Culture of Australia

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Australian culture is of primarily Western origins. British culture has historically had an outsized influence on Australian culture and society. Australia's unique geography and the contributions of its Indigenous population (Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders) and immigrants (especially during the gold rushes of the 1850s and the postwar immigration drive) have also influenced the development of its culture.^[1][2]

British colonisation of Australia began in 1788 and waves of multi-ethnic (primarily Anglo-Celtic in origin) migration followed shortly thereafter. Manifestations of British colonial heritage in Australia constitute:

• The primacy of the English language and Western Christianity
• The institution of constitutional monarchy in Australia
• A system of democratic parliamentary government based on the Westminster system

The American political ideals of constitutionalism and federalism have also played a role in shaping Australia's distinctive political identity.

Indigenous peoples arrived as early as 60,000 years ago, and evidence of Aboriginal art in Australia dates back at least 30,000 years.^[3] Several states and territories had their origins as penal colonies, with the first British convicts arriving at Sydney Cove in 1788. Stories of outlaws like the bushranger Ned Kelly have endured in Australian music, cinema and literature.^[4]

The Australian gold rushes from the 1850s resulted in exponential population and economic growth, as well as racial tensions and the introduction of novel political ideas;^[5] the growing disparity between the prospectors and the established colonial governments culminated in the Eureka Stockade rebellion and the shifting political climate ushered in significant electoral reform, the labour movement, and women's rights ahead of any such changes in other Western countries.^[6]

Federation occurred in 1901 as the result of a burgeoning sense of national unity and identity that had developed over the latter half of the 19th century, hitherto demonstrated in the works of Heidelberg School artists and authors like Banjo Paterson, Henry Lawson, and Dorothea Mackellar. World War I and World War II profoundly impacted Australia by ushering in folklore unique to the country and its people: the heroic ANZAC legend of World War I and the subsequent post-World War II geopolitical reorientation in which the United States practically replaced the United Kingdom as Australia's foremost ally. After the Second World War, 6.5 million people settled in Australia from 200 nations, further enriching Australian culture in the process. Over time, as immigrant populations gradually assimilated into Australian life, their cultural and culinary practices became part of mainstream Australian culture.^[7][8]