The independent Commonwealth of Australia occupies the entire Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. British exploration and settling of the continent began late in the 1700s, with the first colony established in the Sydney area in 1788. By the 1850s there were six British colonies, including New South Wales and Queensland in the east, Victoria and South Australia in the south, Western Australia in the west, and Tasmania off the south coast. The Commonwealth was formed on New Years Day 1901 as a federation of the six colonies. Australia is both the smallest continent and the sixth-largest country in the world, with a population of about 26 million. The state of Victoria is located in the southeastern corner of Australia and includes the country's second largest metropolitan area, Melbourne. Victoria is the smallest mainland Australian state but it has a dangerous coastline that required about 20 historic light stations. The eastern two thirds of the coastline faces south, looking across the Bass Strait to Tasmania, and the western third faces southwest onto the Southern Ocean. Victoria is divided into 79 local government areas, including 39 shires, 39 urban or rural cities, and one borough. Lighthouse management: coastal aids to navigation in Australia are maintained by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). Harbor aids are maintained by Ports Victoria, formed in 2021 by merging the former Victorian Ports Corporation (Melbourne) (VPCM) and Victorian Regional Channels Authority (VRCA). Many of the light stations are now parklands managed by Parks Victoria. Special thanks are due to Heather Craven for her photos and comments on the lighthouses of her native Victoria. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume K of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals and U.S. NGA numbers are from NGA Publication 111.
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Gippsland Lighthouses
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Port Phillip (Melbourne/Geelong Area) Lighthouses
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![]() West Channel Pile Light, St. Leonards, June 2021 Instagram photo by Ultimate Adventures Bellarine peninsula |
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![]() Hume Tower, Murray Tower, and White Lighthouse, December 2019 photo copyright Heather Craven; used by permission |
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![]() Point Lonsdale Light, Queenscliff, February 2022 photo copyright Heather Craven; used by permission |
Southwest Coast Lighthouses
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses: |
Adjoining pages: North: Southern New South Wales | South: Tasmania | West: South Australia
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted May 3, 2004. Checked and revised March 2, 2025. Lighthouses: 42. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.