Most of Australia's population lives close to the coastline and the beach has long occupied a special place in the Australian identity. The Australian coastline is where three of the world's great ocean's meet: the Pacific, Indian and Southern oceans. The beach is also a place where people from all over the world meet, mix and live.
The coastline of the Australian mainland stretches more than 30,000 km. With the addition of all the coastal islands this amounts to more than 47,000 km. The coastal landscape ranges from broad sandy beaches to rocky cliffs and mangrove swamps.
A beach can be defined as a stretch of sand longer than 20 metres and remaining dry at high tide. Based on this definition, the Coastal Studies Unit at the University of Sydney has counted 10,685 beaches in Australia.
Natural formations
Over time, the waves breaking on the coast of Australia have created countless coves and caves as well as remarkable formations, such as the Twelve Apostles limestone stacks off the coast of Victoria.
Sand and silt deposits have produced long, sandy beaches such as Ninety Mile Beach in the Gippsland region of south eastern Victoria, and Western Australia's Eighty Mile Beach which is approximately halfway between Broome and Port Hedland.
History of the beach
The recorded history of people in their interaction with the beaches of Australia is peppered with disaster, tragedy, discovery and delight.In the past 600 years, visitors as far away as China, Portugal, Spain and Holland visited Australian beaches. The evidence of their visits lies in the remains of ships wrecked along the coastline as well as artefacts, cave drawings and paper maps. It has always been risky sailing in Australian waters, and so many failed to reach their destinations. The Encyclopedia of Australian Shipwrecks records more than 16,000 wrecks.
Unknown photographer, Shell necklace, from the exhibition Strings Across Time. Copyright Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. Image courtesy of ABC.
For tens of thousands of years the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have fished the coastal waters. People on the north coast, from the Arafura Sea to the Torres Strait, used to trade with those from present day Indonesia and Papua New Guinea on the beaches of Australia. Until the present day, senior Goorewal women of New South Wales use their knowledge of the natural calendar, currents, winds and biology of the sea creatures to journey to the coast to collect shells for food. The making of necklaces from shells in family patterns has been passed down through the generations.
A place of work
For many Australians the beach is a place of work. Early occupations for people in coastal communities included pearling, oyster farming, whaling, sealing and fishing. Today, occupations associated with the coastal environment range from fishing, marine biology and national parks and wildlife rangers to the wide variety of occupations associated with the tourism industry.
Fish are a multi-billion dollar industry for Australia... - worth more than $2.2 billion to our economy every year. Fish are also a healthy source of food with Australians consuming around 16kg of fish and seafood per person each year, purchased from fish markets, supermarkets and food outlets.
The Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ) is the third largest in the world, covering nearly nine million square kilometres. It extends to 200 nautical miles from the Australian coastline and also includes the waters surrounding our external territories, such as Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, and Heard and McDonald Islands in the Antarctic.The leisure industry is a major employer of people along Australia's coastline. A safe and enjoyable visit or holiday to the beach relies on local government maintenance personnel, retailers, campground operators and hoteliers, tourism operators, and the thousands of people who staff retail food and drink outlets close to popular beaches.
As a place for leisure
There are no privately-owned beaches in Australia - beaches are public places for all to enjoy. Australians make use of the coast as a destination for relaxation and fun. Many people live close enough to a beach to visit regularly, and others use the beach for annual holidays. Popular destinations range from crowded city beaches and popular holiday spots, to quieter beaches located in coastal national parks.
Some people go to the beach simply for the sun and surf. Others go to sail, parasail, fish, snorkel, scuba dive and beach comb. Coastal sight-seeing is a very popular pursuit for Australians and international tourists as there are many scenic coastal drives with well appointed lookouts.
Beaches around the country attract large crowds for celebrations such as New Year's Eve and Australia Day. City beaches such as Manly in Sydney and Glenelg in Adelaide provide entertainment and fireworks on New Year's Eve, and on Australia Day many beaches host citizenship ceremonies and provide family entertainment. It has become traditional for international visitors who are in Sydney at Christmas time to go to Bondi Beach where up to 40,000 people visit on Christmas Day.Many international visitors spend time at some of Australia's famous beaches such as Bondi and Manly in Sydney, St Kilda in Melbourne, Surfers Paradise on the Queensland Gold Coast, Cottesloe in Perth, and Glenelg in Adelaide.
