States and territories of Australia

States and territories of Australia
Location	Australia
Number	16 (6 states, 3 internal territories, and 7 external territories)
Populations	Smallest state: Tasmania 541,071 Largest state: New South Wales 8,166,369 Smallest territories: Ashmore and Cartier Islands 0 (uninhabited) Heard Island and McDonald Islands 0 (uninhabited) Largest territory: Australian Capital Territory 431,215
Areas	Smallest state: Tasmania 64,519 km2 (24,911 sq mi) Largest state: Western Australia 2,527,013 km2 (975,685 sq mi) Smallest territory: Cocos (Keeling) Islands 14 km2 (5.4 sq mi) Largest territories: Northern Territory 1,347,791 km2 (520,385 sq mi) Australian Antarctic Territory[a] 5,896,500 km2 (2,276,700 sq mi)
Subdivisions	Local government areas and unincorporated areas

The states and territories are the second level of government of Australia.^[2] The states are partially sovereign, administrative divisions that are self-governing polities, having ceded some sovereign rights to the federal government.^[3] 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.^[4]

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,^[5] out of which three are internal territories: the Australian Capital Territory, the Jervis Bay Territory, and the Northern Territory^[5] on the Australian mainland; and seven are external territories: the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Australian Antarctic Territory,^[a] Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Norfolk Island^[5] 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][6]

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.^[7][8] 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.^[6] 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.^[9] Norfolk Island had its own legislature from 1979 to 2015.^[10]

Each state is a successor to historical British colonies, and each has its own constitution. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Northern Territory^[11] 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),^[12][13] even though they do not have constitutional status as states and territorial legislation can be overridden.

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 32,994 kilometres (20,502 mi)^[14] and claims an exclusive economic zone of about 8,200,000 square kilometres (3,200,000 sq mi).^[15]

• Australian Capital Territory borders
• New South Welsh borders
• Northern Territory borders
• Queensland borders
• South Australian borders
• Tasmanian borders
• Victorian borders
• Western Australian borders

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^[16] 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.

States of Australia^[b]

Flag	State	Postal	ISO[17]	Capital	Population (Mar 2024)[18]	Area (km2)[19]	Population Density (/km2)	No. of Reps. in Aus House[20]	Governor	Premier (Party)		State Government
	New South Wales	NSW	AU-NSW	Sydney	8,469,597	800,150	10.49	47	Margaret Beazley		Chris Minns (Labor)	Government of New South Wales
	Victoria	VIC	AU-VIC	Melbourne	6,959,234	227,416	30.18	38	Margaret Gardner		Jacinta Allan (Labor)	Victorian Government
	Queensland	QLD	AU-QLD	Brisbane	5,560,452	1,729,742	3.18	30	Jeannette Young		David Crisafulli (Liberal National)	Queensland Government
	Western Australia	WA	AU-WA	Perth[c]	2,951,602	2,527,013	1.15	16	Chris Dawson		Roger Cook (Labor)	Government of Western Australia
	South Australia	SA	AU-SA	Adelaide	1,873,819	984,321	1.89	10	Frances Adamson		Peter Malinauskas (Labor)	Government of South Australia
	Tasmania	TAS	AU-TAS	Hobart	575,660	64,519	8.89	5	Barbara Baker		Jeremy Rockliff (Liberal)	Tasmanian Government

Internal territories of Australia^[d]

Flag	Territory	Postal	ISO[17]	Capital (or largest settlement)	Population (Mar 2024)[18]	Area (km2)[19]	Population Density (/km2)	No. of Reps. in Aus House[20]	Administrator	Chief Minister (Party)		Territory Government
	Australian Capital Territory	ACT	AU-ACT	Canberra	472,803	2,358	198.97	3	None[e]		Andrew Barr (Labor)	ACT Government
	Northern Territory	NT	AU-NT	Darwin	254,263	1,347,791	0.19	2	Hugh Heggie		Lia Finocchiaro (Country Liberal)	Northern Territory Government
None	Jervis Bay Territory	ACT	–	None (Jervis Bay Village)	405	67	6.04	(Part of Division of Fenner)	None[f]	None

External territories of Australia^[g]

Flag	Territory	Postal	ISO[17]	Capital (or largest settlement)	Population (Jun 2018)[18]	Area (km2)[19]	Population Density (/km2)	Seats in House of Representatives	Administrator	Shire President or Mayor
	Norfolk Island	NSW	NF	Kingston	2,601	35	74	(Part of Division of Bean)	George Plant	Robin Adams (mayor)[21]
	Christmas Island	WA	CX	Flying Fish Cove	1,938	135	14	(Part of Division of Lingiari)	Farzian Zainal	Gordon Thompson
	Cocos (Keeling) Islands	WA	CC	West Island	547	14	39	(Part of Division of Lingiari)	Farzian Zainal	Aindil Minkom[22]
None	Australian Antarctic Territory[a]	TAS	AQ[h]	None (Davis Station)	60[i]	5,896,500	0.0000102	–	None	None
None	Coral Sea Islands	QLD	–	None (Willis Island)	4[j]	780,000[k]	0.000005	–	None	None
None	Ashmore and Cartier Islands	–	–	None (offshore anchorage)	0	199	0	–	None	None
None	Heard Island and McDonald Islands	TAS	HM	None (Atlas Cove)	0	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.^[24] 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^[25] 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.^[26]

