This is primarily a list of towns and cities in Australia by year of settlement. The article also contains information on permanent settlements established in Australia before British settlement commenced in 1788.

Pre-European settlements

Australia proper For 40,000–70,000 years, the Australian mainland and Tasmania have been inhabited by the Australian Aboriginal people, and the Torres Strait Islands (now part of Queensland) by Torres Strait Islanders. Aboriginal people were hunter-gatherers and fire stick farmers who travelled between seasonal settlements inside country boundaries. Many groups had more permanent camps that they lived in for much of the year. Torres Strait Islanders engaged in some agriculture and had permanent villages. In 1788, the British Empire began colonising Australia, constructing permanent towns and farms. Aboriginal people began living in permanent settlements, some by choice while others were forced.

External territories The Cocos-Keeling Islands and Christmas Island have only been inhabited since the 1880s. Information for them can be found in the table below. Norfolk Island was first settled by Polynesians in the 13th or 14th century. In 1788 the British colonised the island, by that time the Polynesians had been gone for hundreds of years. Jervis Bay Territory is located on the Australian mainland and has two small villages. Prior to British settlement, the area was inhabited by Yuin aboriginal people. The Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory have never had permanent inhabitants, but do have weather and research stations where people temporarily live and work. The Ashmore and Cartier Islands have never been inhabited, but are regularly visited by traditional Indonesian fishers.

Former territories From 1947 to 1966, Australia administered the island of Nauru, which has been inhabited for at least three thousand years. The Nauruan people traditionally lived in permanent villages. Nauru is now an independent sovereign country formally called the Republic of Nauru. Australia governed the Territory of New Guinea (1920–1941), Territory of Papua (1902–1945) and then the Territory of Papua and New Guinea (1945–1979), which were all located on the island of New Guinea. Many of the native Papuan people traditionally lived in permanent settlements. In 1979 these territories became the independent sovereign country of Papua New Guinea.

18th century Year Town/City State/TerritoryNotes 1788 Sydney New South Wales First permanent Australian city. Largest city in Australia, capital of New South Wales. 1788 Parramatta New South Wales Second-oldest settlement in Australia. Now a part of the Sydney urban area. 1788 Kingston Norfolk Island Island settled as part of the Colony of New South Wales. It is now a separate territory of Australia. 1791 Windsor New South Wales Part of the City of Hawkesbury and Sydney urban area 1794 Richmond New South Wales Originally known as Richmond Hill, which is part of the City of Hawkesbury and Sydney urban area 1794 Pitt Town Bottoms New South Wales Originally known as Mulgrave Place. Part of the City of Hawkesbury. 1798 Liverpool New South Wales Now part of the greater Sydney metro area.

19th century 1800s Year Town/City State/TerritoryNotes 1801 Newcastle New South WalesOriginal settlement abandoned in 1802. Resettled in 1804. 1803 Hobart Tasmania Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city. Largest city and capital of Tasmania. Originally settled at Risdon Cove, the settlement was moved to Sullivans Cove in 1804. 1803 George Town Tasmania 1806 Launceston Tasmania 1807 New Norfolk Tasmania 1808 Sorell Tasmania

1810s Year Town/City State/Territory Notes 1812 Ross Tasmania 1813 Longford Tasmania 1814 Bathurst New South Wales Oldest inland settlement in Australia 1815 Blackheath New South Wales 1817 Shellharbour New South Wales 1818 Penrith New South Wales

