Victoriastate of southeastern Australia, occupying a mountainous coastal region of the continent. Victoria is separated from New South Wales to the north by the Murray River for a length of about 1,065 miles (1,715 km) and by an additional boundary of some 110 miles (180 km) linking Cape Howe and the nearest source of the Murray. The western boundary is with South Australia, and the southern coastline on the Tasman Sea and the Indian (Southern) Ocean stretches for about 1,045 miles (1,680 km) and includes the shoreline of Port Phillip Bay. Melbourne, the state capital, is at the head of the bay off Bass Strait.

The discovery and exploitation of petroleum and natural gas in the Gippsland Basin and Bass Strait beginning in the 1960s have provided a great boost to Victoria’s economy. Although production of oil began to decline in the late 20th century, the state has retained its role as a major source of the country’s natural gas and petroleum. Among the Australian states, Victoria is second only to New South Wales in terms of population, production, and influence in federal politics. Area 87,806 square miles (227,416 square km). Pop. (2006) 4,932,422; (2008 est.) 5,297,600.


The rich variety of landscapes in Victoria includes both alpine plateaus in the northeast, around Bright, and sandy deserts in the west, near Lake Hindmarsh. This wide range results from a complex geologic history and from variations in the weather as it is experienced in particular areas. These dominant factors have created distinct regions, which create different opportunities and problems.


The main upland areas are a continuation of the Great Dividing Range of eastern Australia. Starting with a width of about 190 miles (310 km) on the New South Wales border, these uplands arc westward across the state, becoming narrower and lower for 400 miles (640 km) before terminating in the Grampians and the Dundas Tableland, 25 miles (40 km) east of the South Australian boundary. The low, wide Kilmore Gap divides this upland core into two distinct regions. The eastern region is more extensive and higher, with several peaks over 5,000 feet (1,500 metres), culminating in Mount Bogong (6,516 feet [1,986 metres]). There are also some high plateaus. The varied geologic structure has been heavily chiseled by perennial streams, fed in spring by melting snow and ice. The highest peak in the western region is Mount William (3,829 feet [1,167 metres]) in the Grampians.

Plains surround Victoria’s upland region on the north, west, and south. Apart from a narrow strip adjoining the Murray River in the north, the vast plains of the northwest region, bounded by latitude 36° S and the Avoca River, are known as the Mallee. This name is derived from a type of eucalypt that sends up a number of slender trunks from a single large underground source. The region’s undulating surface of broad, low ridges and depressions reflects the faulting and folding of the underlying sedimentary rocks, which in turn have been overlain by windblown deposits that have been fixed by drought-resistant vegetation. To the west of the Mallee lies an area known as the Big Desert.

Port Phillip Bay, which was formed by the invasion of the sea after a downward movement of the Earth’s crust, divides the southern plains into two distinct regions. To the east are the Gippsland Plains, intensive settlement of which has destroyed much of the original forest cover. To the west is a region of ancient basaltic flows, above which stand some of the original volcanic cones. The flows cover some 7,000 square miles (18,100 square km) and stretch 190 miles (310 km) west of Melbourne. Partitioning the southern plains into smaller areas are the Otway Ranges and the South Gippsland Highlands (north of Wilsons Promontory).

Drainage and soils

Australia’s main river, the Murray, flows along nearly the entire length of Victoria’s northern border. The soils and climate along the river’s bank offer reliable conditions for farming. No streams rise in the Mallee, and those that enter from the south fail to reach the Murray, terminating instead in such salt lakes as Lake Tyrrell. Lack of water and wind-erosion hazards in the extreme northwest of the state and in the Big Desert make conditions too difficult for farming. Similarly, the Little Desert, which straddles the state’s western boundary just to the south of the Big Desert, consists of deep sands, deficient in zinc and copper, that render the land unsuitable for settlement. Otherwise, the light soils of the Mallee are easily cultivated, and the development of suitable fertilizers has allowed better crop rotation and the production of improved pasture.

