Australian Culture

SchoolAbout one-fourth of children in Australia

attend private schools, while the other three-fourths attend public schools.

• Most children wear uniforms to school.

• Lunch and recess are almost always outside due to the pleasant weather.

• Children begin primary school (elementary) around 5-6 years old. When finished, they attend 5-6 years of secondary school (high school).

• Vacation breaks between school years last only about 6 weeks.

MoneyThe currency in Australia is called the

Australian dollar.

Australia’s GovernmentParliamentary democracy

►3 branches= Legislative (makes laws)-parliament, which

consists of 2 sections (House & Senate) with a Prime Minister as its leader

Executive (enforces laws)-Queen of England (symbol) with the Governor-General being the actual person with power

Judicial (interprets laws)-High Court of Australia

►People vote for their leaders & have free speech, religion, etc.

Life in Australia

In Australia, children attend school for about six hours a day. • Here, kids like video and computer games, playing at friend’s houses, practicing for sports and musical activities, swimming, fishing, riding bikes, going bushwalking (hiking), karate, tennis, boxing, chasing large lizards, etc.

Housing in Cities

Holidays• Christmas – in Australia, December is in the middle

of summer, so celebrations include BBQing, swimming, going to the beach, picnics, etc.

• Boxing Day (day after Christmas when gifts are given) • Anzac Day – April 25th to honor those Australians who have died in battle

Common FoodsAustralians are best known for their barbecues, which began a long

time ago with the Aborigines (original Australians) • Fresh seafood • Fish and chips (french fries) • Vegemite (a salty sandwich spread made from yeast) • Chicko Roll • Australian Meat Pie • Lamington

Sports and Games Popular sports like the United States:

– Football – Basketball – Baseball – soccer

Popular sports more common to Australia:

– ocean sports (surfing,swimming,etc.) – Skiing – cricket (similar to baseball) – rugby (similar to football) – netball for girls (similar to basketball without dribbling)

Language Australians speak a form of English called Aussie. Many of their words and phrases are only found

in Australia. • Many words in Aussie are shortened in normal conversation.

• Some words are completely different than normal English words.

Try these:– Breakfast =__________– Television = __________– Football = _________– Toilet = __________– Cookie = __________– Swimming suit = ___________– Gasoline = ________

How did you do?

– Breakfast = breakky – Television = telly – Football = footy

– Toilet = loo – Cookie = biscuit

– Swimming suit = togs – Gasoline = petrol