Australian Agricultural Company - formed in 1824 to "extend and improve the flocks of Merino sheep." A million acres of land in New South Wales was alienated to the company. With a capital of a million pounds. the English company was permitted to select the most advantageous site for the land grant. The company’s main purpose was the production of fine wool, and crops not readily available in England. They would provide workers for the colony at no cost to the government, as well as employing a large number of convicts. The initial land grant at Port Stephens proved unsuitable and, in 1831, a proportion of this was exchanged for 101,000ha at Warrah on the Liverpool Plains and 127,000ha on the Peel River. Diversification has taken place in different geographic regions to mitigate the effects of droughts, and convict labour was used to develop both pastoral and mining operations. The Company now operates 21 cattle stations located throughout Queensland and the Northern Territory, spanning 6.5 million hectares. It is the second largest beef cattle company in Australia, with export markets in Asia, America and the Middle East.

Australian Alps - a series of high elevation plateaux capping the South Eastern Highlands and the Southern Tablelands in NSW - stretching from Canberra through Brindabella Range and the Snowy Mountains and along the Great Dividing Range through Victoria. The Alps form a 1.6 million hectare chain of protected areas as a unique part of Australia, a mountainous region in a predominantly dry and flat continent. The geology consists largely of granitic and basaltic rocks - the landscape is characterised by peaked ranges and broad, forested valleys. Vegetation is dominated by alpine herbfields, and other treeless communities, snow gum woodlands and montane forests dominated by alpine ash. And the parks contain plants and animals found nowhere else in the world, as well as Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal heritage, outstanding tourism and recreation opportunities and the catchment areas for some of Australia's most important rivers.

Australian Alps Walking Track - a sign-posted bush track crossing 650k between Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. The track starts in Walhalla in Victoria's south and travels through some of Australia's highest peaks as well as rivers, creeks and towns on its way north to Tharwa, just south of Canberra. Much of the area covered which is now collectively named the Australian Alps Walking Track was formally called the Alpine Walking Track. The track also includes the Bogong High Plains and the Jagungal Wilderness. Water can be scarce on parts of the track, depending upon the time of year.

Australian Antarctic Territory - the area of Antarctica, other than Adélie Land, that is administered by Australia, lying south of latitude 60°S and between longitudes 45°E and 160°E.

Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden - a pre-eminent facility where research, education and the display of plant biodiversity from the southern arid zone of Australia is centred. Existing natural vegetation is incorporated into the new landscape. A visitor reception building was completed in 1995, a Royal Australian Institute of Architects award-winning building. It incorporates energy- and water-saving features, including stabilised earth walls, a combination passive and evaporative air-conditioning system, solar hot water system, rainwater storage and filtration for the majority of water needs and on-site effluent treatment for irrigation use. Solar lighting illuminates the building surrounds, car park and sections of the entrance road. The garden incorporates and displays technology appropriate to arid Australia through quality interpretive displays.

Australian as a meat pie - distinctively Australian in character.

Australian Atomic Energy Commission - a statutory body established by Section 8 of the Atomic Energy Commission Act. The Commission is made up of a Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and not more than three other members, who are appointed by the Governor General. The powers of the Commission are set out under Section 17 of the Act. Location: Lucas Heights, New South Wales.

Australian ballot - the secret ballot, which originated in Australia.

Australian bear - the koala, a marsupial, which superficially resembles a sleepy teddy bear perched in a tree.

Australian Blues Music Festival - the national festival for Australian blues music, showcasing the legends as well as the up-and-comers. Clubs, pubs, restaurants, cafes and Belmore Park host the blues artists. Held annually during the second week in February, with over 25 Australian blues acts held at 6 venues over 3 days, in Goulbourn, NSW.

Australian Board of Mission - (now known as Anglican Board of Mission - Australia). All Australian Board of Missions archives are held in the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.

Australian Broadcasting Commission - Australia's national public broadcaster. This 75-year-old national icon began as the privately owned and operated Australian Broadcasting Company in 1929, five years after short-wave radio went to air in Australia. It was selected by the prime ministerial government as one of only nine stations to receive partial funding in its first year of operation. Eventually it expanded its programming and range of broadcast by assuming control of every radio station recognised by the PMG. It was nationalised in 1932 with passage of legislation initiated by the Labor Party, eventually becoming ubiquitous and affectionately nicknamed 'Auntie'.

