1982 – The dual flush toilet
As dunnies have a celebrated status in Australia, it is apt that Australia has taken a central role in their evolution. In 1982, the dual flush toilet was responsible for savings in excess of 32000 litres of water per household a year. Pretty important in the world’s dries inhabited continent.

1984 – Baby Safety Capsule
Babies in a car crash used to bounce around like a soccer ball. In 1984, for the first time babies had a harness for their safe transportation in cars.

1985 – World’s Most Efficient Solar Cells
Dr Stuart Wenham and Professor Martin Green from the University of New South Wales produced the world’s first 20% efficient solar cell.

1988 – Plastic Banknotes
CSIRO and Note Printing Australia developed the world’s first polymer banknote made from tough flexible polypropylene plastics. These notes last longer and are more difficult to counterfeit than paper money.

1988 – Biological Pesticides
The world’s first non-chemical biological pesticide was invented at the University of Adelaide.

1995 – Jindalee Radar System
The United States of America spent $11 billion developing an aeroplane that could not be detected by radar. Scientists at the CSIRO then concluded that if the plane could not be detected, perhaps the turbulence it makes passing through air could be. $1.5 million later, the Jindalee Radar system had transformed the stealth bomber into nothing more than an unusual looking aircraft.

1998 – Hybrid Toilet
A lightweight, fully–enclosed toilet system which requires no water and minimal maintenance was released for sale.

2000 – Biodegradable Packaging
The Cooperative Research Centre for International Food Manufacture and Packaging Science developed new biodegradable packaging materials based on starch.

1969 – Australia Shows the First Steps on the Moon
The radio telescope in Parkes, New South Wales, received and relayed to the world the first pictures of the first moon landing.

1970 – Variable rack and pinion steering
The variable ratio rack and pinion steering in motor vehicles was invented by Australian engineer, Arthur Bishop.

1973 – Pop Top Can
Sir Ian McLennan of BHP came up with the idea of press-buttons where the button is hinged to the can and does not cause a litter problem.

1973 – In-vitro Fertilisation
The world’s first pregnancy using IVF technology was reported from Monash Medical Centre.

1975 – Interscan
An aircraft approach and landing guidance system using microwaves was successfully tested at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne.

1976 – Electronic Ignition System
A silicon-chip ignition system for small engines in lawnmowers and chainsaws was developed by the Notarus brothers in Sydney.

1979 – Race Cam
A lightweight, fixed camera used in car racing and other sports broadcasts was developed by Australian engineer, Geoff Healey.

1979 – Cool Lightweight Wool Fabrics
The technique for spinning lightweight wool was invented at CSIRO.

1952 – Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer
Sir Alan Walsh of the CSIRO invented this instrument used for high speed chemical analysis of metallic elements.

1953 – Solar Water Heater
The first prototype of a solar water heater was developed at CSIRO in Victoria.

1957 – Permanent Crease Trousers
The process of producing permanent creases in fabric was developed by Dr Arthur Farnworth of CSIRO by adding a special resin to wool fibres to change their chemical structure.

1958 – Black Box Flight Recorder
Dr David Warren in Melbourne invented the first black box flight memory recorder. The unit recorded the pilot’s voice and a few instrument readings.

1958 – Round-the-World Airline Service
Qantas inaugurated a pioneering round-the-world airline service with two aircraft taking off from Melbourne.

1965 – Inflatable Aircraft Escape Slide
Jack Grant of Qantas invented the inflatable aircraft escape slide which can also be used as a raft on water. These slides are now standard safety equipment on all major airlines.

1965 – Wiltshire Staysharp Knife
The Wiltshire Staysharp knife was invented with a sheath which sharpens the knife each time it is withdrawn.

1965 – Wine cask
Invented by Thomas Angrove, the wine cask is a cardboard box housing a plastic container which collapses as the wine is drawn off, thus preventing contact with air.

1930 – Letter Sorting Machine
Sydney GPO was the site for the first mechanised letter sorter which was developed by an engineer with the Postmaster-General’s Department.

1933 – Utility Vehicle
The ute, with a front like a car and rear like a truck was designed by Lewis Bandt at the Ford Motor Company in Geelong, Victoria.

1945 – Hills Hoist
This rotary clothesline with a winding mechanism allowing the frame to be raised and lowered was invented by Lance Hill of Adelaide in 1945.

1946 – Shepherd Castors
George Shepherd invented strong, easily manoeuvrable dome-shaped castors for furniture. These replaced traditional pivoted wheel castors.

1947 – Cloud Seeding
Scientists at CSIRO conducted the first successful cloud seeding experiments, making rain fall near Bathurst, NSW.

1950s – Distance Measuring Equipment
Every airliner in the world uses a piece of navigation equipment called DME, or Distance Measuring Equipment.

