States and territories of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of 5 states and 3 territories. The state of Tasmania consists of the island of Tasmania and surrounding islands, and in addition there are 6 island territories, known as external territories, and a claim to a territory in Antarctica. All states and 3 territories have their own parliaments and administer themselves, the remaining territories are administered by the Federal Government.

Map showing the creation of the colonies/states and mainland territories.

States and Territories

Reference map for States and Territories of Australia

Western Australia Northern Territory South Australia Queensland New South Wales Australian Capital Territory Victoria Tasmania Indian Ocean Timor Sea Gulf of Carpentaria Arafura Sea Great Australian Bight Tasman Sea Bass Strait Coral Sea ● ● ● ● ● ● South Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean ● ● Great Barrier Reef

States and Territories of Australia^[1]

Flag	State/Territory name	ISO[2]	Postal	Type	Capital	Population	Area (km²)
	Ashmore and Cartier Islands			External	(West Islet)	0	199
	Australian Antarctic Territory			External	(Mawson Station)	1,000	5,896,500
	Australian Capital Territory	AU-ACT	ACT	Territory	Canberra	344,200	2,358
	Christmas Island	CX		External	Flying Fish Cove	1,493	135
	Cocos (Keeling) Islands	CC		External	West Island	628	14
	Coral Sea Islands Territory			External	(Willis Island)	4	10
	Heard Island and McDonald Islands	HM		External	(Atlas Cove)	0	372
	Jervis Bay Territory		JBT	Territory	(Jervis Bay Village)	611	70
	New South Wales	AU-NSW	NSW	State	Sydney	6,967,200	800,642
	Norfolk Island	NF		External	Kingston	2,114	35
	Northern Territory	AU-NT	NT	Territory	Darwin	219,900	1,349,129
	Queensland	AU-QLD	QLD	State	Brisbane	4,279,400	1,730,648
	South Australia	AU-SA	SA	State	Adelaide	1,601,800	983,482
	Tasmania	AU-TAS	TAS	State	Hobart	500,001	68,401
	Victoria	AU-VIC	VIC	State	Melbourne	5,297,600	227,416
	Western Australia	AU-WA	WA	State	Perth	2,163,200	2,529,875

See also: List of State Codes

Australia has had three now-defunct territories in its history:

• From 1926 to 1931, the Northern Territory was divided into Central Australia and North Australia, with the border at the 20th parallel of latitude. Both territories were reincorporated as the Northern Territory at the end of this period.
• From 1949 to 1972, the Territory of Papua and New Guinea was part of Australia, remaining so until the independence of the country of Papua New Guinea.

Background and overview

The states originated as separate British colonies prior to Federation (in 1901). Their powers are protected by the Australian constitution, and 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. The Australian Parliament has powers to legislate in the territories that it does not possess in the states.

Most of the territories are directly administered by the Commonwealth government, while three (the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and Norfolk Island) administer themselves. 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 states.

Furthermore, the distribution of powers between the Commonwealth and the territories is different from that between the Commonwealth and the states. In the Northern Territory, the Commonwealth retains the power to directly administer uranium mining and Aboriginal lands – powers which it does not possess with respect to the states.

Each state has a Governor, appointed by the Queen, which by convention she does on the advice of the state Premier. The Administrators of the Northern Territory and Norfolk Island are, by contrast, appointed by the Governor-General. The Australian Capital Territory has neither a Governor nor an Administrator, but the Governor-General exercises some powers that in other jurisdictions are exercised by the Governor of a state or Administrator of a territory, such as the power to dissolve the Legislative Assembly.

Jervis Bay Territory is unique in being the only non-self-governing territory that is not an external territory. Until 1989 it was a part of the ACT, but was separated when the ACT achieved self-government. Residents of the Jervis Bay Territory are not represented in the ACT Legislative Assembly. However, laws made by that assembly generally apply to them. They are represented in the Australian parliament as part of the Division of Fraser 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.

Each state has a bicameral Parliament except Queensland, which abolished its upper house in 1922. 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. The three self-governing territories, the ACT, the Northern Territory and Norfolk Island, have unicameral Legislative Assemblies.

The head of government of each state is called the Premier, appointed by the state's Governor. 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.

Comparative terminology

Governors and Administrators of states and territories

Premiers and Chief Ministers of states and territories

State and territorial parliaments

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

State and territory supreme courts

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

State and territory police forces

• Australian Capital Territory Police
• New South Wales Police
• Northern Territory Police
• Queensland Police
• South Australia Police
• Tasmania Police
• Victoria Police
• Western Australia Police

Statistics

State/territory	Land area (km²)	Rank	Population (2006)	Rank	Population density (/km²)	Rank	% of population in capital	Rank
Australian Capital Territory	2,358	8th	344,200	7th	137.53	1st	99.6%	1st
New South Wales	800,642	5th	6,967,200	1st	8.44	3rd	63%	5th
Victoria	227,416	6th	5,297,600	2nd	22	2nd	71%	4th
Queensland	1,730,648	2nd	4,279,400	3rd	2.26	5th	46%	7th
South Australia	983,482	4th	1,601,800	5th	1.56	6th	73.5%	2nd
Western Australia	2,529,875	1st	2,163,200	4th	0.79	7th	73.4%	3rd
Tasmania	68,401	7th	498,200	6th	7.08	4th	41%	8th
Northern Territory	1,349,129	3rd	219,900	8th	0.15	8th	54%	6th

Distance table

Distance in kilometres.

State and territory codes

See also

• ISO 3166-2:AU, the ISO codes for the states and territories of Australia.
• Proposals for new Australian States
• List of regions in Australia
• Territorial evolution of Australia
• Australian regional rivalries

References and notes

1. ↑ References and details on data provided in the table can be found within the individual state and territory articles.
2. ↑ ISO 3166-2:AU (ISO 3166-2 codes for the states and territories of Australia)

External links

• Maps of Australia
• CityMayors article
• Legal Information

Links to related articles States and territories of Australia States and mainland territories Australian Capital Territory · Jervis Bay Territory · New South Wales · Northern Territory · Queensland · South Australia · Tasmania · Victoria · Western Australia External territories Ashmore and Cartier Islands · Australian Antarctic Territory · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · Coral Sea Islands · Heard Island and McDonald Islands · Norfolk Island Politics of Australia Commonwealth Queen · Governor-General · Parliament · House of Representatives · Senate · High Court · Lower courts · Prime Minister · Cabinet · Executive Council · Ministry Federal elections pre-1969 · 1969 · 1972 · 1974 · 1975 · 1977 · 1980 · 1983 · 1984 · 1987 · 1990 · 1993 · 1996 · 1998 · 2001 · 2004 · 2007 · 2010 · Next · by-elections State/territory elections NSW (2011 election) · VIC (2010 election) · QLD (2009 election) · WA (2012–13 election) · SA (2010 election) · TAS (2010 election) · ACT (2008 election) · NT (2012 election) Political parties Labor · Coalition (Liberal, National, LNP, CLP) · Greens · Family First · Other parties Articles on first-level administrative divisions of Oceanian countries Australasia Australia · New Zealand Melanesia East Timor · Fiji · Papua New Guinea · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu Micronesia Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Micronesia · Nauru · Palau Polynesia Cook Islands · Niue · Samoa · Tonga · Tuvalu Table of administrative country subdivisions by country

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