Norfolk Island's status is controversial, with the present (as of 2018^[update]) 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.^[10]

Notes

Two internal territories established by the Australian federal government under Section 122 of the Constitution of Australia no longer exist:

• Central Australia (1926–1931), consisting of the area of the current Northern Territory south of the 20th parallel south^[39]
• North Australia (1926–1931), consisting of the area of the current Northern Territory north of the 20th parallel south^[39]

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.

• Territory of Papua:
  • 1883–1902: A de facto part of Queensland (de jure British territory in 1888–1900)
  • 1902–1949: An external territory of Australia
• Territory of New Guinea: 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[19]			Population (2021 census)		Population density			% of population in capital		Notes
		km2	sq mi	Rank	Number	Rank	/km2	/sq mi	Rank	%	Rank
New South Wales	NSW	801,150	309,330	5	8,072,163	1	9.62	24.9	3	63.0%	5	[40]
Victoria	VIC	227,444	87,817	6	6,503,491	2	26.56	68.8	2	71.0%	4	[41]
Queensland	QLD	1,729,742	667,857	2	5,156,138	3	2.79	7.2	5	46.0%	7	[42]
Western Australia	WA	2,527,013	975,685	1	2,660,026	4	1.03	2.7	7	73.4%	3	[43]
South Australia	SA	984,321	380,048	4	1,781,516	5	1.74	4.5	6	73.5%	2	[44]
Tasmania	TAS	68,401	26,410	7	557,571	6	7.58	19.6	4	41.0%	8	[45]
Australian Capital Territory	ACT	2,358	910	8	453,890	7	167.6	434	1	99.6%	1	[46]
Northern Territory	NT	1,347,791	520,385	3	232,605	8	0.18	0.47	8	54.0%	6	[47]

The states originated as separate British colonies prior to Federation in 1901.^[2] 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),^[48] 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.^[2]

The legislative powers of the states are protected by the Australian constitution, section 107,^[49] 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.^[24]

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.^[4] 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.^[4] 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.^[50] The Administrator of the Northern Territory, by contrast, is appointed by the governor-general.^[51] 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.^[52]

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,^[53] 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.^[54] 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.^[55]

The external territory of Norfolk Island possessed a degree of self-government from 1979 until 2015.^[10]

Each state has a bicameral parliament, except Queensland, which abolished its upper house in 1922.^[56][2] 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.^[2] The legislative assembly for the ACT is the only parliament with responsibility for both state/territory and local government functions.^[2]

The head of government of each state is called the "premier", appointed by the state's governor.^[57] 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.^[57] 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,^[58] travel,^[59] applications to educational institutions out of one's home state.^[60]

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)

