Oceania · Colonial rule and the world wars
Commonwealth of Australia
from 1901
The Commonwealth of Australia was formed by the federation of six British colonies on 1 January 1901, with Edmund Barton as first prime minister and a written federal Constitution establishing a Westminster parliamentary system under the Crown. Canberra became the purpose-built capital (Parliament relocated 1927).
- Existed
- from 1901
- Shown on the map
- 1905–2024
- Peak area
- 8.4M km²
- Region
- Oceania
Overview
The Commonwealth of Australia was formed by the federation of six British colonies on 1 January 1901, with Edmund Barton as first prime minister and a written federal Constitution establishing a Westminster parliamentary system under the Crown. Canberra became the purpose-built capital (Parliament relocated 1927). Australia fought in WWI — the Gallipoli landing of 25 April 1915 forged the enduring "Anzac" national legend — and in WWII, where the fall of Singapore and the bombing of Darwin (1942) pivoted the country decisively toward the United States alliance (formalized in ANZUS, 1951). Postwar mass immigration, the dismantling of the White Australia Policy (completed by 1973), and the 1967 referendum advancing Aboriginal rights transformed society. Landmark prime ministers include Robert Menzies (longest-serving), Gough Whitlam (dismissed in the 1975 constitutional crisis), Bob Hawke, John Howard, and Julia Gillard (first woman PM).
Later history and present status
The current prime minister is Anthony Albanese (Labor), re-elected on 3 May 2025 in a landslide — the first Australian PM to win a second consecutive term in 21 years. Per the Australian Electoral Commission's final House tally (updated 10 June 2025), Labor won 94 of the 150 lower-house seats to the Coalition's 43. King Charles III is head of state, represented by the Governor-General.
Common questions
- What was the Commonwealth of Australia?
- The Commonwealth of Australia was formed by the federation of six British colonies on 1 January 1901, with Edmund Barton as first prime minister and a written federal Constitution establishing a Westminster parliamentary system under the Crown. Canberra became the purpose-built capital (Parliament relocated 1927).
- When did the Commonwealth of Australia exist?
- The Commonwealth of Australia existed from 1901. On this map it is drawn 1905–2024.
- How large was the Commonwealth of Australia?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Commonwealth of Australia covered about 8.4 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- What is the present status of the Commonwealth of Australia?
- The current prime minister is Anthony Albanese (Labor), re-elected on 3 May 2025 in a landslide — the first Australian PM to win a second consecutive term in 21 years. Per the Australian Electoral Commission's final House tally (updated 10 June 2025), Labor won 94 of the 150 lower-house seats to the Coalition's 43.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia article for each polity and its key rulers as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, museum and UN sources, Pacific news organisations, and the scholarship of Ricklefs, Andaya, Coedès, Carey, Sri Margana and Smith & Smith. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Australia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
See the Commonwealth of Australia in its world
Open the atlas at 1965 and every neighbour, rival and successor is on screen with it — then drag the slider and watch what happens next.
Open the map at 1965 →