Why was Canberra built from scratch, and what does Nullarbor mean? Sixty Australia trivia questions answer both. Pick an answer and Check answer shows the reason.
Read the full guide
Aussie trivia in five rounds
Start with Animals of the bush or Flag, money and emblems, where most answers are easy; Federation and history is all dates. Set Topic to one round, read out the question and its four choices, then reveal the answer when each team has chosen. Scores go on paper.
Australia trivia questions to print
With a round chosen, Print question sheet gives the 12 questions and their lettered choices; Print answer key gives the host each answer and its reason on a separate page.
Tips
Open with the Coathanger question in Cities and landmarks: every table gets it, and the next two are harder.
Questions and answers
What are some easy Australia trivia questions?
What is Australia's longest river? Which two animals hold up the coat of arms? What is the Sydney Harbour Bridge's nickname? The answers are the Murray, the kangaroo and the emu, and the Coathanger.
How were the answers checked?
Each was read on September 23, 2026 in the English Wikipedia article linked under it. Where a page hedged, the question did too: the Twelve Apostles question asks how many of the original nine still stand.
Why is the capital not a question?
Other quizzes on this site already ask it, with the baby kangaroo and the Opera House. This set asks why Canberra was chosen, who designed it and which city was the capital before it.
Before federation, which colony also governed the land that is now the Northern Territory?Answer: South Australia. Source: Wikipedia: Federation of Australia
Canberra is a planned city. The architects whose design shaped it came from which country?Answer: The United States. Source: Wikipedia: Canberra
Canberra was chosen as the capital as a compromise between which two cities?Answer: Sydney and Melbourne. Source: Wikipedia: Canberra
Captain James Stirling founded Perth in which year?Answer: 1829. Source: Wikipedia: Perth
In which year did the sending of convicts to Van Diemen's Land come to an end?Answer: 1853. Source: Wikipedia: Tasmania
In which year was Canberra founded and formally named?Answer: 1913. Source: Wikipedia: Canberra
On which date did the Australian colonies become states of the new Commonwealth of Australia?Answer: 1 January 1901. Source: Wikipedia: Federation of Australia
The Snowy Mountains Scheme, built between 1949 and 1974, is Australia's largest what?Answer: Engineering project. Source: Wikipedia: Snowy Mountains Scheme
Tasmania is named after which Dutch explorer?Answer: Abel Tasman. Source: Wikipedia: Tasmania
What was Tasmania called when it became a separate colony in 1825?Answer: Van Diemen's Land. Source: Wikipedia: Tasmania
Which city was the seat of government until Canberra became the permanent capital in 1927?Answer: Melbourne. Source: Wikipedia: Melbourne
Who built the Great Ocean Road between 1919 and 1932?Answer: Soldiers home from the war. Source: Wikipedia: Great Ocean Road
Show all 60 questions (48 more)
Rivers, deserts and mountains 12
About how long is the Murray River?Answer: About 2,500 km. Source: Wikipedia: Murray River
Australia is the world's flattest and what kind of inhabited continent?Answer: Driest. Source: Wikipedia: Australia
Between 1860 and 2025, how many times did Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre fill completely?Answer: Three. Source: Wikipedia: Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre
By land area, where does Australia rank among the world's countries?Answer: Sixth. Source: Wikipedia: Australia
The Great Dividing Range runs parallel to which coast of Australia?Answer: The east coast. Source: Wikipedia: Great Dividing Range
Mount Kosciuszko was named in 1840 after a general from which country?Answer: Poland. Source: Wikipedia: Mount Kosciuszko
The name Nullarbor comes from Latin. What does it mean?Answer: No trees. Source: Wikipedia: Nullarbor Plain
The only mainland peaks over 2,000 m stand in which mountains?Answer: The Australian Alps. Source: Wikipedia: Australian Alps
The railway across the Nullarbor Plain holds which world record?Answer: The longest straight stretch of railway. Source: Wikipedia: Nullarbor Plain
What is Australia's longest river?Answer: The Murray. Source: Wikipedia: Murray River
Where is the lowest natural point in Australia?Answer: Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre. Source: Wikipedia: Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre
Which record does the Great Dividing Range hold?Answer: Longest mountain chain entirely inside one country. Source: Wikipedia: Great Dividing Range
Animals of the bush 12
About how fast can an emu sprint?Answer: About 48 km/h (30 mph). Source: Wikipedia: Emu
About how long is the Dingo Fence?Answer: About 5,600 km. Source: Wikipedia: Dingo Fence
The call of the laughing kookaburra is often used for what?Answer: A sound effect for jungle scenes in films. Source: Wikipedia: Kookaburra
Despite their looks, echidnas are not closely related to which animals?Answer: Hedgehogs and true anteaters. Source: Wikipedia: Echidna
