There's a proud history of innovation in Australia. From the Hills Hoist to Vegemite, some of the comforts we enjoy every day could only have been possible with the trailblazing attitude of some very creative and resourceful Australians.
Household
Hills Hoist clothes line
Did you know that people were patenting rotary clotheslines in Australia as early as 1895? But it took World War II veteran Lance Hill's savvy business acumen and innovation to bring the invention to the public's attention. Even though his rotary clothesline wasn't a new invention — it was a copy of an expired 1925 patent — Hill's fresh approach to marketing meant that his windable clothes hoist soon dominated the market when it was introduced in 1947.
Victa rotary lawn mower
Mervyn Victor Richardson wanted a lawn mower that could cut long, thick grass and so in 1952, he produced the first Victa mower out of his garage in Sydney. The rotary action blades proved revolutionary and Victa mowers soon became an Australian backyard staple. Today, Victa mowers are exported to over 30 countries worldwide and continue to enjoy a strong reputation.
Indigenous seasonal calendars
Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples develop and maintain their seasonal calendars from generation to generation, to know the coming of seasonal food sources, breeding seasons and when plants are ready to harvest. Between 2007 and 2022, some Indigenous language groups collaborated with the CSIRO to record their own seasonal calendars and share their knowledge with the wider community. These calendars are available from the CSIRO as educational resources.
Bush glue
Refining the resin from grasses, shrubs and trees, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples developed a glue that was soft when warm but set hard once cooled. Bush glue is used for holding spear tips and woomera hooks, binding knife handles, sealing containers and baskets, repairing canoes, and much more. Bush glue has been used for thousands of years and continues to be used today.
Baby safety capsule
People have owned cars since the early 1900s and yet, right up till 1984, there was no secure way to protect babies in transit. That year, William (Bill) Bowtell and Bob Heath of an Adelaide engineering company now known as Britax Childcare, invented the baby safety capsule. Designed to lock into a standard-sized car seat, the capsule consisted of a bassinet inside a base and was named 'Safe-n-Sound'. Today, it's still considered one of the best safety child restraints worldwide.
Ether refrigeration system
Next time you use your fridge, think of Australian James Harrison who changed the face of refrigeration forever. Having invented and successfully commercialised the ice-making machine, he stretched his idea to an ether vapour compression refrigeration system which he patented as a 'refrigerating machine' in 1885. Harrison’s method of refrigeration is still used by fridges today, but the mechanism has been enhanced significantly and ether isn't used anymore.
Electric drill
We can all can thank two pioneering Aussies for this most handy piece of household equipment. In 1889, Melbourne electrical engineers Arthur James Arnot and William Brain patented the world’s first electric drill for drilling through rock faces and coal shafts. Their technology paved the way for the portable hand drills that today sit in most garages around the world.
Sport
Marn Grook
Did you know that Marn Grook (from the Woiwurung language of the Kulin people meaning 'ball' and 'game'), is believed by some historians to have been the inspiration for Australian rules football? Marn Grook involved punt kicking and some players would leap up to five feet off the ground to catch the ball, which was made of possum skin and stuffed with grass or ground charcoal. A winner could only be announced when both sides agreed that one side had played better.
Australian rules football
Known across the world as an iconic Australian sport, Australian rules football (AFL) was developed in 1858. Tom Wills and Henry Harrison wrote the first 10 rules of AFL, becoming the first in the world to codify a ball kicking game — before rugby, soccer and gridiron.
Foods
Brewarrina fish traps
The Ngemba people of Brewarrina in NSW used their advanced knowledge of rivers and fish behaviour to trap and catch large numbers of fish in the Darling River. Thousands of years old, the innovative fish traps, known as Ngunnhu, are a complex network of river stones, arranged to form ponds and channels that catch fish as they travel downstream. First Nations People in the region continue to use and maintain them.
Vegemite
Did you know that when Vegemite first came out in 1923, Australians were reluctant to try it? Fred Walker, whose company is now known as the Kraft Food Company, hired Dr. Cyril P Callister to develop a spread that would compete with Marmite, the preferred spread at the time. Vegemite landed on Australian shelves in 1923 but Australians were hesitant. After many tireless marketing efforts, Vegemite finally became a household staple in 1942— 20 years after it was invented.
Macadamias
Even though macadamias originate in Australia, before 1988 most macadamia tree varieties came from Hawaii and were bred to suit Hawaiian conditions. In 1975, Hidden Valley Plantations, a small macadamia business in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, started a macadamia breeding program. In 1988, owner Henry Bell submitted the first application for plant breeder's rights in Australia for his Hidden Valley A4 variety. Today, it's popular in nurseries throughout Australia.
Commerce
Polymer banknotes
To make our currency more difficult to counterfeit, banknotes printed on polymer — a type of plastic — were first developed through a collaboration between the Reserve Bank of Australia, the CSIRO and Melbourne University. They were first issued as currency in Australia in 1988 and have since been adopted by 23 other countries.
