Culture of Australia

1.Sporting culture

Australians have always loved sport and have generally excelled at it.

Australia has more than 120 national sporting organizations and thousands of local and state sports bodies

A champion nation

Despite its small population, Australia has produced world champions in many sports, including cricket, rugby union, women’s basketball, rowing, boxing, netball, field hockey, swimming and skiing.

The most recent examples of the nation’s sporting prowess are the successes of the Australian teams at the 2004 Athens Olympic and Paralympic Games and the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. At the Athens Olympics, Australia won 17 gold, 16 silver and 16 bronze medals and ranked fourth overall in the medal tally behind the United States, China and Russia. Paralympic athletes ranked fifth in the world, with a total of 100 medals – 26 gold, 38 silver and 36 bronze.

In Melbourne, where athletes from 71 Commonwealth countries and territories competed, Australia won 221 medals (84 gold, 69 silver and 68 bronze) – the highest number of any nation.

In 2006, Australia also reached the final 16 in the football World Cup.

Sports participation

A national survey indicated that over 11 million Australians aged 15 years and over participated at least once a week in physical activity for exercise, recreation and sport – a participation rate of 70 per cent.

The most popular physical activities undertaken by Australians aged 15 and over are walking, aerobics/fitness, swimming, cycling, tennis, golf, running, bushwalking, soccer and netball.

2. Cuisine in Australia

Food and drink are some of the great pleasures of being in Australia. Due to its location, ethnic mix and Asian and European migrant influences, you can expect to enjoy a great variety of excellent fresh cuisine.

Australia, one of the world’s most efficient agricultural nations, produces high–quality vegetables, fruit and grains, meat, seafood. In addition, many new industries have been...