Australia, officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising six states and ten territories.
Indigenous Australians inhabited the continent for about 65,000 years prior to the first arrival of Dutch explorers in the early 17th century, who named it New Holland. In 1770, Australia’s eastern half was claimed by Great Britain and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia’s national day. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the time of an 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia.
The six colonies were:
Additionally, Australia has a number of territories including:
- Ashmore and Cartier Islands
- Australian Antarctic Territory
- Australian Capital Territory
- Christmas Island
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Coral Sea Islands
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands
- Jervis Bay Territory
- Norfolk Island
- Northern Territory
Also related:
- Independent State of Rainbow Creek
- Lord Howe Island
- Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands
- North West Pacific Islands
- Principality of Hutt River
- Territory of Papua & New Guinea.
Blogs
- Aussie Stamps
- Australian FDC Guide
- Australian Postal History
- Australian Stamp Catalogue
- Koala Stamps
- Oz Revenue Stamps
- Perfin Stamps of Australia
- Roos Philately
Dealers
- Ace Stamp Auctions
- Australia Post Collectables
- Australian Philatelic Club
- Australian Philatelic Society Inc.
- Australian Postage Stamp Collector
- Australian Stamp Collector
- Australia Stamps
- Australia Stamps Auction,Sell,Buy,Trade Worldwide
- Australian Philatelic Club
- Australian Stamps
- Australian Stamps Buy & Sell
- Australian Stamps Professional
- British Society Of Australian Philately
- Shields Stamps And Coins
- Stamps & Coins Australia
- Stamp Thing – Australia
- Stamp Trading – Australian
- Auspost Collectables – @stampsaustralia
- Aust Philatelic Soc – @AustPhilatelic
Websites
- Australasian Philatelic Traders’ Association Inc.
- Australian Philatelic Federation
- Australian Philatelic Society
- Australian Postal History and Social Philately
- Australian Stamps Professional
- Australia Post
- British Society of Australian Philately
- Postal Stationery Society of Australia
- Society of Australasian Specialists/Oceania
YouTube
- Australian Philatelic Federation
- Exploring Stamps: Episode 9 – Australia’s First Stamp
- Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria: Australian Commercial Philatelic Traders
- Royal Philatelic Society London: The Navigators – Australia High Values 1963-1974
- Sarawak Specialists Society: Australian WW2 Comforts Envelopes
- Snail Mail With Smokey: Episode 1 – Australian Merino Sheep Stamps
- StampCat Stamps: Australian Innovations Stamps
- Stamp Sleuth: Collecting Stamps of Australia
Hi,
Fantastic online resource here. Shamefully, I’ve forgotten the name of the guy whose catalogue this belongs to.
https://australianstrampcatalogue.com/
Cheers,
Di
Additional links to philatelic organizations in Australia, that are helpful even to collectors from abroad through their online resources, and their printed magazines (old-style, but still really useful in my eyes).
http://www.rpsv.org.au
The Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria: RPSV
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
The Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria was founded in 1892. The Society emphasises both the collecting and educational aspects of all branches of philately: stamps, postal stationery and postal history. We own our own building, “Purves House”, at 303 High Street Road, Ashburton, enabling us to provide a wide range of facilities for members in modern, comfortable conditions.
http://www.tps.org.au
The Tasmanian Philatelic Society ( TPS) was founded in 1900 and is based in Hobart, Tasmania. The TPS caters for collectors of stamps, postcards, postal history postmarks and related material. The Tasmanian Philatelic Society also provides free reference articles, archival documents about Tasmanian Postal History and publications on Tasmanian Postmarks and Postal History.
Cheers,
Juergen (collector of Australian Postal History, based in Germany)
Hi Juergen! Both links already appear on their respective page – Victoria/Tasmania. 🙂