1820s Year Town/City State/Territory Notes 1820s Singleton New South Wales 1820 Campbelltown New South Wales Now part of the greater Sydney metro area. 1820 Maitland New South Wales 1821 Morpeth New South Wales 1821 Port Macquarie New South Wales 1821MudgeeNew South Wales 1821 Perth Tasmania 1822 Bothwell Tasmania 1823 Gosford New South WalesOne of the two mergers of the Central Coast with Wyong 1823 Richmond Tasmania 1823 Wellington New South Wales 1824 Redcliffe Queensland First European settlement in Queensland 1825 Brisbane Queensland Largest city and capital of Queensland. 1826 King George's Sound (Albany) Western Australia Oldest settlement in the western half of Australia 1826 Burrangong Station (Young) New South Wales Settled as Burrangong Station, in Lambing Flat. Gazetted as Young in the 1860s. 1827 Burnie Tasmania Settled as Emu Bay, renamed in the early 1840s to Burnie after William Burnie. 1827 Oceania House, Home Island Cocos-Keeling Islands The islands were uninhabited prior to 1827. They became a territory of Australia in 1955. 1827 Tarago New South Wales 1829 Clarence Western Australia Abandoned in the early 1830s. 1829 Fremantle Western Australia 1829 Perth Western Australia Established as Swan River Colony. Largest city and capital of Western Australia. 1829 Guildford Western Australia

1830s Year Town/City State/TerritoryNotes 1830 Augusta Western Australia 1830 Berrima New South Wales 1830 Port Arthur Tasmania 1831 Mandurah Western Australia 1831 Taree New South Wales 1832 Busselton Western Australia 1833 Northam Western Australia 1833 Goulburn New South Wales First Inland city 1833 Muswellbrook New South Wales 1834 Portland Victoria Oldest European settlement in Victoria. 1834 Wollongong New South Wales 1834 PinjarraWestern Australia 1835 York Western Australia 1835 Melbourne Victoria Second-largest city in Australia and capital of Victoria. 1836 Adelaide South Australia Largest city and capital of South Australia. 1836 Bunbury Western Australia 1836 Gawler South Australia 1836 Holbrook New South Wales 1836 Kempsey New South Wales 1836 Kingscote South Australia Oldest European settlement in South Australia 1836 Littlehampton South Australia 1836 Sunbury Victoria 1836 Wauchope New South Wales 1837 Bungendore New South Wales 1837 Colo Vale New South Wales 1837 Dandenong Victoria Now part of the greater Melbourne metro area. 1837 Southport Tasmania Most southern township in Australia. 1837 Yass New South Wales 1838 Buninyong Victoria 1838 Geelong Victoria 1838 Gundagai New South Wales 1838 Queanbeyan New South Wales 1839 Albury New South Wales 1839 Braidwood New South Wales 1839 Echunga South Australia 1839 Gumeracha South Australia 1839 Hahndorf South Australia 1839 Mount Barker South Australia 1839 Port Lincoln South Australia 1839 Seymour Victoria 1839 Thebarton South Australia

1840s Year Town/City State/Territory Notes 1840s Benalla Victoria 1840s Dalby Queensland 1840s Traralgon Victoria 1840s Toowoomba Queensland 1840s Ulladulla New South Wales 1840s Wee Waa New South Wales 1840 Macclesfield South Australia 1840 Melrose South Australia Oldest town in the Flinders Ranges. 1840 Oakbank South Australia 1842 Ballina New South Wales 1842 Caboolture Queensland 1842HorshamVictoria 1842KapundaSouth Australia 1842 Lobethal South Australia 1843 Boydtown New South Wales 1843 Eden New South Wales 1843 Wangaratta Victoria 1844 Bacchus Marsh Victoria 1844 Tweed Heads New South Wales 1844 Wingham New South Wales 1845 Jimboomba Queensland 1845 Port Pirie South Australia 1845 Burra South Australia1846CowraNew South Wales1846GraftonNew South Wales 1846 Ipswich Queensland 1846 Orange New South Wales1846Swan HillVictoria 1847 Temora New South Wales 1847 Maryborough Queensland 1847 Rockingham Western Australia 1847 Wagga Wagga New South Wales 1848 Birdwood South Australia Originally named Blumberg. 1848 Nanango Queensland 1849 Armidale New South Wales 1849 Cooma New South Wales 1849 Dubbo New South Wales 1849 Gayndah Queensland 1849 Surat Queensland

