Life In Australia

The Australian National Anthem is ‘Advance Australia Fair.’ The words can be read here. It was adopted as recently as April 19th 1984.

Before this, ‘God Save The Queen,’ the British National Anthem, was also the National Anthem of Australia. ‘God Save the Queen’ is still played in the presence of the Queen and members of the British Royal Family.

The words and music of ‘Advance Australia Fair’ were written in 1878, more than one hundred years before it became the Australian National Anthem, by Peter Dodds McCormick who emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1855.

During a referendum in 1977, Australians were asked to vote for a song to become the National Anthem. ‘Advance Australia Fair’ was the most popular choice, but, interestingly, ‘Waltzing Matilda,’ a traditional Australian song made popular by Rolf Harris, came second!

There is currently a competition called ‘Advance Australia Dare’ in which Australians are invited to record their own versions of the National Anthem and post videos on a website. You can view the videos and vote for your favourites here.