How many states and territories are there in Australia?
There are six Australian states, three internal territories and seven external territories. The states are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
Australia is a federated country, and there are six Australian states that make up that federation. These include Tasmania, which some erroneously believe to be a separate country. There are also two main territories, which don’t quite have state status, and handful of tiny territories that are nowhere near state status.
The Australian states and territories
Before Australia federated and became independent from the UK, the six states were British colonies. The territories are under the control of the federal government, although both the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory have devolved governments and legislatures. In practice, these devolved self-governments make the laws in the territory, although they are subject to federal government veto.
The six states of Australia are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Australia Travel Questions has indexes of the best things to do in each of these states and territories.
Best things to do in Australia
- Best things to do in New South Wales
- Best things to do in Queensland
- Best things to do in South Australia
- Best things to do in Tasmania
- Best things to do in Victoria
- Best things to do in Western Australia
- Best things to do in the Australian Capital Territory
- Best things to do in the Northern Territory
Along with the six Australian states and two major territories, Australia has a rag-tag collection of bizarre little territories under the umbrella of the federal government. One – the Jervis Bay Territory – is on the mainland, carved out of New South Wales. So, Australia has three mainland territories, not two.
External territories of Australia
There are also seven external territories of Australia, the largest of which is Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. The nearby Cocos (Keeling) Islands are often bundled in with Christmas Island, while the only other inhabited external territory is Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean. The others are the uninhabited Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, plus the Australian Antarctic Territory.
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