The Australian Capital Territory
 |
| The Australian Capital Territory |
Kind of like the Vatican City, or Monaco, or The District of Columbia, The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is its own self-governing entity, but in reality it might as well just be a part of the state or country that surrounds it (in this case New South Wales). Sure, ACT residents have their own numberplates, but apart from being a fairly inconvenient place to put Australia's capital city, Canberra, there's not much to The Australian Capital Territory - it's the blank page the bureaucrats had to leave in the book of Australia, just in case it was needed for something later.
The Territory came into being in the first few years of the 20th century because both Melbourne and Sydney wanted to be the capital of the new Commonwealth of Australia. To end the dispute, it was decided that a whole new city was needed and so 2358km² of land was mapped out and carved off in a valley approximately 200 miles (300km) south west of Sydney and adventurously titled, The Australian Capital Territory. The Territory was the place holder for the city of Canberra, but almost 100 years after Canberra began to be built, the city only accounts for 805km² of the territory, leaving three quarters of the ACT basically empty, apart from a few small towns such as Williamsdale, Naas, Uriarra, Tharwa and Hall; none of which take up much space on the map.
As a tourist destination, the ACT itself doesn't offer much outside Canberra, although it is famous for its rather lenient laws relating to fireworks, marijuana and hardcore pornography (in fact the ACT was initially conceived as an alcohol-free territory, but almost the first thing the Australian government did when they convened in the new provisional parliament house in 1927 was repeal the prohibition law).
Much of the local workforce is comprised of middle and senior management government bureaucrats working in Canberra, so incomes are high, crime rates are low, and there isn't much else to do apart from work in bland government buildings.
For more information
- Read our Canberra section
- Visit the ACT Government Website
Want to know more? Got a Question? Discuss it in our Australian Travel Forums