The Loddon River originates in the highlands to the northwest of Melbourne, flows northward across the plains that lie between the Mallee and the uplands, and ultimately joins the Murray at the state’s northern boundary. The area to the west of the river, known as the Wimmera, has cultivable soils consisting mainly of gray clays that swell when wet and crack open when dry. The plains to the east of the Loddon River, which narrow toward Albury in New South Wales, are irrigated and support a wider range of farming activities. In recent geologic time the forerunners of present rivers laid down alluvial deposits that reveal considerable diversity in sand and clay content.

Although the western part of the southern plains has a uniform volcanic origin, there are local differences in the colour, texture, and stone content of the region’s soils. These variations, once masked by the grasslands that covered the area, have been exposed by a generally uniform use of the land for livestock and dairy farming.


The easterly passage of anticyclones (high-pressure areas) and depressions is the main determinant of weather for most of Victoria. The track of the disturbances lies overland during the winter (generally the wettest season), while a more southerly oceanic course during the summer reduces the frequency of rain days. East Gippsland is an exception, since most of its rain results from intense depressions centred east of Bass Strait in the summer.

There is generally a close correlation between annual precipitation and elevation, and there is a clear decline in annual rainfall toward the northwest. The lowest-lying, driest parts of the Mallee usually receive less than 12 inches (300 mm) of precipitation per year, while in the Wimmera the annual amount ranges from about 12 inches in the far northern region to 22 inches (550 mm) in the higher elevations of the south. Some of the wettest areas in the mountains of the southeast may receive nearly 80 inches (2,000 mm) of precipitation in a single year, including heavy snowfall in winter.

The southern coast is generally cooler than the inland areas, except for the mountains, where in the highest elevations the average maximum temperature drops to less than 38 °F (3 °C) in winter. In Melbourne the maximum temperature in winter averages 55 °F (13 °C), while in summer the average is 80 °F (26 °C). In the warmest northwestern reaches of the Mallee, temperatures rise to a mean high of 90 °F (32 °C) in January and 59 °F (15 °C) in July.

Plant and animal life

Victoria has maintained a progressive conservation policy, the primary legislation of which was the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act of 1988. Administered by the Department of Sustainability and Environment, this act aims to preserve biodiversity by guaranteeing an environment that will allow all species to survive and flourish. More than 300 plant and animal species have been declared endangered, and all native species are protected.

The flora and fauna of Victoria are as diverse as the state’s landforms. The slopes of the eastern segment of the primary upland region have the most extensive forest, the main species being snow gum, alpine ash, and mountain ash. Lower-growing vegetation is typical of the arid northwestern Mallee. The distinctive eucalypts of this region rarely exceed 30 feet (9 metres) in height and are surrounded by various grasses and shrubs. In the sparsely vegetated sands of the Big Desert, heath, scrub cypress pine, grass tree, and other low shrubs predominate.

Victoria is home to a broad spectrum of animal species. Common marsupials include various kangaroos, wallabies, bandicoots, and wombats. Koalas usually inhabit wooded regions, but they have become a problem in some urban and residential areas, where they defoliate trees because of insufficient food supplies in their (shrinking) forest habitat. Other native mammals include the Australian fur seal on the coast, swamp rats, and flying foxes. Red deer are common in the Grampians and the Otway Ranges. Although not native to Victoria, deer are nevertheless protected. Rabbits, on the contrary, are ubiquitous and have become a serious menace to farming communities. Their eradication is an ongoing project. An assortment of native ducks and other waterbirds populate the wetlands, and cormorants are common on the coast. There are several types of cockatoos in Victoria, and although native to the region, some species are unprotected in certain circumstances. More than 50 species of lizards and snakes have been recorded in the Big Desert.

Population composition

Before 1939 the majority of Victoria’s population had been born in Australia, and in 1947 only 8.7 percent of the population was foreign-born, most of them British. After World War II, however, Australia in general and Victoria in particular encouraged large-scale immigration from Europe in order to make the country stronger strategically, to assist many European and, later, Asian refugees made homeless by war, and to reduce the economic problems caused by the low Australian birth rate during the Great Depression of the 1930s. By the early 21st century nearly one-fourth of the Victorian population was foreign-born.

