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100 Best Australia Quiz for Students (With Answers)

100 Best Australia Quiz for Students (With Answers)

I wanted this quiz to be the one students actually argue over, so I left out the usual capital cities and flag colours. Most of these questions have an answer that makes people say “no way”. Wombats make cube-shaped poo. The Australian army once lost a war to emus. A doctor in Perth drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point and ended up with a Nobel Prize.

There are 100 questions in ten rounds of ten. Each round has its own theme. One round makes a good ten-minute warm-up for a class, and all ten fill a wet afternoon in the school holidays. The answer sits right under each question. I checked the answers against government, museum and university sources, and they are listed at the bottom.

Jump to a Round

Round 1: Weird and Wonderful Animals (1-10)

  1. What shape is a wombat’s poo? Answer: Cubes. The cubes do not roll away, and wombats leave them on rocks and logs to mark their territory.
  2. Which two Australian mammals lay eggs? Answer: The platypus and the short-beaked echidna.
  3. What is a baby echidna called? Answer: A puggle.
  4. Koalas sleep for about how many hours a day? Answer: Around 18 to 20 hours. Eucalyptus leaves give them very little energy, so they save it.
  5. Which Australian animal has fingerprints so similar to a human’s that they can be hard to tell apart under a microscope? Answer: The koala.
  6. Which Australian bird can copy the sounds of camera shutters, car alarms and chainsaws? Answer: The lyrebird.
  7. Male platypuses can deliver a venomous sting. Which part of their body has the spur? Answer: The back legs.
  8. Funnel-web spider bites were deadly until an antivenom came out in 1981. How many deaths have been recorded from funnel-web bites since then? Answer: None. No one has died from a funnel-web bite since the antivenom was introduced.
  9. The thorny devil lizard drinks in a strange way. How? Answer: Through its skin. Tiny grooves between its spikes pull water towards its mouth.
  10. Which large rainforest bird in Queensland has a dagger-like claw on each foot? Answer: The cassowary.

Round 2: Places That Sound Made Up (11-20)

  1. A Dutch explorer named a Western Australian island “rat’s nest” because he mistook the animals living there for giant rats. Which island is it today? Answer: Rottnest Island. The animals were quokkas.
  2. Which Western Australian lake is naturally pink? Answer: Lake Hillier, on Middle Island.
  3. The Twelve Apostles in Victoria were never twelve. How many rock stacks does Parks Victoria count today? Answer: Seven. A stack fell into the sea in 2005.
  4. “Nullarbor” comes from Latin words meaning what? Answer: No trees.
  5. The Nullarbor Plain has one of the longest stretches of dead-straight railway track in the world. About how long is it? Answer: 478 kilometres, with no curve at all.
  6. Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is the lowest natural point in Australia. About how far below sea level is it? Answer: About 15 metres.
  7. Australia’s highest mountain is named after a Polish national hero. What is it called? Answer: Mount Kosciuszko, which is 2,228 metres high.
  8. The Great Barrier Reef is not one reef. About how many individual reefs make it up? Answer: About 2,900.
  9. The Daintree Rainforest in Queensland is believed to be about how old? Answer: About 180 million years old.
  10. Wave Rock looks like a giant frozen ocean wave. In which state is it? Answer: Western Australia, near the town of Hyden.

Round 3: Inventions and Big Brains (21-30)

  1. The black box flight recorder was invented in Melbourne in the 1950s by Dr David Warren. What colour is a black box? Answer: Bright orange, so it is easier to find after a crash.
  2. Which Victorian city’s Ford factory came up with the ute in the 1930s? Answer: Geelong.
  3. Arthur James Arnot patented the world’s first electric drill in Melbourne in 1889. What was it originally built to drill? Answer: Rock and coal.
  4. What is the everyday name for the cochlear implant, developed by Professor Graeme Clark at the University of Melbourne? Answer: The bionic ear.
  5. Which Australian science agency developed key technology behind Wi-Fi? Answer: CSIRO.
  6. Which NSW radio telescope, nicknamed The Dish, helped bring TV pictures of the first Moon walk to the world in 1969? Answer: The Parkes radio telescope.
  7. Which Australian doctor drank a glass of bacteria to prove that it caused stomach ulcers? Answer: Barry Marshall. He shared the 2005 Nobel Prize with Robin Warren.
  8. Which Australian scientist shared the 1945 Nobel Prize for turning penicillin into a medicine that could be made in large amounts? Answer: Howard Florey.
  9. Which Tasmanian-born scientist won a Nobel Prize in 2009 for work on telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes? Answer: Elizabeth Blackburn.
  10. Which Aboriginal inventor, who appears on the $50 note, patented an improved sheep-shearing handpiece in 1909? Answer: David Unaipon.