The Dingo Fence was built to protect what?Answer: Sheep flocks. Source: Wikipedia: Dingo Fence
Echidnas are also known by which name?Answer: Spiny anteaters. Source: Wikipedia: Echidna
How does a platypus find prey underwater with its eyes, ears and nostrils closed?Answer: It senses electric fields. Source: Wikipedia: Platypus
Kookaburras are a kind of which bird?Answer: Kingfisher. Source: Wikipedia: Kookaburra
The platypus is duck-billed. What kind of tail was it said to have?Answer: A beaver's tail. Source: Wikipedia: Platypus
The smaller members of the kangaroo family are generally called what?Answer: Wallabies. Source: Wikipedia: Kangaroo
The Tasmanian devil is known for which sound?Answer: An extremely loud screech. Source: Wikipedia: Tasmanian devil
What is the tallest native bird of Australia?Answer: The emu. Source: Wikipedia: Emu
Flag, money and emblems 12
At what rate were pounds swapped for the new dollars in 1966?Answer: Two dollars for one pound. Source: Wikipedia: Australian dollar
How many points does the Commonwealth Star have today?Answer: Seven. Source: Wikipedia: Flag of Australia
In which year did the first version of the Australian flag fly?Answer: 1901. Source: Wikipedia: Flag of Australia
In which year was the Australian dollar introduced?Answer: 1966. Source: Wikipedia: Australian dollar
The name Australia comes from a Latin phrase meaning what?Answer: Unknown southern land. Source: Wikipedia: Australia
What did Dutch visitors of the 1600s call the continent?Answer: New Holland. Source: Wikipedia: Australia
What is the large white star under the Union Jack on Australia's flag called?Answer: The Commonwealth Star. Source: Wikipedia: Flag of Australia
Which currency did the Australian dollar replace?Answer: The Australian pound. Source: Wikipedia: Australian dollar
Which king authorized the current coat of arms in 1912?Answer: George V. Source: Wikipedia: Coat of arms of Australia
Which plant, the national floral emblem, appears below the shield on the coat of arms?Answer: Golden wattle. Source: Wikipedia: Coat of arms of Australia
Which star pattern appears on the Australian flag?Answer: The Southern Cross. Source: Wikipedia: Flag of Australia
Which two animals hold up the shield on Australia's coat of arms?Answer: The kangaroo and the emu. Source: Wikipedia: Coat of arms of Australia
Cities and landmarks 12
About how tall does Uluru stand above the plain around it?Answer: About 350 m. Source: Wikipedia: Uluru
The city of Darwin is named after which British naturalist?Answer: Charles Darwin. Source: Wikipedia: Darwin, Northern Territory
The Great Ocean Road is said to be the world's largest what?Answer: War memorial. Source: Wikipedia: Great Ocean Road
How many of the original nine Twelve Apostles still stand?Answer: Seven. Source: Wikipedia: The Twelve Apostles (Victoria)
In which year did the Sydney Harbour Bridge open?Answer: 1932. Source: Wikipedia: Sydney Harbour Bridge
Perth grew up along the banks of which river?Answer: The Swan River. Source: Wikipedia: Perth
The Twelve Apostles by the Great Ocean Road are stacks of which rock?Answer: Limestone. Source: Wikipedia: The Twelve Apostles (Victoria)
What is the Sydney Harbour Bridge's nickname?Answer: The Coathanger. Source: Wikipedia: Sydney Harbour Bridge
What is Uluru made of?Answer: Sandstone. Source: Wikipedia: Uluru
Which city has the largest urban tram network in the world?Answer: Melbourne. Source: Wikipedia: Melbourne
Which record does the Sydney Harbour Bridge hold?Answer: Tallest steel arch bridge. Source: Wikipedia: Sydney Harbour Bridge
Which state or territory capital is the most northerly in Australia?Answer: Darwin. Source: Wikipedia: Darwin, Northern Territory
How this list was compiled: Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. Questions and wrong choices are our own. Each explanation restates facts from the page named and linked beside it, in our own sentences; numbers and dates follow that page. Each answer was checked on 2026-09-23 against the page named and linked beside the question: the text of that English Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org) was fetched that day, and the passage that states the fact was read before the question was kept. Left out on purpose: population figures and ranks, current office-holders, sports teams and results, anything a census or a season changes, questions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture (they deserve a reader from those communities first), and facts other trivia sets on this site already ask (the capital, the baby kangaroo, the koala's diet and sleep, the wombat's droppings, the platypus's eggs and venom, the lyrebird, the Opera House, Uluru's other name, the island state, the Great Barrier Reef, the reversed seasons, the cane toad, the thylacine, the emu war, the number of states, the stars on the flag and the First Fleet). Levels are our estimate: easy is fair for any table, medium suits people who know the country, hard will stump most tables. Each question also carries the date its page was read (checkedOn). Licence: own work