1950 – School of the Air
The first ever radio lesson was broadcast using the transmitter at the Australian Royal Flying Doctor Base at Alice Springs.

1952 – Victa Lawnmower
The Victa version of the petrol lawnmower with rotary blades was developed by Mervyn Victor Richardson, and became an Aussie icon.

1906 – Feature Film
The Story of the Kelly Gang was the world’s first feature length film.

1906 – Kiwi Boot Polish
The boot polish that could restore the faded colour of brown shoes was first available for sale.

1913 – Automatic Totalisator
Invented by George Julius, this was the ‘tote automated betting’ at horse races.

1922 – Rotary Hoe
Cliff Howard, with help from his brother Albert built the first full-size rotary hoe cultivator. It uses energy to turn the soil directly, rather than dragging a plough behind a tractor.

1924 – Car radio
The first car radio was fitted to an Australian car built by Kellys Motors in New South Wales.

1928 – Royal Flying Doctor Service
Reverend John Flynn was the founder of the world’s first Aerial Medical Service, now known as the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). In May 1928, Dr St Vincent Welch made the first official RFDS visit.

1928 – First Crossing of the Pacific
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew performed the world’s first air crossing of the Pacific Ocean.

1928 – Speedo Swimwear
This swimwear originated in Sydney when the MacRae Knitting Mills manufactured the company’s first swimsuit, the razorback, made from silk and joined in the middle of the back. Speedo introduced the world’s first nylon swimsuit in 1957.

1838 – Pre-paid postage
Colonial Postmaster-General of New South Wales, James Raymond introduced the world’s first pre-paid postal system.

1856 – Refrigerator
James Harrison, commissioned by a brewery to build a machine that cooled beer, produced the world’s first practical refrigerator. He used the principal of vapour compression.

1858 – Football
Tom Will and Henry Harrison wrote the first ten rules of Australian Football, thus becoming the first in the world to codify a kicking-ball game. These rules predate those of Rugby, Soccer and Gridiron. Australian Football may have been inspired by the Aboriginal jumping/kicking game of Marn Grook.

1879 – Refrigeration
After being credited with the manufacture of the first artificial ice, Eugene Nicolle and Thomas Sutcliffe Mort developed shipboard refrigeration that allowed the export of meat from Australia to Great Britain.

1889 – Electric Drill
Arthur James Arnot patented the world’s first electric drill on 20 August 1889. He was an employee of the Union Electric Company in Melbourne. Its design was primarily for drilling rock and digging coal.

1897 – Differential gears
David Shearer, South Australia built a steam car with a differential inside left rear wheel hub.

1900s – The ‘Australian Crawl’
For most of human history, humans didn’t know how to swim effectively. In the 1900s, Australians invented the Australian Crawl, since becoming known as the ‘overarm’ or ‘freestyle’ swimming stroke.

1902 – Notepad
For 500 years, paper had been supplied in loose sheets. J A Birchall decided to cut the sheets into half, back them with cardboard and glue them together at the top.

The so-called ‘dingo fence’ in Australia is the longest fence in the world, and is about twice as long as the Great Wall of China. It has a gate every 19kms along it’s length.

When driving around Australia, make sure that you circum-navigate the continent anti-clockwise, as it’s about 900 metres shorter going this way than clockwise.

There are over 21,000,000 people in Australia, of which 85% live within 50km of the coast.

The Australian federation consists of six States and two Territories.

In land area, Australia is the sixth largest nation after Russia, Canada, China, the United States of America and Brazil.Australia is the only nation to govern an entire continent and its outlying islands.

Australia has possibly the lowest population density of any country in the world, ie, 2 people per square km. Japan has 327 people/2km

Australia has an area of about 7,600,0002km. This is large enough to swallow all of Europe and Turkey and Scandinavia. This gives up a coastline of about 36,700km.

Australia has more beaches than any other country, about 7,000 of them.

Apart from Antarctica, Australia is the driest continent.

Since 1945, over six million people from 200 countries have come to Australia as new settlers.

The mining town of Coober Pedy in Australia got it’s name from the local Aboriginals. It means something like “White fella down a hole”.

The original fifty cent piece in Australian decimal currency had around $2.00 worth of silver in it before it was replaced with a less expensive twelve sided coin.

The first Europeans to discover Australia were the Dutch. The first documented evidence is that in March 1606, the Dutch ship Duyfken, captained by Willem Janz, landed in far north Queensland, but left very quickly when one of the sailors was speared by an Aborigine. The next visit was in 1616, by Dirck Hartog, who landed in Western Australia. He nailed a pewter plate to a tree, which is now in a museum in Holland. Captain Hartog named the new country “Eendrachtsland”, which fortunately we don’t use these days.