This is a list of lighthouses and lightvessels in Australia.
Australia has a coastline of 25,760 kilometres (16,010 mi), [1] with over 350 lighthouses and navigational aids around the Australian coastline, [2] and a single inland lighthouse, the Point Malcolm lighthouse. [3]
The first lighthouse was Macquarie Lighthouse, which was lit in 1793 as a tripod mounted wood and coal fired beacon. [2] [4] The last staffed lighthouse was Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse, off the south coast of Tasmania, which was automated in 1996. [2]
The lighthouses and lightvessels of Australia are listed in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency List of Lights publication 111. [5] They are listed by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office on volume K of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. [6] The ARLHS World List of Lights lists them with the prefix "AUS". [7]
On The Lighthouse Directory, the lighthouses of Australia are listed according to their location:
Another listing is held by Lighthouses of Australia Inc., which lists lighthouses by state [17]
Another list exists at Australian Lighthouses, a website which includes both an A-Z list [25] and a list by state. [26]
A list also exists at SeaSide Lights, which lists lighthouses by state: [27]
In order to be listed below, an active lighthouse has to appear at least in one of The Lighthouse Directory, Lighthouses of Australia Inc. or SeaSide Lights. Other lists mentioned above include many lights which are hard to describe as "lighthouses". [35] Historical lighthouses were sometimes included when they are mentioned in other reliable sources.
Most of the lighthouses and lightvessels in Australia are managed by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), though the AMSA usually only manages the lighting equipment, with local authorities managing the lighthouses and parklands. In New South Wales the lighthouses and parklands are mostly managed by the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water or the New South Wales Department of Lands. [9] In the Northern Territory some of the lighthouses are managed by the Darwin Port Corporation. [10] In South Australia some of the stations are managed by the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. [13] In Tasmania, many lighthouses are managed by the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service. [14] In Victoria, harbour aids are maintained by the Port of Melbourne Corporation in the Melbourne area and by the Victorian Regional Channels Authority elsewhere, [36] while parklands are mostly managed by Parks Victoria. [15] In Western Australia some of the stations are managed by the Department of Environment and Conservation.
Location | Name | Image | Coordinates | Established | Automated | Deactivated | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jervis Bay Village | Cape St George Lighthouse | ![]() | 35°09′07″S150°45′42″E / 35.15184°S 150.76154°E | 1860 | 1889 | Destroyed [37] |
There are several lighthouse siblings in the vicinity – lighthouses that were designed by the same architect around the same time, which are very similar by design. These include:
Most of the lighthouses in the Northern Territory were constructed by the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service during the "Golden Age of Australian Lighthouses", between 1913 and 1920. These include Cape Don Light, East Vernon Light, Emery Point Light, Cape Hotham Light and Cape Fourcroy. [50]
Of these five, three can be considered "siblings", Cape Hotham Light, Emery Point Light and Cape Fourcroy Light. They are almost identical white square skeletal towers, and they also share a similar light characteristic, three flashes every 15 second (Fl.(3) 15s). [51]
Location | Name | Image | Coordinates | Year established | Year automated | Status | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cobourg Peninsula | Cape Don Light | ![]() | 11°18′28″S131°45′55″E / 11.30786°S 131.76515°E | 1917 | 1983 | active | solar powered [52] |
Cape Fourcroy | Cape Fourcroy Light | 11°47′51″S130°01′28″E / 11.79747°S 130.02434°E | active | ||||
Clarence Strait | Cape Hotham Light | ![]() | 12°02′47″S131°17′22″E / 12.04644°S 131.28946°E | 1928 | active | ||
East Vernon Island | East Vernon Light | ![]() | 12°04′38″S131°05′43″E / 12.07722°S 131.09531°E | 1928 | active | ||
Larrakeyah Barracks | Emery Point Light | | 12°27′14″S130°48′56″E / 12.45382°S 130.81555°E | 1900 | active | ||
Cox Peninsula | Point Charles Light | ![]() | 12°23′21″S130°37′50″E / 12.38929°S 130.63068°E | 1893 | 1933 | active | survived cyclone Tracy; [53] solar powered [54] |
Most lighthouses in Queensland were constructed in well established groups:
The Cliffy Island Lighthouse is located atop Cliffy Island, a steep-sided island which is the summit of a granite submarine mountain in the Bass Strait. Cliffy Island is located about 32 kilometres directly south of Port Albert, and roughly 38 kilometres to the northeast of Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse in Victoria, Australia. The lighthouse warns approaching vessels of rocks in Bass Strait by emitting a flash of white light every five seconds. The focal plane of the lightsource and Fresnel lens is situated 52 metres above sea level. The site is managed by the Victoria Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, while the lighthouse itself is operated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). The island is accessible only by helicopter, and the entire site is closed to the public.
Burrewarra Point Light is an active lighthouse located at Burrewarra Point, New South Wales, Australia, which is north of Broulee and 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the south of Batemans Bay.
Cape Baily Light is an active lighthouse located at Cape Baily, a headland at the south side of the entrance to Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia. The light serves to help north-bound shipping hug the coast to avoid the strong southerly currents further out to sea.