Australian brush turkey - Alectura lathami, one of Australia's three "mound builders". The male brush turkey builds large incubation mounds that can be four metres in diameter and well over one metre high. They are re-used every year with the dominant bird maintaining the best locality. After copulating with the female, he allows her to deposits her egg in the clutch that he exposes. He then aggressively drives her away and very carefully covers the eggs with humus. They are solitary in nature, and aggressive to each other as well as other species. They do not form permanent pair bonds, and no parental care is provided to the young, who can fly within the hour of hatching.

Australian bullfrog - the only Australian member of the "true frog" family, reached the continent from Papua New Guinea. It is found on Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, and Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.

Australian bustard - Ardeotis australis, a nomadic, ground-dwelling bird, to 1.2m long (females to 80cm) and 1m tall. Plumage predominantly brown on back and upper wings; white on neck, breast and belly; and with a black band around the breast. Upper wings with a patch of black and white on the shoulders. Head characterised by a black crown and forehead and a narrow, black stripe running backwards from the eye. Inhabits grasslands and grassy woodlands. Once very common in parts of Victoria but now dramatically reduced in numbers.

Australian Capital Territory - (ACT) location of the country's capital city, Canberra. Although contained by the State of New South Wales, the ACT is neither a part of that State nor a State in its own right. The Capital Territory was declared as a territory at the time of Australian Federation, and became a self-governing territory in 1989. The ACT lies at the diplomatically neutral halfway point between Sydney and Melbourne, the two power-house cities that were home to those founding fathers who drove much of the debate that led to Federation in 1901. Prior to 1908, when the territory was established as the home of the Commonwealth government and the nation’s major cultural institutions, the area was little known. According to one worker on the national capital in the 1920s, people were flocking to ‘some place called Canberra where they’re building a whole new city'. Best known for its formal planning by Walter Burley Griffin, Canberra is also home to some of Australia’s most whimsical architecture in its embassy district, as well as the National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia, Old Parliament House, home of the National Portrait Gallery and Parliament House itself. The Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, Namadgi National Park and the Murrumbidgee River running from its headwaters in the Kosciusko National Park also make the territory a surprising natural treasure. Namadgi National Park constitutes 40% of the ACT, which is also home to the Kosciusko National Park. Floral emblem: royalbBluebell. Faunal emblem: gang-gang cockatoo.

Australian Carnival of Flowers - an annual event in Toowoomba, held during the last week of September, during which over 100,000 people visit the inland Queensland city. There are orchid shows and other floral attractions in historic buildings, the Grand Central Floral Parade, entertainment and concerts, fine food and fashion. Over 240,000 seedlings are planted in Council parks and gardens for Spring each year. Over 250 gardeners enter the Chronicle-Heritage Garden Competition, and seven of Toowoomba's winning gardens are open for public inspection during Carnival week. Council's float will be on display in Laurel Bank Park during Carnival Week. Community groups and churches across the city and the Darling Downs host floral and craft shows.

Australian cedar - Toona ciliata, a native hardwood tree that was heavily harvested by early settlers, for export to England. The quest for this tree – referred to as 'red gold' because of its export value - spurred the settlement of much of the coastal and hinterland areas of Australia. Logging for valuable red cedar and rosewood timber began in the 1840s. With the Robertson Act in 1861, the government granted land ownership on condition that the land be clear-felled for agriculture; the majority of land in the region was cleared by the early 1900s. Only about 0.13% of the original Big Scrub rainforest remains, surviving as a few isolated remnants. Attempts to grow Australian cedar in plantations have been unsuccessful – the trees have been attacked by the cedar tip moth, which causes the tree to become bushy and useless for timber. Also known as red cedar.

Australian Coat of Arms - features a shield held by a kangaroo and an emu, framed by sprays of golden wattle. The shield contains all the State emblems: a piping shrike for South Australia, the black swan for Western Australia, a Maltese cross and crown for Queensland, a lion for Tasmania, the Southern Cross for Victoria, and the lion and stars for New South Wales. The Coast of Arms is used by the Commonwealth to authenticate documents, to indicate ownership of property, and for other purposes of identification. The Australian Coat of Arms is the property of the Commonwealth of Australia. The first grant of armorial ensigns, crest and supporters to the Commonwealth of Australia was made in 1908; a new design was granted by Royal Warrant in 1912.

