Australia tourist information

Historically, Australian cuisine was based on traditional British cooking brought to the country by the first settlers. This generally consisted of pies, roasted cuts of meat, grilled steak and chops, and other forms of meat generally accompanied by vegetables (the combination known colloquially as "meat and three veg"). These origins have been mostly overtaken by the growing multicultural emphasis of Australian culture over the last forty to fifty years, with Australian cuisine now influenced by a variety of Mediterranean and Asian foods originally introduced by immigrants.

Indeed, restaurants whose cuisine tends to demonstrate contemporary adaptations, interpretations or fusions of these multicultural culinary influences are frequently labeled with the umbrella term "Modern Australian". British traditions still persist to varying degrees including in the takeaway food sector, with pies and fish and chips remaining popular.

A native Australian cuisine movement has also emerged, evolving out of the Australian themed restaurants of the mid-1980s. The discovery of the spice-like qualities of many native Australian plant ingredients formed the basis of a gourmet cuisine. This contrasted with the Bush tucker or foraged food unfamiliar to gourmets.

Australian cuisine is very diverse due to the many cultural influences. Modern Australian cuisine has been heavily influenced by the country's Asian and South-East Asian neighbours, particularly Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese, and by the many waves of immigrants from there, and all parts of the world. Similarly, Greek, Lebanese and Italian influences are very common with many of these influences arriving in Australia during the 1950s and 1960s. Fresh produce is readily available and thus used extensively, and the trend (urged by long-term government health initiatives) is towards low-salt, low-fat healthy cookery incorporating lean meat and lightly cooked, colourful, steamed or stir-fried vegetables.

Australia's wide variety of seafood is also popular and barbecues are common at weekend family gatherings. Barbecues are also common in fund raising for schools and local communities, where sausages and onion are served on white bread with tomato sauce. These are most often referred to as "Sausage Sizzles". Some English trends are still evident in domestic cuisine. Among these is the widespread tradition of having roast turkey, chicken and ham with trimmings followed by a plum pudding for Christmas lunch or dinner, despite the fact that Christmas is at the height of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Breakfast - The typical breakfast of Australians strongly resembles breakfast in many Western countries. Owing to the warm weather in some parts of Australia, generally breakfast is light but in the colder regions porridge or meals similar to the full English breakfast may be consumed. The light breakfast commonly consists of, cereals, toast (with a spread) and fruit. A heavier cooked breakfast will frequently include, fried bacon, egg, mushroom, baked beans, pasta, sausages, tomatoes, toast with spread. Drinks taken at breakfast include, tea, coffee, flavoured milk or juice. A unique breakfast food to Australia is Vegemite, a black salty spread made from yeast with vitamin B and applied to toast or bread.

Dinner - The evening meal is the main meal of the day for most Australians, and when consumed at home, is often eaten with members of the immediate family or household. The dishes served will vary widely according to the tastes and/or background of the family. Common choices would be roast meat and vegetables; pasta; pizza; casseroles; barbecue meat; vegetables and salads; soup; stir-fries. A typical 'Australian' cafe or restaurant (not adhering to any particular ethnic cuisine) might offer sandwiches and foccacias; a range of pasta, risotto, salad or curry dishes; steak, chicken or other meat-based dishes; cakes or other desserts; and juices, soft drink and coffee.

Take-away food in Australia - There is a wide variety of takeaway food available in Australia. Two of the most traditional takeaway dishes are the meat pie and sausage roll. These come in varying grades, ranging from the mass-produced factory outputs of Four-and-Twenty, Mrs Macs and Big Ben, through to gourmet pies sold by specialist pie shops. There is an annual competition to find the 'Great Australian Meat Pie'. American-style chain stores are common; including, Subway, Pizza Hut, KFC, Hungry Jack's (the local Burger King franchise name), Domino's Pizza, and McDonalds (commonly called Maccas by locals).

An alternative to the US imports is offered by the Australian chicken fast food chains Red Rooster and Chicken Treat, pizza chains Eagle Boys and Pizza Haven, the Portuguese chicken franchises Nando's and Oporto, and by the corner Pizza shops, charcoal or fried chicken stores, stores selling items such as kebabs and gyros, and fish and chip shops. Many of these sell high-quality food for reasonable prices. Typically found in many takeaway shops is the 'Australian Hamburger'. This is mainly distinguished from other hamburgers by the range of fillings available. An order with all fillings is known as a 'Hamburger with the Lot'. The fillings include lettuce, tomato, cheese, beetroot, grilled onion, bacon, a fried egg and pineapple.