Round 4: Food and Snacks (31-40)

  1. The Tim Tam was named after what? Answer: A racehorse that won the 1958 Kentucky Derby.
  2. The Chiko Roll was first sold in 1951 under a different name. What was it, and what was odd about it? Answer: It was called the Chicken Roll, and it contained no chicken.
  3. The lamington is named after a lord who was Governor of Queensland. What was his name? Answer: Lord Lamington.
  4. Milo was developed in Sydney in 1934. It is named after an ancient Greek wrestler famous for his strength. What was the wrestler’s name? Answer: Milo of Croton.
  5. Which popular nut is native to the rainforests of Australia’s east coast? Answer: The macadamia.
  6. What is the classic Aussie kids’ party snack made from white bread, butter and hundreds and thousands? Answer: Fairy bread.
  7. What is the traditional bush bread baked in the ashes of a campfire? Answer: Damper.
  8. Which Melbourne-born chocolate bar, made since 1913, has a honeycomb centre? Answer: The Violet Crumble.
  9. Vegemite is made from leftover brewer’s yeast. Which chemist developed it in Melbourne in 1922? Answer: Cyril Callister.
  10. What happens in a “Tim Tam slam”? Answer: You bite off two opposite corners of a Tim Tam, then use the biscuit as a straw to suck up hot milk or chocolate.

Round 5: Aussie Slang (41-50)

  1. What is an “arvo”? Answer: The afternoon.
  2. Where would you stop if someone said they were pulling into a “servo”? Answer: A service station, or petrol station.
  3. What do Australians call flip-flops? Answer: Thongs.
  4. What is a “dunny”? Answer: A toilet.
  5. What is a “chook”? Answer: A chicken.
  6. What does “fair dinkum” mean? Answer: Genuine or true.
  7. What is an “esky”? Answer: A portable cooler box for keeping food and drinks cold.
  8. What is a “mozzie”? Answer: A mosquito.
  9. What is a “sanga”? Answer: A sandwich.
  10. What is a “bludger”? Answer: Someone who relies on other people and does not do their share.

Round 6: Wild True Stories From History (51-60)

  1. In 1932 the Australian army sent soldiers with machine guns to fight an animal in Western Australia. Which animal was it, and who is generally said to have won? Answer: Emus, and the emus. The soldiers withdrew in December 1932 after killing far fewer birds than planned.
  2. Cane toads were released in Queensland in 1935 to eat which pest? Answer: Cane beetles, which were damaging sugar cane crops.
  3. In 1859 a farmer released 24 rabbits on his property near Winchelsea in Victoria so he could hunt them. What was his name? Answer: Thomas Austin.
  4. Which prime minister disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach in December 1967 and was never found? Answer: Harold Holt.
  5. Ned Kelly’s last stand in 1880 took place in which Victorian town, where he wore homemade armour? Answer: Glenrowan.
  6. Which expedition left Melbourne in 1860 to cross the continent from south to north, using camels along the way? Answer: The Burke and Wills expedition.
  7. What happened to Prime Minister Gough Whitlam on 11 November 1975? Answer: The Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, dismissed him from office.
  8. Canberra was designed by an American couple who won an international competition. Who were they? Answer: Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin.
  9. Before Parliament moved to Canberra in 1927, which city had hosted it since Federation? Answer: Melbourne.
  10. The Eureka Stockade in 1854 was a rebellion by gold miners in which Victorian town? Answer: Ballarat.

Round 7: First Nations Culture and History (61-70)

  1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have the oldest continuous cultures in the world. For about how many years? Answer: More than 60,000 years.
  2. In which year did climbing Uluru become banned? Answer: 2019. The last climb was on 26 October.
  3. What is the Yolngu name, from north-east Arnhem Land, for the instrument many people call a didgeridoo? Answer: Yidaki.
  4. Who designed the Aboriginal flag in 1971? Answer: Harold Thomas.
  5. Who designed the Torres Strait Islander flag in 1992, when he was a student? Answer: Bernard Namok.
  6. In 1992 the High Court’s Mabo decision overturned a legal idea that Australia belonged to no one before 1788. What was the idea called? Answer: Terra nullius.
  7. In the 1967 referendum, what share of voters said “Yes” to changes affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? Answer: More than 90 percent.
  8. On which date is National Sorry Day held each year? Answer: 26 May.
  9. Which prime minister delivered the national apology to the Stolen Generations on 13 February 2008? Answer: Kevin Rudd.
  10. What does NAIDOC stand for? Answer: National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.