Australian Colonies Government Act 1850 (Imp) - allowed for the transition in all Australian colonies to responsible self-government, with the executive drawn and answerable to the legislature. It also created the new colony of Victoria by excising the Port Phillip district from New South Wales. The Act, passed by the British Parliament, retained the property franchise for the existing Legislative Councils, but halved the qualifications. New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania availed themselves of the Act to establish parliaments in 1855; South Australia followed in 1856; and Queensland in 1859. South Australia introduced manhood suffrage - votes for all men irrespective of property qualifications - from the start of responsible self-government, Victoria followed in 1857, New South Wales in 1858, Queensland in 1872, Western Australia in 1893 and Tasmania in 1900.

Australian colony - a community of people, subject to the British crown, whose district had been established by European settlers of Australia. The colonies of New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland were declared and established during the period 1788 to 1859. Federation was attained by 1901. Within the glossary of the Australian Constitution, a colony is defined as "a community that is subject to the final legal authority of another country".

Australian Commonwealth - a constitutional democracy as a federation of states, including the nearby island of Tasmania. Under the Australian Constitution, the legislative power of the Commonwealth of Australia is vested in the Parliament of the Commonwealth, which consists of the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The English monarch is the Head of State and a Governor-General is her representative. The Australian Commonwealth was established by the Australian Constitution Bill (UK) and defined by the Australian Constitution. The Commonwealth was declared on the first of January in the first year of the twentieth century, at Sydney's Centennial Park. Also known as the Commonwealth of Australia.

Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 (Cth) - established the first federal tribunal to have jurisdiction over industrial matters, the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The Act also provided for the registration of organisations of employers and employees i.e., workers’ unions. Arbitration was intended to replace industrial action, and on this basis the Act provided for compulsory arbitration but made both strikes and lockouts illegal. The Act was amended in 1947 to separate the roles of the court and the conciliation commissioners. The court was confined to judicial functions (interpretation and enforcement), and arbitration in respect of four specified matters: basic wage, minimum female wage, hours of work and paid annual leave. All other matters were left for the commissioners. In 1956, substantial amendments were made effecting a separation of the judicial and arbitrative functions of the court. In effect, it was deemed unconstitutional for the Arbitration Court to be vested with both arbitral and judicial powers because of the acceptance in the Constitution of the separation of legislative and judicial powers. Hence amendments were made providing for the establishment of a Commonwealth Industrial Court and a Conciliation and Arbitration Commission to overtake the dual role of the Court of Conciliation & Arbitration. The Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 was repealed in 1984 and replaced by the Industrial Relations Act. This Act was repealed by the Howard government in 1996 and replaced with the Workplace Relations Act.

Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission - (1973 – 1988) took over the role of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission in 1973. In 1988, the Arbitration Commission was itself replaced with the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

Australian Constitution - established three 'arms' of government - the Parliament, the Executive, and the Judiciary - and provided the authority for the powers by which they operate. It covers financial and trade matters; the federal relationship between the States and the Commonwealth, including the formation of new States; the arrangements for a Seat of Government; and the process for any alteration of the Constitution. It can be altered only with the agreement of a majority of voters in a majority of States, by which means the original Constitution has been amended eight times. This document is inseparable from the Royal Commission of Assent, with which it became law on 9 July, 1900.

Australian Constitution Act (No 1) 1842 (Imp) - the Legislative Council in New South Wales became a partly-elected representative chamber, with two thirds of its members returned by voters in the colony, by this Act of the British Parliament. However, the Executive Council was still constitutionally separate from the legislature, not responsible to it. Only men who owned freehold property worth 200 pounds or who were householders paying 20 pounds rent a year could vote. Women were excluded from the reform.

Australian Constitution Act (No 2) 1850 (Imp) - allowed for the transition in all Australian colonies to responsible self-government, with the executive drawn from and answerable to the legislature. The Act, passed by the British Parliament, retained the property franchise for the existing Legislative Councils, as established under the Australian Constitutions Act (No 1), but halved the qualifications. New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania availed themselves of the Act to establish parliaments in 1855; South Australia followed in 1856; and Queensland in 1859. Also known as the Australian Colonies Government Act.

Australian Constitution Bill (UK) - established the Commonwealth of Australia upon passage through the British Parliament. The Bill was drafted at a series of Constitutional Conventions held in the 1890s, and taken to London in 1900 by a delegation led by Edmund Barton. At the request of the Australian delegation, Queen Victoria signed her Royal Assent in duplicate so that a copy could be brought back to Australia. The Queen presented this document with the pen, inkstand and table used at the ceremony in Windsor Castle to Edmund Barton, spokesman for the delegates.

