Eastern states of Australia

The eastern states of Australia are the states adjoining the east continental coastline of Australia. These are the mainland states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, and the island state of Tasmania. The Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory, while not states, are also included. On some occasions, the southern state of South Australia is also included in this grouping due to its economic ties with the eastern states.

Regardless of which definition is used, the eastern states include the great majority of the Australian population.^[1] They contain the federal capital Canberra and Australia's three largest cities Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (all capitals of the respective east coast states). Of the 19 Australian cities with populations over 100,000 in 2021, 16 were located in the eastern states under the restricted definition (17 if including South Australia), which includes the two non-capital cities with a population over 500,000: Gold Coast, Queensland and Newcastle, New South Wales. 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), and that is the definition that this article will adhere to, unless noted.