• 1788 – British Empire establishes the Colony of New South Wales across central and eastern mainland Australia, the island of Tasmania, both islands of New Zealand and Norfolk Island.
• 1803 – The Coral Sea Islands are claimed by New South Wales.
• 1825 – The island of Tasmania becomes the independent colony of Van Diemen's Land. New South Wales extends its borders further west in mainland Australia.
• 1829 – The British Empire establishes the Swan River Colony in western mainland Australia.
• 1832 – Swan River Colony is renamed the "colony of Western Australia".
• 1836 – The Colony of South Australia is established.
• 1841 – The islands of New Zealand become the independent colony of New Zealand. Much of eastern Antarctica is annexed by Britain as Victoria Land.
• 1844 – New South Wales transfers Norfolk Island to Van Diemen's Land.
• 1846 – Northern central and eastern Australia briefly become the independent Colony of North Australia, then are returned to New South Wales.
• 1851 – Southeastern mainland Australia becomes the independent colony of Victoria.
• 1856 – Van Diemen's Land is renamed the colony of Tasmania. Norfolk Island becomes the independent colony of Norfolk Island, however it is to be administered by the same governor as New South Wales.
• 1857 – Much of southern central mainland Australia becomes the independent colony of South Australia. The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are annexed by Britain.
• 1859 – Northeastern mainland Australia and Coral Sea Islands become the independent colony of Queensland.
• 1860 – A pocket of New South Wales territory remaining in southern central mainland Australia is transferred to South Australia.
• 1862 – Some of New South Wales' northern central mainland Australian territory is transferred to Queensland.
• 1863 – New South Wales' remaining northern central mainland Australian territory is transferred to South Australia.
• 1878 – Britain annexes Ashmore Island.
• 1883 – Queensland annexes southeastern New Guinea.
• 1884 – Southeastern New Guinea becomes the independent Territory of Papua.
• 1886 – The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are to be administered by the same governor as the Straits Settlements.
• 1888 – Christmas Island is annexed by Britain and incorporated into the Straits Settlements.
• 1897 – Norfolk Island is officially reintegrated into New South Wales.
• 1901 – New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia federate into the Commonwealth of Australia. Queensland transfers the Coral Sea Islands to the federal government, creating a federal external territory.
• 1902 – Britain transfers Papua to Australia as an external territory.
• 1903 – The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are incorporated into the Straits Settlements.
• 1909 – Britain annexes Cartier Island.
• 1910 – Britain claims Heard Island and the McDonald Islands.
• 1911 – The state of South Australia transfers control of northern central mainland Australia to the federal government, creating the Northern Territory. A small pocket of New South Wales around the city of Canberra is transferred to the federal government (who are seated within it), creating the Federal Capital Territory.
• 1913 – New South Wales transfers Norfolk Island to the federal government, making it a federal external territory.
• 1915 – A small pocket of New South Wales around Jervis Bay is transferred to the federal government and incorporated into the Federal Capital Territory.
• 1920 – Following the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, the League of Nations establishes an Australian mandate in northeastern New Guinea, it becomes the external Territory of New Guinea.
• 1923 – Another conquered German territory, the island of Nauru, is established as an Australian mandate and external territory by the League of Nations, this time as a co-mandate with Britain and New Zealand.
• 1927 – The Northern Territory is split into two territories – North Australia and Central Australia.
• 1930 – The remaining territory in eastern Antarctica is annexed by Britain as Enderby Land.
• 1931 – North Australia and Central Australia are reincorporated as the Northern Territory. Britain recognises Australia as possessors of the uninhabited Ashmore and Cartier Islands, making them an external federal territory.
• 1933 – Britain transfers Victoria Land and Enderby Land to Australia, creating the Australian Antarctic Territory, with ongoing limited international recognition.
• 1938 – The Federal Capital Territory is renamed the "Australian Capital Territory".
• 1942 – The Japanese Empire conquers Nauru from Australia, Britain and New Zealand as part of World War II. Japan also conquers much of the Straits Settlements, including Christmas Island. The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are not conquered and are transferred to the Colony of Ceylon.
• 1946 – The United Nations, the successor to the League of Nations, renews its mandate of New Guinea to Australia.
• 1947 – Following the defeat of Japan in World War II, the United Nations returns Nauru to Australia, Britain and New Zealand as a joint mandate. Christmas Island returns to Britain and is incorporated into the Colony of Singapore. The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are also transferred to Singapore.
• 1949 – Papua and New Guinea are incorporated into the singular Territory of Papua and New Guinea. Britain transfers Heard Island and the McDonald Islands to Australia, creating a federal external territory.
• 1955 – Britain transfers the Cocos (Keeling) Islands to Australia, they become an external territory.
• 1958 – Britain transfers Christmas Island to Australia, it becomes an external territory.
• 1966 – The Republic of Nauru is established, ending Australian-British-New Zealander control of the island.
• 1975 – Papua and New Guinea becomes the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, ending British-Australian control.
• 1978 – Northern Territory gains self-government with certain Commonwealth control.
• 1979 – Norfolk Island gains self-government with certain Commonwealth control.
• 1989 – The Australian Capital Territory gains self-government with certain Commonwealth control. Jervis Bay becomes independent of the ACT, becoming the Jervis Bay Territory.
• 2015 – Norfolk Island loses self-government with full Commonwealth control.

• Parliament of New South Wales
• Parliament of Victoria
• Parliament of Queensland
• Parliament of Western Australia
• Parliament of South Australia
• Parliament of Tasmania
• Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
• Northern Territory Legislative Assembly

• Supreme Court of New South Wales
• Supreme Court of Victoria
• Supreme Court of Queensland
• Supreme Court of Western Australia
• Supreme Court of South Australia
• Supreme Court of Tasmania
• Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory
• Supreme Court of the Northern Territory
• Supreme Court of Norfolk Island

• New South Wales Police Force
• Victoria Police
• Queensland Police Service
• Western Australia Police Force
• South Australia Police
• Tasmania Police
• Australian Capital Territory Policing (performed by Australian Federal Police)
• Northern Territory Police Force
• Law enforcement in Norfolk Island, also provided by Australian Federal Police

• Australian regional rivalries
• ISO 3166-2:AU, the ISO codes for the states and territories of Australia
• List of adjectival and demonymic forms of Australian states and territories
• List of Australian states and territories by Human Development Index
• Proposals for new Australian states

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