Australian Continental Dunefield - an enormous, anti-clockwise whorl of linear dunes in Central Australia. Most of the dunefield lies in the Lake Eyre Basin, and the edge of the region extends into the NSW corner country. The region is dominated by high, linear dunes of red sand.

Australian Council of National Trusts - (ACNT) the federal co-ordinating body of the national trust movement, formed in 1965 to serve the national interests of the individual Australian trusts. The Council has the responsibility for: coordinating policies, procedures and programs for implementation at state and territory levels; expressing and presenting opinions to national or international bodies; coordinating national sponsorship and education projects with state and territory trusts. The trust movement began in 1945 in New South Wales and was followed by South Australia (1955); Victoria (1956); Queensland (1963); Western Australia (1964); Tasmania (1975); the Australian Capital Territory (1976) and the Northern Territory (1976). Since the inception of the National Trust in Australia, the national trusts have played a leading role in the extensive work of identifying those parts of our natural, Aboriginal and historic environment that are historically, aesthetically or scientifically significant. The places classified by the national trusts have formed a basis for all other heritage registers of protected places and areas in Australia.

Australian Council of Trade Unions - (ACTU) (1927 - present ), the central body organising trade union activity in Australia. Comprising a Labour Council from each state, the ACTU is an affiliation of most workers' unions around Australia. Unions cannot affiliate with the ACTU unless they are first affiliated with a state body. The ACTU Congress, held every two years, is the policy-making body and its decisions are binding on affiliated trade unions. The ACTU was established in Melbourne in 1927 when the State Labor Councils and the then federal unions recognised the need for an organisation to represent the national interests of the unions. Today the ACTU speaks on behalf of its 65 member unions on issues that are of interest to all Australian workers.

Australian Country Party - a movement formed from rural disillusionment with urban politics. The first Country Party electoral success occurred in Western Australia in 1914, and by 1921 the organisation had won representation in each of the seven Australian Parliaments. Each of the state and national arms of the party has had several changes in name, the federal organisation being known from January 1920 as the Australian Country Party, before becoming the National Country Party of Australia in May 1975. The name National Party of Australia was adopted in October 1982 in an attempt to dispel the organisation's purely rural image. In contrast to the national impetus of the Australian L abor Party and the Australian Liberal Party, most of the strength of the Country Party is concentrated at state level.

Australian Court of Conciliation and Arbitration - (ACCA) (1956 – 1973) replaced the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The ACCA had both judicial and arbitral powers, allowing it to determine existing rights by way of award interpretation. The court was able to create new rights and obligations for employers and employees by making awards prescribing terms and conditions of employment. The court also had the power to determine existing rights by way of award interpretation and order compliance. The ACCA was replaced in 1973 by the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission.

Australian Courts Act 1828 (Imp) - declared that the laws in force in England at the date of the statute should apply in New South Wales, as far as they could be applied. Each of the colonial parliaments was established under Acts of the Imperial Parliament at Westminster, in England. For a very long time any state act which conflicted with an Imperial act intended to apply to the state was, to the extent of any conflict, inoperative in the state. In 1828 the Imperial Parliament, to settle any possible disputes over which law applied in the Australian colonies, passed the Australian Courts Act.

Australian Democrats - Australia's fourth major political party, formed in 1977 by Don Chipp, a Liberal member of the House of Representatives and former minister, who had been approached by the people of the Australia Party, the New Liberal Movement and by other concerned individuals to hold a series of meetings across Australia with a view to forming a new party. After a series of public meetings around Australia, a resolution was passed unanimously to form a new reformist party, and the 'Australian Democrats' was officially launched. It won its first parliamentary seat when Robin Millhouse was elected to the State Parliament in South Australia. Their rallying cry is "Keep the bastards honest". Although the Democrats have won a number of seats in the Senate and currently hold the balance of power there, the party has never held a seat in the House of Representatives.

Australian desert lime - Citrus glauca, has a widespread occurrence on the rangeland interior of NSW and southern Queensland, as well as a totally disjunctive occurrence near Carrieton in South Australia. The tree grows to 7m, and suckers when disturbed. The fruits are rounded, up to 15mm in diameter and a pale lemon colour when ripe. They set fruit infrequently in their South Australian habitat. Also called desert lemon, native kumquat, limebush.

Australian English - the dialect of English spoken by Australians.