The largest groups of non-Australian- and non-British-born residents of Victoria are from Italy, New Zealand, Vietnam, China, Greece, and India. The Chinese and Indian communities are among the fastest growing. Ethnic friction, while present, is minimal, and the economic benefits of immigration are incalculable. The immigrant population has also made a distinctive contribution to the cultural life of the state—in architectural style and house decoration, in sports of all kinds, and in culinary variety.

Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders comprise less than 1 percent of Victoria’s residents, the lowest proportion of any state or territory. A large segment of the indigenous population is under age 15, and only a small fraction is over age 65, reflecting fertility and mortality rates that are notably higher than those of other communities in Victoria and in Australia as a whole. Roughly half of the Aboriginal population lives in and around Melbourne; most of the remainder lives in smaller towns, such as Shepparton in the northeastern part of the state, and, to a lesser extent, in rural areas. Active campaigns for land rights and the preservation of sacred places have resulted in the return of some cultural heritage sites, such as Gariward (Grampians National Park), to their traditional custodians. Although the federal government took responsibility for Aboriginal affairs in 1975, administration is still in the hands of the Victorian government. Some authority, however, has been transferred to the Aboriginal land councils.

The diverse origins of the population are reflected in the variety of religious faiths found in the state. Christian denominations with the most adherents include the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Uniting, Eastern Orthodox, and Presbyterian churches. There are also significant Muslim and Buddhist communities. Roughly one-fifth of Victorians, however, follow no specific religion.

Settlement patterns and demographic trends

Victoria is by far the most densely populated Australian state, and it is surpassed only by New South Wales in total population. However, Victoria’s rate of increase, especially since the later years of the 20th century, trailed that of several other states, including Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory, while the proportion of Australians living in Victoria—about one-fourth—also declined somewhat. More than half of Victoria’s population growth has been attributable to immigration from overseas, while natural increase has continued to decline. Some residents have also been lost to interstate migration.

Almost three-fourths of Victoria’s people live in the Melbourne metropolitan area, about one-tenth live in eight other urban areas (Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton [including Mooroopna], Melton, Warrnambool, Albury-Wodonga, and Mildura), and the rest reside in towns of fewer than 20,000 or in rural areas. Population distribution outside the metropolitan area reflects the qualities of the landscape. Geelong is the second port of Victoria, Ballarat and Bendigo originally grew up around goldfields, now largely exhausted, and Moe-Yallourn stands on brown coal beds, used for electricity production. The densest rural settlements are in fertile sections of the irrigated Murray River valley and the dairying areas of Gippsland; the sparsest are in the alpine sections of the eastern region and the dry Mallee. The northern plains have been only lightly settled.

Since 1980 there have been significant and ongoing shifts in population and settlement patterns. Greater Melbourne’s growth rate has consistently outpaced that of the rest of Victoria, as Casey and Knox on the southeast fringe and Brimbank to the west of the metropolis have continued to expand. By the beginning of the 21st century, these newer suburbs held more than a half million residents. Older provincial cities and their surrounds have maintained their modest growth, and seashore settlements along the Mornington Peninsula, Bass Strait, and the Indian Ocean have expanded in response to retirement and recreation demands. Traditional Melbourne manufacturing hubs such as Dandenong and Maribyrnong have continued to recover from a decline that began in the 1990s, while country centres such as Ararat, Benalla, Stawell, Colac, and Moe have shown slow to moderate growth. Meanwhile, as Melbourne and regional centres have expanded, the rural dairying and mixed-farming regions of Gippsland and Corangamite have struggled to retain residents, as have the agricultural areas of the Mallee and Wimmera.