A very wide variety of Chinese, Indian, and various Asian restaurants provide eat-in and take-away services, and are very popular in the cities. With the high levels of immigration from the Middle East, South and South East Asia, Korea, China and other countries from all over the world to Australia, many authentic and high-quality restaurants are run by first and second generation immigrants from these areas.

Chinese cuisine, however, ranges from a long established very Australian-Chinese style based on the cooking of the Chinese community established during the gold rushes of the late 1800s, to quite different cuisine only very recently imported from different regions of China. Asian bakery stores are also a source of fast food, for example savoury rolls, examples including cheese and bacon, cheese and pineapple which are toppings over a thick piece of bread, and the Pork/Chicken Roll, which is a regular long baked bread roll, cut with sliced pork or chicken, carrot, spring onion, soy sauce, coriander, cucumber and often chilli.

The primary basis of Australian culture up until the mid-20th century was Anglo-Celtic, although distinctive Australian features had been evolving from the environment and indigenous culture. Over the past 50 years, Australian culture has been strongly influenced by American popular culture (particularly television and cinema), large-scale immigration from non-English-speaking countries, and Australia's Asian neighbours. The vigour and originality of the arts in Australia — films, opera, music, painting, theatre, dance, and crafts — achieve international recognition.

Australia has a long history of visual arts, starting with the cave and bark paintings of its indigenous peoples. From the time of European settlement, a common theme in Australian art has been the Australian landscape, seen in the works of Arthur Streeton, Arthur Boyd and Albert Namatjira, among others. The traditions of indigenous Australians are largely transmitted orally and are closely tied to ceremony and the telling of the stories of the Dreamtime. Australian Aboriginal music, dance and art have a palpable influence on contemporary Australian visual and performing arts.

Australia has an active tradition of music, ballet and theatre; many of its performing arts companies receive public funding through the federal government's Australia Council. There is a symphony orchestra in each capital city, and a national opera company, Opera Australia, first made prominent by the renowned diva Dame Joan Sutherland; Australian music includes classical, jazz, and many popular music genres.

Australian literature has also been influenced by the landscape; the works of writers such as Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson captured the experience of the Australian bush. The character of colonial Australia, as embodied in early literature, resonates with modern Australia and its perceived emphasis on egalitarianism, mateship, and anti-authoritarianism. In 1973, Patrick White was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the only Australian to have achieved this; he is recognised as one of the great English-language writers of the twentieth century.

Australian English is a major variety of the language; its grammar and spelling are largely based on those of British English, overlaid with a rich vernacular of unique lexical items and phrases, some of which have found their way into standard English. Australian rules football was developed in Australia in the late 1850s and is played at amateur and professional levels. It is the most popular spectator sport in Australia in terms of annual attendances and club memberships.

Australia has two public broadcasters (the ABC and the multi-cultural SBS), three commercial television networks, three pay TV services, and numerous public, non-profit television and radio stations. Australia's film industry has achieved critical and commercial successes. Each major city has daily newspapers, and there are two national daily newspapers, The Australian and The Australian Financial Review. According to Reporters Without Borders in 2005, Australia is in thirty first position on a list of countries ranked by press freedom, behind New Zealand (9th) and the United Kingdom (28th) but ahead of the United States. This ranking is primarily due to the limited diversity of commercial media ownership in Australia. Most Australian print media in particular is under the control of either News Corporation or John Fairfax Holdings.

Sport plays an important part in Australian culture, assisted by a climate that favours outdoor activities; 23.5% Australians over the age of 15 regularly participate in organised sporting activities. At an international level, Australia has particularly strong teams in cricket, hockey, netball, rugby league, rugby union, and performs well in cycling, rowing and swimming. Nationally, other popular sports include Australian rules football, horse racing, soccer and motor racing. Australia has participated in every summer Olympic Games of the modern era, and every Commonwealth Games. Australia has hosted the 1956 and 2000 Summer Olympics, and has ranked among the top five medal-takers since 2000.

Australia has also hosted the 1938, 1962, 1982 and 2006 Commonwealth Games. Other major international events held regularly in Australia include the Australian Open, one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, annual international cricket matches and the Formula One Australian Grand Prix. Corporate and government sponsorship of many sports and elite athletes is common in Australia. Televised sport is popular; some of the highest rating television programs include the summer Olympic Games and the grand finals of local and international football competitions.