1850s Year Town/City State/TerritoryNotes 1850sBoggabri New South Wales 1850s Casino New South Wales 1850s Woodside South Australia 1850 Cessnock New South Wales 1850 Deniliquin New South Wales 1850 Geraldton Western Australia 1850 Meadows South Australia 1850 Warwick Queensland 1850 Tamworth New South Wales 1851 Bega New South Wales 1851 Bendigo Victoria 1851 Ballarat Victoria 1851 Castlemaine Victoria 1851 Hamilton Victoria 1851 Horsham Victoria 1851 Moama New South Wales 1851 Sale Victoria 1851 Tenterfield New South Wales 1852 Bordertown South Australia 1852 Daylesford Victoria 1852 Glen Innes New South Wales 1852 Lismore New South Wales 1852 Mount Gambier South Australia 1852 Nowra New South Wales 1852 Port Augusta South Australia 1852 Port Elliot South Australia 1852 Walcha New South Wales 1852 Wodonga Victoria 1853 Beechworth Victoria 1853 Goolwa South Australia 1853StawellVictoria 1853 Currajong (Parkes) New South Wales Originally founded as Currajong, but known as "Bushman's". Renamed to Parkes in 1873. 1853 Port Gregory Western Australia 1854 Colac Victoria 1854 Camperdown Victoria 1854 Devonport Tasmania 1854 Echuca Victoria 1854 Gladstone Queensland 1854 Stirling South Australia 1854 Tinonee New South Wales 1854 Yamba New South Wales 1855 Gatton Queensland 1855 Samford Queensland 1855 Warrnambool Victoria 1856 Gunnedah New South Wales 1856 Inverell New South Wales 1856 Quirindi New South Wales 1857 Ararat Victoria 1857 Ulverstone Tasmania 1858 Chiltern Victoria 1858 Laidley Queensland 1858 Rockhampton Queensland 1858 Corowa New South Wales 1859 Allora Queensland 1859 Barmera South Australia 1859 Hay New South Wales 1859 Scottsdale Tasmania 1859 Walgett New South Wales

1860s Year Town/City State/TerritoryNotes 1860s Glenrowan Victoria 1860s Mangalore Victoria 1860 Bairnsdale Victoria 1860 Barnawartha Victoria 1860 Shepparton Victoria 1860 Narrabri New South Wales 1861 Cootamundra New South WalesOfficially settled in 1847 as a stock run, incorporated in 1861. 1861 Bowen Queensland 1861 Bowral New South Wales 1861 Forbes New South Wales 1861 Moss Vale New South Wales 1862 Inglewood Queensland 1862 Moree New South Wales 1862 St George Queensland 1862 Tharwa Australian Capital Territory Oldest official settlement in the Australian Capital Territory 1863 Cossack Western Australia First town in northwest Australia 1863 Springsure Queensland 1863 Tambo Queensland Oldest town in western Queensland 1863 Victor Harbor South Australia 1863 Walhalla Victoria 1864 Clermont Queensland 1864 Northampton Western Australia 1864 Ingham Queensland 1864 Mitchell Queensland 1864 Somerset Queensland No longer inhabited. 1865 Burketown Queensland 1865 Charleville Queensland 1865 Roebourne Western Australia 1865 Townsville Queensland 1866 Beenleigh Queensland1866 Mount Victoria New South Wales 1867 Cloncurry Queensland 1867 Nambucca Heads New South Wales 1867 Normanton Queensland 1867 Roma Queensland 1868 Bridgetown Western Australia 1868 Cunnamulla Queensland 1868 Gympie Queensland 1868 Yeppoon Queensland 1869 Bourke New South Wales 1869 Darwin Northern Territory Largest city and capital of the Northern Territory. 1869 Walla Walla New South Wales

1870s