Environmental concerns began intensifying toward the end of the 20th century. The flow of the Murray River has been substantially reduced by irrigation, and increasing soil salinity has placed vast areas of farmland at risk. Soil degradation in central and western Victoria, severe wind erosion in the Mallee and Wimmera, and tree dieback and soil acidification in the central settlement belt have all constituted a severe challenge to sustainable agriculture. Landcare initiatives, inaugurated in the 1980s by the state and federal governments, have increasingly addressed such issues on the community level throughout Victoria’s farmland region.


Victoria has a broadly based economy with well-developed primary, manufacturing, and service sectors; it contributes about one-fourth of Australia’s gross domestic product (GDP). Since the mid-1960s the state’s limited reserves of major land-based mineral deposits have been balanced by offshore petroleum and natural gas finds. Most of the main farming areas are used for improved or natural pastures or for cultivation, which involves mainly wheat and fodder crops. The main categories of productive holdings are dairy farms, sheep stations, mixed sheep-and-cereal farms, cereal farms, beef cattle operations, and vineyards.

Until the 1980s Victoria was the traditional financial and cultural hub of Australia. Toward the end of the 20th century it was supplanted in this role by New South Wales, largely because of the decline of traditional protected manufacturing industries and a fall in the relative value of trade return for agricultural commodities. By the beginning of the 21st century, however, Victoria had begun to regain its stature through economic growth and restructuring.


With the exception of the deserts of the west and extreme northwest, agricultural activities are undertaken in nearly every segment of Victoria’s varied terrain. In the eastern region of the upland core, steep slopes and longer winters have discouraged cultivation except in sheltered valleys, but some hops and tobacco are grown. Beef cattle breeding and fattening, raising of prime lambs, and production of crossbred wool are the main rural activities of the area. In the western part of the upland, the lower relief, gentler slopes, and milder winters render the region more suitable for crop farming, and much of the forest cover has been cleared; most farmers also raise sheep and beef cattle.

In the plains surrounding the uplands, the agricultural industry centres on the cultivation of feed grains and grasses, the raising of livestock, and dairying, although the Mallee is also the state’s primary viticultural area. Cultivation of wheat and fodder to support and supplement the raising of prime lambs and Merino sheep (for wool) are prominent in the plains north of the uplands and in the Wimmera. East of the Loddon River, varying soils and irrigation allow the cultivation of fruit and grain, as well as the raising of sheep and dairy cattle. The plentiful winter rainfall and mild summers of the Gippsland Plains make for excellent dairy farming; the production of veal and pork supplements the yields of milk and cheese. In the western region of the southern plains, livestock raising is again preeminent. Fine-wool sheep breeding and beef cattle breeding and fattening are typical, with some dairying around the towns of Colac, Camperdown, and Koroit.

Victoria is not only preeminent as Australia’s dairying state; it is also a major producer of cattle and calves and wool. These three activities form the core of the state’s agriculture sector. Agricultural activities generate only a tiny fraction of the state’s economic output and employ a comparable proportion of the total labour force. Nevertheless, the agriculture sector is an important component of both the state and national economies.

Grains are the primary crops of Victoria, with wheat leading in terms of tonnage and area under cultivation, followed by barley. The state also ranks high in the country in the production of oats. Assorted fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute a significant segment of Victoria’s agricultural yield. Grape growing and wine production have expanded rapidly since the 1990s, and in the early 21st century Victoria was not only supplying wine to other states but also providing some one-sixth of the country’s wine exports.

Deregulation of the dairy industry in 2000, especially at the expense of small farmers in New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia, has intensified the move toward larger farms, agribusiness, and the consolidation of processing in a few large cooperative and multinational establishments. Although most of Victoria’s farming businesses remain family-owned, such consolidation has ultimately slowed the growth of country towns, particularly in East Gippsland, Colac-Otway, and south-central Victoria.

