The eastern states of Australia are the states
adjoining the east coast of Australia. These are
the mainland states of Victoria, Queensland,
and New South Wales; the Australian Capital
Territory and Jervis Bay Territory, while not
states, are also included. The term usually
includes the island state of Tasmania. On some
occasions, the state of South Australia is
included in this grouping. Similar terms include
East Coast and Eastern Seaboard.


The Eastern Australian states. States in red are
always defined as eastern. The term can
sometimes be applied to the states in orange
Regardless of which definition is used, the
eastern states include the majority – around
80% –of the Australian population, the federal
capital, Canberra, and the three largest cities:
Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. It also
includes the Gold Coast, Queensland,
Newcastle, New South Wales and Wollongong,
New South Wales as the three largest non-
capital cities in the country. In terms of climate,
the area is dominated by a humid subtropical
zone, with some tropical (Queensland) and
oceanic climate (Australian Capital Territory,
Victoria, New South Wales) zones. In most
situations, the eastern states are defined as
those who use Australian Eastern Standard
Time (AEST).