Australia becomes a separate land mass, isolating its living creatures. They evolve into many species unique to the area

The first human inhabitants of Australia make the crossing from southeast Asia

Abel Tasman makes landfall in the Macquarie Harbour area in the island now known after him, Tasmania

After a journey of eight months from England the First Fleet reaches Australia, anchoring in Botany Bay

Arthur Phillip, selecting a suitable coastal site for the first penal colony in Australia, names the place Sydney Cove

A second fleet arrives in Sydney, bringing more convicts and a regiment, the New South Wales Corps, to keep order

British explorer George Bass sails round Tasmania in an open whaleboat, discovering the strait which now bears his name

The city of Hobart is founded on the southern coast of Tasmania

James Stirling explores up the Swan River in western Australia to find a site for the settlement which he names Perth

The last surviving Aborigines of Tasmania are moved by the British to a small island where they soon die out

Melbourne, founded by settlers from Tasmania, develops as the centre of a sheep-rearing community

A site is selected for Adelaide and emigration begins from Britain to south Australia

The Australian gold rush begins with the discovery of gold fields at Ballarat and a few months later at Bendigo

Australian gold diggers, angered by the requirement to purchase a licence, make a defiant stand at the Eureka stockade

Chinese immigrants to Australia are the victims of violent racial attacks at Lambing Flat

John McDouall Stuart reaches the north coast of Australia at Van Diemen's Gulf seven months after setting off from Adelaide

The bones of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills are brought back to Melbourne after the heroic failure of their attempt to cross Australia

Adelaide and Darwin are linked across the entire Australian continent by the Overland Telegraph Line

Australia has a catchy new song in "Waltzing Matilda", written by Banjo Paterson to music by Christina Macpherson

Australia's Salvation Army produces an ambitious presentation of film and slides in Soldiers of the Cross

Six separate Australian colonies combine to form the independent Commonwealth of Australia

Australia passes an Immigration Restriction Act to underpin the White Australia policy

The Story of the Kelly Gang, produced in Australia, is the first feature-length film, with a running time of nearly an hour

Parliament in Australia chooses Canberra as the site of the nation's new capital

A young American architect, Walter B. Griffin, wins the competition to design Canberra