Eastern Channel Pile Light, also known as the East Wedding Cake due to its shape, is an active pile lighthouse located at the Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia, off Laings Point in the Vaucluse suburb of Sydney. It marks the eastern end of the Sow and Pigs Reef.
Fingal Head Light is an active lighthouse located at Fingal Head, New South Wales, Australia, a headland about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Point Danger, which marks the Queensland border.
Fort Denison Light, also known as Pinchgut Light, is an active lighthouse located on top of a Martello Tower at Fort Denison, a former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. The island is located downstream from the Harbour Bridge near Potts Point and the Royal Botanic Gardens. The fort is also known as "Pinchgut" lending its name to the light.
Robertson Point Light, also known as Cremorne Point Light, is an active lighthouse in Cremorne Point, a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the sibling of Bradleys Head Light.
Parriwi Head Light, also known as Rosherville Light and Port Jackson Entrance Range Rear Light, is an active lighthouse located just off Parriwi Road, near Rosherville Reserve on the south side of Middle Harbour in Mosman, New South Wales, Australia. It serves as the rear range light, Grotto Point Light serving as the front light, into Port Jackson. Grotto Point Light is located almost exactly 1 mile (1.6 km) in front of Parriwi Head Light.
Vaucluse Bay Range Front Light is an active lighthouse located on the east side of the entrance to Vaucluse Bay in Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia. It serves as the front range light into Vaucluse Bay. The distance between the lights is 945 metres (3,100 ft).
Vaucluse Bay Range Rear Light is an active lighthouse located on the east side of the entrance to Vaucluse Bay in Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia. It serves as the rear range light companion to the Vaucluse Bay Range Front Light, into Vaucluse Bay. The distance between the two lights is 945 metres (3,100 ft).
Shark Island Light is an active pile lighthouse located just north of Shark Island, an island in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. Its light is only visible on in the fairway of the harbour, between Shark Point and Point Piper.
Western Channel Pile Light, also known as the West Wedding Cake due to its shape, is an active pile lighthouse located at the Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia, off Georges Head at Mosman. It marks the western end of the Sow and Pigs Reef. It collapsed in December 2006 and was reconstructed and restored to operation in December 2008.
Cape Hotham Light is an active lighthouse in the Northern Territory of Australia located on Cape Hotham on the coastline of the Van Diemen Gulf about 80 kilometres (50 mi) northeast of the territory capital of Darwin, The lighthouse marks the entrance to Clarence Strait, the eastern approach to Darwin.
Archer Point Light is an active lighthouse on Archer Point, a conical, 60-metre-high (200 ft) grassy headland about 29km southeast of Cooktown, Queensland, Australia. Originally an 1883 timber frame lighthouse covered with galvanised iron, it was replaced in 1975 with a modern square concrete equipment room topped with a lantern.
Booby Island Light is an active heritage-listed lighthouse located on Booby Island in the Shire of Torres, near the tip of Cape York Peninsula, west of Prince of Wales Island, within the Endeavour Strait, Queensland, Australia. It marks the western entrance to the navigation channel through the Torres Strait. It was the last of the major lights to be constructed along the Queensland coast.
Bustard Head Light is an active lighthouse located on the southeast tip of Bustard Head, a headland, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northwest of Seventeen Seventy, in the Australian state of Queensland, within the Eurimbula National Park and locality of Eurimbula. Built in 1868, it is the second-oldest lightstation in the state, following Cape Moreton Light, and the first to be built in Queensland after its formation in 1859. It is also one of the first in Australia to be constructed using bolted prefabricated segments of cast iron, and one of only two such lighthouses in Queensland, the other being its sibling, Sandy Cape Light. It serves as the central relay for Dent Island Light, Pine Islet Light and Lady Elliot Island Light and as the radio check post for Cape Capricorn Light, Sandy Cape Light and Double Island Point Light.
Point Danger Light, also known as the Captain Cook Memorial Light, is an active lighthouse located on Point Danger, a headland between Coolangatta and Tweed Heads, marking the border between Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. It lays claim to be the first lighthouse in the world to experiment with laser as a light source.
Point Cartwright Light is an active lighthouse located on Point Cartwright, a point near the mouth of the Mooloolah River, in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia. It marks the entrance to the North West Channel, a deep water channel into Moreton Bay and the Port of Brisbane, and provides guidance into the Mooloolaba Harbour.
Cape Bowling Green Light is an active lighthouse on Cape Bowling Green, a long headland ending in a long low sandspit, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Ayr, Queensland, Australia. The lighthouse is at the end of the headland, near the base of the sandspit. The first lighthouse at the location, established in 1874, was moved multiple times. It was prefabricated in Brisbane, shipped to the location, moved twice due to coastal erosion and finally transferred for display at the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour in Sydney.
Eborac Island Light is an active lighthouse on Eborac Island, a small rocky island in the Adolphus Channel just off Cape York, the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland, Australia. It guides ships into the coastal channel inside the Great Barrier Reef. A concrete structure was built in 1921 and converted to solar power in 1990. It was replaced with a fiberglass structure in 2012.
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