Australian Exclusive Economic Zone - (EEZ) designed to protect the economic benefits that a country can gain from its adjoining oceans, particularly those linked to fishing and mining. Not every country has a territorial sea claim and/or an EEZ. The size of the claim also varies between countries. Increasingly, Australian authorities have had to deal with illegal fishing (such as fishing of the Patagonian toothfish) in its EEZ. To protect valuable and sometimes rare resources, the Federal Government has gone to great lengths to establish and maintain a Coastwatch surveillance program. In the case of countries with a long coastline and extensive EEZ, such as Australia, monitoring can be a difficult task. With such a large geographical area to cover, just observing breaches of the rights granted to Australia by its EEZ is difficult, let alone carrying out the complicated physical and legal process of bringing offenders to justice.

Australian External Territories - the Australian Antarctic Territory and subantarctic islands; Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Advance Island and Cartier Island in the Indian Ocean; the Coral Sea Islands near the Great Barrier Reef; and Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean.

Australian Federal Police - (AFP) is the Commonwealth's primary law enforcement agency, with two main areas of responsibility. Nationally, the AFP investigates and prevents crime against the Commonwealth and protects Commonwealth interests in Australia and overseas. Locally, the AFP provides community policing services to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.

Australian finger lime - Microcitrus australasica, grows to an erect tree of 10m. The fruits are green and cylindrical - up to 50mm long and only about 20mm in diameter. They have prominent thorns and set plenty of viable seed in their natural habitat, from the Clarence River in NSW north to Brisbane. Both of the native limes, this and the Australian round lime have a slight taste of turpentine.

Australian flag - (see: Australian national flag).

Australian Fossil Mammal Sites - the Riversleigh/Naracoorte World Heritage property. Over 2000 kilometres separate the two sites, which together form the World Heritage property. This property was inscribed on the World Heritage List for its outstanding natural universal values, principally its representation of major stages of the earth's evolutionary history.

Australian freshwater crocodile - the narrow-snouted, needle-toothed freshwater crocodile of northern Australia rarely exceeds 3 metres in length. It is seldom found in tidal areas and inhabits rivers, billabongs and swamps. Commonly known as 'freshie'.

Australian dotterel - Peltohyas australis, family Glareolidae (coursers and pratincoles). Coursers are medium-sized plover-like birds with slender, decurved bills, broad wings, long legs, and 3 short toes, middle toenail pectinate in some species. Plumage often with bold patterns on the head or breast. Pratincoles have a swallow-like body form, short wide bill, long pointed wings, short legs, longer front toes than in coursers, middle toenail pectinate, and a short hallux present in most species, sociable and flock all year, feed like swallows on flying insects. Some species are intermediate in form between coursers and pratincoles - rock pratincoles have longer legs than most pratincoles, cream-colored coursers have shorter legs than two-banded coursers, and Egyptian "plovers" Pluvialis and Australian "dotterel" Peltohyas are even shorter-legged. Open country, often arid lands, some coursers are nocturnal.

Australian Fair Pay Commission - (AFPC) a federal body created under the Work Relations (Work Choices) Amendment Act 2005. The new commission has been designed to take over many of the functions of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. The federal government proposes to refer the power to set further increases to the minimum wage, and to set award rates of pay and casual loading, to the AFPC. It appears to be intended that this body will focus on economic and other national considerations, rather than purely industrial relations issues, in setting minimum wages.

Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard - the comparison point for applying the ‘no disadvantage’ test to newly certified Australian Workplace Agreements. Under the WorkChoices Amendment Act, The Government will create a legislative Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard for dealing with annual leave, personal leave, parental leave and maximum ordinary hours.

Australian fur seal - Arctocephalus pusillus, the world's fourth-rarest seal species. Hunted to the brink of extinction last century, they are now protected by law. The Australian fur seal is found from the coast of New South Wales, down around Tasmania and into the waters of Victoria and South Australia. It is the most common seal in Tasmanian waters and breeds on small, isolated rocks in Bass Strait between October and January. It also hauls-out at various rocky areas around the Tasmanian coastline, especially outside the breeding season when many seals disperse from the breeding colonies. Adult males grow to 200-225cm and weigh 220kg to 360kg. Bulls are usually dark grey/ brown, with a ruff of coarse hair on neck and shoulders. The dense coat is made of woolly underfur and long, coarse outer hairs, which traps air, which waterproofs and insulates the seal. Females give birth to a single pup in November-December. Once a cow gives birth for the first time, she is practically in a continuous state of lactation for the rest of her life, with at most a few weeks off between weaning last season's pup and having another. The Australian fur seal eats mainly fish and cephalopods (squid, octopus and cuttlefish).