Global Study Group

Australia

Official Name Commonwealth of Australia
Land Area 7,617,930 sq km (2,941,285 sq miles)
Population 19,978,100
Capital City Canberra (327,000)
Official Currency Australian Dollar
Population Mix Caucasian (92%), Asian (7%), Aboriginal, others (1%) Religions Anglican, Catholic, others

The Commonwealth of Australia is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the world's smallest continent and a number of islands, the largest of which is Tasmania. Australia has been inhabited for about 50,000 years by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Eastern Australia was claimed by the British in 1770, and officially settled as a British penal colony on 26 January 1788. As the population grew and new areas were explored, six largely self-governing Crown Colonies were established within Australia over the course of the 19th century. On 1 January 1901 the six colonies federated and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since federation, Australia has had a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth Realm. Australia's neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. The name "Australia" was popularised by the 1814 work A Voyage to Terra Australis by the navigator Matthew Flinders.

Politics
The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy and has a parliamentary system of government. Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. There are three major political parties: the centre-left Australian Labor Party, and the centre-right Liberal and National parties (which traditionally form a coalition representing, for the most part, urban and rural/regional constituencies, respectively). Independent members and several minor parties?including the Greens and the Australian Democrats have achieved representation in Australian parliaments, mostly in upper houses, although their influence has been marginal. Since the 1996 election, the Liberal/National Coalition led by the Prime Minister, John Howard, has been in power in Canberra. In the 2004 election, the Coalition won control of the Senate, the first time that a party has done so while in government in more than 30 years. The Labor Party is in power in every state and territory

States and territories
Australia consists of six states and several territories. The states are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. The two mainland territories are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory; the federal government administers a separate area within New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory, as a naval base and sea port for the national capital. Each state and territory has its own bicameral parliament (unicameral in the case of Queensland and the mainland territories). The lower house is known as the Legislative Assembly (House of Assembly in South Australia and Tasmania) and the upper house the Legislative Council. The heads of the governments in each state and territory are called premiers and chief ministers, respectively. The Queen is represented in each state by a governor; an administrator in the Northern Territory, and the Governor-General in the ACT, have analogous roles.
Australia has several inhabited external territories: Norfolk Island, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and several largely uninhabited external territories: Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands Territory, Heard Island and McDonald Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Economy
Australia has a prosperous, Western-style mixed economy, with a per capita GDP slightly higher than those of the UK, Germany and France. The country was ranked third in the 2004 Human Development Index and sixth in The Economist worldwide quality-of-life index 2005. In recent years, the Australian economy has been resilient in the face of global economic downturn.

Culture
The primary basis of Australian culture up until the mid-20th century was British, although distinctive Australian features had been evolving from the environment and indigenous culture. Over the past 50 years, Australian culture has been strongly influenced by American popular culture (particularly television and cinema), large-scale immigration from non-English-speaking countries, and Australia's Asian neighbours. Australia has a long history of visual arts, starting with the cave and bark paintings of its indigenous peoples. From the time of European settlement, a common theme in Australian art has been the Australian landscape, seen in the works of Arthur Streeton, Arthur Boyd and Albert Namatjira, among others. The traditions of indigenous Australians are largely transmitted orally and are closely tied to ceremony and the telling of the stories of the Dreamtime. Australian Aboriginal music, dance and art have a palpable influence on contemporary Australian visual and performing arts. Australia has an active tradition of music, ballet and theatre; many of its performing arts companies receive public funding through the federal government's Australia Council.
Australia has two public broadcasters (the ABC and SBS), three commercial television networks, two pay TV services, and numerous public, non-profit television and radio stations. Australia's film industry has achieved critical and commercial successes. Each major city has daily newspapers, and there are two national daily newspapers, The Australian and the Australian Financial Review. According to Reporters Without Borders in 2004, Australia is in 41st position on a list of countries ranked by press freedom, well behind New Zealand (9th) and the United Kingdom (28th). This ranking is primarily due to the limited diversity of commercial media ownership in Australia. Most Australian print media in particular is under the control of either News Corporation or Publishing and Broadcasting Limited.

Structure of education in Australia