Resources and power

Before the discovery of petroleum and natural gas, the brown coal deposits near Moe-Yallourn were the mineral deposits of greatest value to the state. The focus of attention then shifted to natural gas fields in the waters of East Gippsland and oil fields in the eastern Bass Strait. All these fields have been linked by pipelines to the Longford gas-processing and crude-stabilization plant in Gippsland and the Long Island Point fractionation and crude-storage plant on Western Port Bay. More recently, gas fields have been discovered in the western Bass Strait off Cape Otway. Although a major portion of its known reserves had been consumed by the turn of the 21st century, Victoria has continued to produce nearly one-fifth of Australia’s petroleum and half of its natural gas requirements.

The Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland Plains is noted for the generation of electric power. Large brown coal deposits in the region have been tapped as an energy source since the early 20th century. The Latrobe Valley coal mines supply several thermal power stations and provide the bulk of the state’s electricity.


The state’s manufacturing sector employs some one-seventh of the labour force, the vast majority of whom work in the factories of Melbourne and Geelong and in the coalfield centres of the Latrobe Valley. The original industrial suburbs of Melbourne had a central location, but many new factories have been constructed in peripheral areas, such as Altona, Dandenong, Broadmeadows, and Moorabbin, where larger areas of cheaper land were available. Geelong, like Melbourne, produces a wide range of products. Aside from electricity generation, industry in the Latrobe Valley centres on food and clothing manufacture, using local materials. Although a relatively small portion of the factories employ more than 50 workers, such factories employ most of the total workforce. In terms of numbers employed and value of wages, the most important manufactures include metal products and machinery, clothing, textiles, beverages and foodstuffs, print items and media, petroleum products and chemicals, and paper products. While the contribution of manufacturing to the overall state economy has declined since the last decade of the 20th century, Victoria has continued to be a leader of the country’s manufacturing sector.


The decline in Victoria’s manufacturing sector as a result of the steady removal of protective tariffs and a flood of comparatively inexpensive imports from China, Japan, and Southeast Asia was countered to a degree by expansion in service activities, now the mainstay of the state’s economy. In the early 21st century, services accounted for roughly four-fifths of the state’s economic output and nearly the same proportion of the labour pool. The strongest employment growth had occurred in property and business services, as well as in health and community services.

Tourism, constituting a relatively small portion of the state’s overall economy and employment, nonetheless has been growing in importance. Victoria has come to command more than one-fifth of the national tourism sector. Other service activities, including information and communications technologies and education, have also been on the rise.


The major port and the focus of the rail, air, and road systems is Melbourne. Melbourne and Geelong ports between themselves handle most of the cargo entering and leaving the state, and Melbourne is the dominant passenger terminal. State-owned railways serve all productive areas through the several thousands of miles of mainly single-track lines. Since 1962 narrow-gauge tracks have linked Melbourne with the standard system of New South Wales at Albury. The capital’s electrified metropolitan rail system carries thousands of passengers each working day, although the vast majority of working people drive to their place of employment. Melbourne Airport, just northwest of the city, was opened to international flights in 1970 and to domestic flights in 1971; it includes a major freight terminal. Multilane divided highways link all the major centres of the state.

Government and society
Constitutional framework

Victoria’s basic government structure—established as an act of British Parliament in the state’s constitution of 1855 and reaffirmed with declaration of the constitution as an act of the Parliament of Victoria in 1975—consists of separate legislative, judicial, and executive branches. The state’s Parliament comprises two houses: the Legislative Assembly (lower) and the Legislative Council (upper). The leader of the majority party or alliance of parties in the Legislative Assembly is requested to form a government by the governor, the titular representative of the British monarch. The premier-elect (chief minister-elect) submits names of proposed ministers to the governor for appointment. These ministers become members of the Executive Council, which advises the governor, who is regarded as the trustee of the constitution and stands above party politics. The governor summons and prorogues Parliament, outlines the government’s legislative program at the beginning of each session, and gives assent to bills that do not have to be referred to the monarch.