Round 8: Sport Moments (71-80)

  1. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, which Australian won gold in speed skating after every rival in front of him crashed? Answer: Steven Bradbury. It was the first Winter Olympic gold medal won by anyone from the Southern Hemisphere.
  2. In a 1981 one-day cricket match against New Zealand, Trevor Chappell bowled a ball in a way that is now banned. How did he bowl it? Answer: Underarm, along the ground. His brother Greg, the captain, told him to do it.
  3. Don Bradman needed just four runs in his last Test innings to finish with an average of 100. What score did he make? Answer: Zero. He was bowled second ball and finished on 99.94.
  4. Which hidden feature on the Australia II yacht helped it beat the Americans in the 1983 America’s Cup, ending a winning streak of 132 years? Answer: A winged keel, designed by Ben Lexcen.
  5. In the 2023 Women’s World Cup quarter-final in Brisbane, which team did the Matildas beat 7-6 on penalties? Answer: France.
  6. Which Hawaiian swimmer gave a famous surfing demonstration at Freshwater Beach in Sydney in 1914? Answer: Duke Kahanamoku.
  7. Which team won the very first State of Origin match, played at Lang Park in 1980? Answer: Queensland, 20-10.
  8. On which day does the Sydney to Hobart yacht race start each year? Answer: Boxing Day, 26 December.
  9. Which mountain track in New South Wales hosts the Bathurst 1000 car race? Answer: Mount Panorama.
  10. Which race is called “the race that stops a nation”, and in which month is it run? Answer: The Melbourne Cup, on the first Tuesday in November at Flemington.

Round 9: Pop Culture (81-90)

  1. What breed of dog is Bluey? Answer: An Australian Cattle Dog, also called a Blue Heeler.
  2. Which Australian city is Bluey set in? Answer: Brisbane.
  3. What are the names of Bluey’s parents? Answer: Bandit and Chilli.
  4. Which Queensland zoo did Steve Irwin’s family run? Answer: Australia Zoo, in Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast.
  5. In which year did the Wiggles form in Sydney? Answer: 1991.
  6. In Finding Nemo, Nemo ends up in a fish tank in which Australian city? Answer: Sydney. The dentist’s address is 42 Wallaby Way.
  7. Which Queensland country town is Barbie star Margot Robbie from? Answer: Dalby.
  8. Which Aussie rock band, formed in Sydney in 1973, made “Highway to Hell” and “Thunderstruck”? Answer: AC/DC.
  9. In the song “Waltzing Matilda”, what is a “matilda”? Answer: A swagman’s bundle of belongings, or swag. Banjo Paterson wrote the words in 1895.
  10. Which Melbourne-born actor plays Thor in the Marvel films? Answer: Chris Hemsworth.

Round 10: Money, Flags and Symbols (91-100)

  1. How many sides does an Australian 50 cent coin have? Answer: Twelve.
  2. How many kangaroos are on the Australian $1 coin? Answer: Five.
  3. Which animal is on the 20 cent coin? Answer: The platypus.
  4. Which bird is on the 10 cent coin? Answer: The lyrebird.
  5. Which animal is on the 5 cent coin? Answer: The echidna.
  6. In 1988 Australia introduced the world’s first plastic banknote. What was its value? Answer: Ten dollars.
  7. How many stars of the Southern Cross are on the Australian flag? Answer: Five.
  8. The large Commonwealth Star on the Australian flag has how many points? Answer: Seven. Six points stand for the states and the seventh stands for the territories.
  9. Which golden flower is Australia’s national floral emblem? Answer: The golden wattle. National Wattle Day is on 1 September.
  10. What do people call the sausage in bread sold at polling places on election day? Answer: The democracy sausage.

Quick Answers to Common Questions

How many questions are in this quiz? There are 100 questions in ten themed rounds of ten.

What age group is this Australia quiz for? Most questions suit students from about Year 4 up to Year 10. Rounds 3, 6 and 7 are the hardest.

Can a teacher use this in class? Yes. Each round takes about ten minutes when the questions are read aloud, and the answers are printed under each question.

More Quizzes

If students want more, there are 50 trivia questions for kids, 200 Australia trivia questions, 100 Australian history trivia questions and 70 Australian sport trivia questions. The school holiday dates for every state are on the home page.

Categories: Quiz, Trivia