Southern Australia Southern Australia The term Southern Australia is generally considered to include the states and territories of Australia of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia. The part of Western Australia south of latitude 26° south – a definition widely used in law and state government policy – is also usually included. Although it comprises about half of the total area of Australia, Southern Australia includes about three-quarters of the Australian population, the two largest cities (Sydney and Melbourne), the political capital (Canberra), the main food growing areas and the main industrial centres. The area is
South Australia–Victoria border dispute South Australia–Victoria border dispute The border between the Australian state of South Australia and what is today the State of Victoria was established in 1836 by imperial letters patent "as the 141st degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich". In 1836 the land in what is now called Victoria was part of the colony of New South Wales, the original Victorian border was drawn between the colonies of South Australia and New South Wales. Due to human error by numerous explorers and surveyors, it took more than 75 years and a protracted legal dispute before the precise placement of the