The Victorian Parliament legislates for those subjects not exclusively granted to the Commonwealth of Australia’s Parliament by the federal constitution. If there is any inconsistency between state and federal laws, the federal laws prevail, and the subjects granted to the Commonwealth may be varied by an appropriate Commonwealth act. The public service of Victoria is based on the departments of premier and treasury, which serve a variety of purposes, and a number of other departments and ministries dealing with a single subject. Several formerly public corporations controlling such activities as utilities and transportation have been privatized.

The members of the Legislative Assembly are elected by universal adult suffrage in single-member electorates for a term of four years. Members of the Legislative Council (often referred to as the House of Review) are elected from five-member electoral provinces by universal adult suffrage, also for a four-year term. Victoria uses the secret ballot (Australian ballot)—a practice it pioneered in its first parliamentary elections in 1856. Members of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council are elected using the preferential voting system. Voting for both houses is compulsory.

There are three major political parties in Victoria: the Liberal Party, the National Party, and the Australian Labor Party. The Liberal Party, predominant in the 1970s and again in the ’90s, supports free enterprise and draws most of its support from middle- and upper-class voters in urban and some rural areas. The National Party represents rural interests and usually wins no urban seats. The Australian Labor Party, which garners its strongest support among the working classes, was dominant in the 1980s and the early 21st century.

Local governments, all of which are administered by elected councils, are responsible for a range of services including waste management, communications, community services, building controls, recreational and cultural facilities, and some traffic regulation. In the early 21st century, following substantial restructuring and amalgamation, there were some 80 local government councils in Victoria, split about evenly between city councils (some of which were rural) and shires. There was also one borough council.

Before 1973, local governments received no direct financial assistance from the federal government. Financial assistance did exist, but it was filtered through the state governments. Procedures were established in 1973 whereby local governments could apply to the federal government for general-purpose grants. Victoria local governments received several million dollars in federal government grants during the initial years. From 1986 new arrangements were introduced to distribute funds to local governments more equitably. Local government councils continue to derive much of their revenue from grants from the federal government, as well as from certain license fees and various property taxes.

The courts are graduated in status according to the gravity of cases that they consider. Magistrates’ courts, found in metropolitan suburbs and other towns throughout the state, deal with less-serious criminal offenses, hold initial inquiries into indictable criminal offenses, and adjudicate civil matters not involving more than $100,000 (Australian). A county court sits continuously in Melbourne and visits a number of other circuit towns. It deals with civil matters in which the amount does not exceed $200,000 and all criminal offenses except murder, treason, and other statutory exceptions. It also may act as an appeals court for petty sessions courts. The Supreme Court sits in Melbourne. It may deal with all matters not excluded by statute and act as appeals court for the county court. There are also specialized courts that handle cases involving children, certain circumstances of death, drugs, family violence, and indigenous offenders who plead guilty to a crime.

Health and welfare

Universal health insurance is provided by Medicare in Australia. There are also commercial health insurance companies. In the early 21st century there were more than 200 public and private hospitals in Victoria.

Income support for individuals is provided principally by federal departments. Pensions are provided for senior citizens, people with physical disabilities, and widows. Unemployment and sickness benefits are provided for persons in temporary difficulties.

Wages and working conditions in Victoria are supervised by the Australian Fair Pay Commission (AFPC) and the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, for industries that operate in and beyond the state, and by the Victorian Conciliation and Arbitration Boards, for industries entirely within the state. Wage increases, while still within award structures, are established by government and union accords. During the 1990s union membership and power began to decline, and enterprise bargaining (i.e., within a single factory or company) and individual contracts increasingly took the place of the old centralized wage-fixing system, although the AFPC still sets minimum rates.


Every Victorian child is entitled to secular, compulsory, and free education to age 16. Both state and independent schools operate; some two-thirds of primary pupils and three-fifths of secondary students attend state schools, though enrollments at private institutions have increased. Primary schools offer seven years of education, and secondary schools offer six years. In the early 1990s the introduction of the Victorian Certificate was a major development; its aim has been to encourage students to complete a full 13-year course and to provide a foundation for their further study, working lives, and participation in society.

