a US rocket from Australian test range
- 1981 - commissioned first national satellite system
- 1996 - first Australian in space on US Space Shuttle
- 2021 - announced intent to provide a robotic lunar lander for US Artemis project
- 2022 - launched a US NASA rocket from a commercial launch site; joint Australia-US space surveillance telescope based in Western Australia became operational
- 2025 - first attempted launch of Australian-designed and -manufactured orbital launch vehicle failed to reach orbit
Terrorism
1 fieldTerrorist group(s)
Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide
Transnational Issues
1 fieldRefugees and internally displaced persons
- refugees:
- 120,789 (2024 est.)
- IDPs:
- 185 (2024 est.)
- stateless persons:
- 6,922 (2024 est.)
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Australia.” The World Factbook 2025. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/australia.