The coastline of the Australian mainland stretches more than 30,000 km. With the addition of all the coastal islands this amounts to more than 47,000 km. The coastal landscape ranges from broad sandy beaches to rocky cliffs and mangrove swamps.A beach can be defined as a stretch of sand longer than 20 metres and remaining dry at high tide. Based on this definition, the Coastal Studies Unit at the University of Sydney has counted 10,685 beaches in Australia.
Natural formations
Over time, the waves breaking on the coast of Australia have created countless coves and caves as well as remarkable formations, such as the Twelve Apostles limestone stacks off the coast of Victoria.
Sand and silt deposits have produced long, sandy beaches such as Ninety Mile Beach in the Gippsland region of south eastern Victoria, and Western Australia's Eighty Mile Beach which is approximately halfway between Broome and Port Hedland.
History of the beach
The recorded history of people in their interaction with the beaches of Australia is peppered with disaster, tragedy, discovery and delight.In the past 600 years, visitors as far away as China, Portugal, Spain and Holland visited Australian beaches. The evidence of their visits lies in the remains of ships wrecked along the coastline as well as artefacts, cave drawings and paper maps. It has always been risky sailing in Australian waters, and so many failed to reach their destinations. The Encyclopedia of Australian Shipwrecks records more than 16,000 wrecks.
Unknown photographer, Shell necklace, from the exhibition Strings Across Time. Copyright Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. Image courtesy of ABC.
For tens of thousands of years the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have fished the coastal waters. People on the north coast, from the Arafura Sea to the Torres Strait, used to trade with those from present day Indonesia and Papua New Guinea on the beaches of Australia. Until the present day, senior Goorewal women of New South Wales use their knowledge of the natural calendar, currents, winds and biology of the sea creatures to journey to the coast to collect shells for food. The making of necklaces from shells in family patterns has been passed down through the generations.
A place of work
For many Australians the beach is a place of work. Early occupations for people in coastal communities included pearling, oyster farming, whaling, sealing and fishing. Today, occupations associated with the coastal environment range from fishing, marine biology and national parks and wildlife rangers to the wide variety of occupations associated with the tourism industry.
Fish are a multi-billion dollar industry for Australia... - worth more than $2.2 billion to our economy every year. Fish are also a healthy source of food with Australians consuming around 16kg of fish and seafood per person each year, purchased from fish markets, supermarkets and food outlets.The Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ) is the third largest in the world, covering nearly nine million square kilometres. It extends to 200 nautical miles from the Australian coastline and also includes the waters surrounding our external territories, such as Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, and Heard and McDonald Islands in the Antarctic.The leisure industry is a major employer of people along Australia's coastline. A safe and enjoyable visit or holiday to the beach relies on local government maintenance personnel, retailers, campground operators and hoteliers, tourism operators, and the thousands of people who staff retail food and drink outlets close to popular beaches.
As a place for leisure
There are no privately-owned beaches in Australia - beaches are public places for all to enjoy. Australians make use of the coast as a destination for relaxation and fun. Many people live close enough to a beach to visit regularly, and others use the beach for annual holidays. Popular destinations range from crowded city beaches and popular holiday spots, to quieter beaches located in coastal national parks.
Some people go to the beach simply for the sun and surf. Others go to sail, parasail, fish, snorkel, scuba dive and beach comb. Coastal sight-seeing is a very popular pursuit for Australians and international tourists as there are many scenic coastal drives with well appointed lookouts.
Beaches around the country attract large crowds for celebrations such as New Year's Eve and Australia Day. City beaches such as Manly in Sydney and Glenelg in Adelaide provide entertainment and fireworks on New Year's Eve, and on Australia Day many beaches host citizenship ceremonies and provide family entertainment. It has become traditional for international visitors who are in Sydney at Christmas time to go to Bondi Beach where up to 40,000 people visit on Christmas Day.Many international visitors spend time at some of Australia's famous beaches such as Bondi and Manly in Sydney, St Kilda in Melbourne, Surfers Paradise on the Queensland Gold Coast, Cottesloe in Perth, and Glenelg in Adelaide.
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