Australia

Facts & pictures

Below are some websites to help you make a start on discovering some quick facts, pictures and general information about the continent of Australia.

Australia

This website has been put together by Tourism Australia to encourage people to visit Australia on holiday. It also has information about the history and animals of Australia.

• Search for 'history' to find History of Australia for the curious traveller.

• Or search for 'animals' to find Guide to Australia's animals or Top myths about dangerous animals in Australia.

Kids World Travel Guide

Kids World Travel Guide has been put together by a teacher and a team of young people. Besides travel tips you will find facts and pictures on people, landmarks, cities, and wildlife in a range of countries.

• Look down the left of the page under Countries to find Australia.

• Find a map of Australia and quick facts about Australian cities, attractions such as the Great Barrier Reef, animals, including the First Nations or Aboriginal people, who are the indigenous people of Australia.

Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.

CIA World Factbook

This website from the US government has lots of facts and data about each country. This includes political and physical maps, and flags of the world.

• Look for the section on Explore Countries, then enter the search word Australia into the search box.

• Select View 22 photos to see pictures of Australia.

• Check out the boxes on the flag, map, factsheet and travel facts on Australia.

• Further down the page is a list of contents to guide you to information on the Geography, People and Society, Environment, Economy of Australia.

Tips: A website’s address (URL) can give you a hint about how reliable it is. Look for addresses in the results that include .gov or .edu in the URL. These are quality sites from overseas government or educational organisations.

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)

AIATSIS is an Indigenous-led, Australian national institution that connects people with the knowledge, heritage and cultures of Australia’s First Peoples.

• Go to Explore to find stories that look at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia.

• Look down the page and choose a story eg First Peoples of Australia.

• Many stories have videos of people talking about their experiences.

National Museum of Australia

This is the website for the National Museum of Australia. They use items from their collection to tell the stories of the key moments, people and places in Australian history and culture.

• Go to Explore and choose Defining Moments.

• Select Explore the timeline.

• Scroll through the timeline and choose an item.

• This will have a story about that moment in time and the object such as Boomerangs, rock art, and more.

General websites

Here are some EPIC websites to help you find information on the history, wildlife, culture, and Australian Aboriginal peoples of Australia.

EPIC is a collection of reliable databases covering lots of different topics. It’s put together especially for New Zealand school students and helps to answer questions like this.

Britannica School Primary

This EPIC database is an online version of the Encyclopedia Britannica for students of all ages. It is searchable in 3 different levels.

• Enter the word 'Australia' into the search box.

• Select Australia (Island continent and nation) to begin with.

• Besides Quick Facts, you will find sections about Geography, Plants and Animals, People and Culture, History and Economy.

• To get more information, just select Level 2 or 3 from the Navigator on the left of the page.

• Use the Navigator to explore other features of this page such as Print, Translate, Gallery and Related.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

Elementary (Gale In Context)

This database is specially for primary school students, which includes a wide range of topics such as animals, arts, geography, technology and more.

• Go to Browse Topics from the tabs at the top of the page.

• The topics are listed alphabetically, so look under A for Australia.

• Under Book Articles select the link to Australia to read about its climate, environment and resources.

• Select More Book Articles to find information on Australia's landmarks, cities, people, animals, sports, and more.

• Remember to explore the links on Magazines, News and Pictures from the topic page.

Tips: Many web pages have links to further information or to other recommended sites. Following these links is a great way to find out more.

New Zealand connection

Australia is Aotearoa New Zealand's closest neighbour. Use the websites below to discover cultural, economic and trade relationships between the two countries.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about Aotearoa New Zealand. If we look down to the bottom of the page, we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

• Enter the search word 'Australia' in the search box at the top of the page.

• Find Australia and New Zealand to read about trade and business between the two nations.

• Look at Emigration to Australia and Retaining Māori culture in Australia to know more about these topics.

Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. You can leave out small words like ‘the’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, eg 'Australia'. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.

New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade | Manatū Aorere

This government website has information on Aotearoa New Zealand's trade, business, cultural, and security relationships with various countries around the world.

• Look for the tab called Countries and regions.

• Then find Australia and the Pacific.

• Under Learn about a country or territory in Australia and Pacific, go to the link on Australia.

• Read about New Zealand's relationship with Australia on defence and security, trade and investments, etc.

Tips: We like sites like this because they’re reliable. You can tell because of their web address – they have either .govt or .ac, meaning they are from government or educational organisations. They’re also New Zealand sites, so relevant for us.

Books

Your school library or the nearest public library will have lots of books on Australia. Here are some titles to help you begin your search:

• Australia by Samantha Bell.

• Australia by John Lesley.

• 50 things you didn't know about Australia by Sean O'Neill.

• Growing up Aboriginal in Australia by Anita Heiss.

• Snakes & other reptiles of Australia by Gerry Swan.