Quirky Tasmania

The first telephone call in Australia was made in Tasmania, between Launceston and Campbell Town in 1874.

The first parking meters in Australia were installed in Collins Street, Hobart, in 1955.

Tasmania has more visitors per year than its entire population.

Tasmania was the first state to introduce ground-breaking relationship legislation (Relationships Act 2003), providing legal rights for de factos and same-sex couples in ‘significant relationships’.

Australia’s first legal casino was opened in Hobart in 1973.

Australia’s oldest live theatre venue, the Theatre Royal in Hobart.

Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world, measured at Cape Grim on the north-west coast.

Tasmania was the first Australian state to introduce a compulsory state education system in 1868.

The Tasmanian town of Coles Bay, on the Freycinet Peninsula, was the first town in Australia to ban plastic bags in April 2003. 

Australia’s oldest brewery, Cascade Brewery is in Hobart.

Australia’s oldest golf course is at Bothwell, in the Tasmanian midlands.

Tasmanian George Adams established the first Tattersalls Lottery in Hobart, 1896. This lottery has now evolved into Australia’s Tattslotto system.

Australia’s first and oldest existing synagogue, built in 1845, is in Hobart. Services are held every Friday.

Tasmania has the lowest crime rate of any Australian state.

Australia’s oldest bridge still in use is the 1823, convict-built Richmond Bridge.

The longest single-span chairlift in the world is across Launceston’s Cataract Gorge.

Hobart is the second driest capital city in Australia, after Adelaide.

The world’s smallest marsupial, the pygmy possum, is native to Tasmania.