Victoria has several publicly funded universities, the most prominent of which include Australian Catholic University (1991), Monash University (1958), the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (1887), and the University of Melbourne (1853), the state’s oldest institution of higher education. In the early 21st century, nearly two-thirds of Victoria’s higher-education student body came from within the state, and another one-fourth came from outside of Australia. At the university level, Victoria had the highest proportion of international enrollment of any Australian state.

Cultural life

The National Gallery of Victoria (1861), in Melbourne, houses an extensive international collection in the older of its two buildings; the newer building, the Ian Potter Centre (2001), is dedicated to Australian art. The creation of the Arts Centre (1984), on land near the centre of the city of Melbourne, was an important cultural development for the state. The multifunctional institution includes art galleries, courtyards for theatrical productions and displays of sculpture, underground theatres, a convention and concert hall, a display centre, and a hall for state receptions. There are also art galleries in smaller cities, including Ballarat, Bendigo, Castlemaine, Geelong, Warrnambool, Hamilton, Benalla, and Shepparton, among others. Many of these galleries sponsor annual competitions. The Pioneer Settlement Museum, featuring historic buildings, machinery, and paddle steamers, has been built on a large site at Swan Hill, while the Sovereign Hill attraction at Ballarat realistically re-creates the artifacts and atmosphere of the gold-digging era.

The Library Board of Victoria manages the important State Library of Victoria (founded in 1856 as Melbourne Public Library) and advises the government on the promotion of library services throughout the state. Throughout the 20th century the State Library built up strong collections in many fields, but shortages of funds and rising costs have limited the areas where collections are maintained in depth. The library’s emphases include historical bibliography, fine arts, biography, military history, and British typography. The collection of Victoriana in the library and the state archives are especially valuable historical sources.

Melbourne’s orchestra has made successful overseas tours, and the city has many cinemas, theatres, and restaurants. The National Trust of Australia (Victoria) plays an important part in stimulating interest in historic architecture, places of scenic beauty, and rare flora and fauna. A number of old buildings have been acquired and restored, and a schedule of other buildings to be acquired has been prepared to avoid the possibility that a major cultural loss might occur through their demolition. Museum Victoria oversees several cultural and scientific institutions in the state capital, including the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne’s Carlton Gardens, built in the late 1800s to host major international exhibitions, Museum Melbourne, emphasizing the history of Victoria, the Migration Museum, which documents international migration into Australia, and Scienceworks, an interactive science museum and planetarium. In 2004 the Royal Exhibition Building became the first historical building in Australia to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Leisure facilities are particularly plentiful and well-developed in Melbourne. An extensive casino and entertainment complex was completed on the south bank of the Yarra River in 1997. Melbourne Park (1988) is the site of a multipurpose arena (2000), as well as the National Tennis Centre, which hosts the Australian Open competition each January. The sports (especially Australian rules football) and entertainment stadium in the city’s Docklands (2000) supplements the renowned Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Flemington racecourse, both of which have remained in operation since their establishment in the mid-19th century. Australia’s richest and most prestigious horse race, the Melbourne Cup, is run annually at Flemington course on the first Tuesday in November.

Victoria is dotted with numerous state and national parks, notably Alpine National Park, which protects some 2,500 square miles (6,500 square km) of the Great Dividing Range. The Healesville Sanctuary, roughly 40 miles (60 km) east of Melbourne, serves not only as a wildlife conservation centre, supporting more than 200 native species, but also as a cultural centre, preserving and transmitting indigenous knowledge through guided tours into the protected bushlands. Off the southwest coast of Victoria, the Twelve Apostles, a spectacular formation of limestone sea stacks, are part of Port Campbell National Park; the historic collapse of one of the stacks occurred in 2005.

Several daily newspapers circulate throughout the state, but Melbourne’s major dailies have a combined countrywide readership of well in excess of one million. Most of the other urban centres throughout Victoria have their own local papers. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, financed by the government, provides comprehensive radio and television service to the entire state. There also are many commercial radio stations and several commercial television stations.