Australia is located in the Southern hemisphere. It has an area of nearly 7.7 million square kilometres, boasts over 7,000 beaches and is the world's sixth largest nation after Russia, Canada, the USA, and Brazil. Today, Australia is a culturally diverse society with a population of over 20 million people, but also has the lowest population density in the world - only two people per square kilometre.

Most of Australia's population is concentrated in coastal areas with the majority living in State and Territory capital cities. Australia's continental plate drifted away from Antarctica towards the equator between 10 and 55 million years ago. This isolation of Australian plants, landscape and wildlife led to a unique evolutionary process. Australia has an exceptional range of species with more than 80 percent of our mammals, frogs, reptiles and flowering plants found nowhere else in the world.

Climatic zones range from deserts to snow-capped mountains; from tropical rainforests to cool climate forests. The summer months are December to February, autumn months are March to May, winter months are June to August and spring months are September to November. Australia experiences many of nature's more extreme phenomena, including floods, droughts, and bushfires. Some regions also experience storms and tropical cyclones.

The kangaroo is unique to Australia and one of our most easily recognised mammals. There are more kangaroos in Australia now than when Australia was first settled. Estimates suggest around 40 million.

The world's longest continuous fence known as the 'dingo fence', runs through central Queensland for 5,531 kilometres. It is 1.8 metres high and is designed to keep sheep safe from Australia's native dog.