Pastoral Australia tells the story of the expansion of Australia's pastoral industry, how it drove European settlement and involved Aboriginal people in the new settler society. The rural life that once saw Australia "ride on the sheep's back" is no longer what defines Australians, yet it is largely their history as a pastoral nation that has endured in heritage places and which is embedded in their self-image as Australians.

The challenges of sustaining a pastoral industry in Australia make a compelling story of their own. Developing livestock breeds able to prosper in the Australian environment was an ongoing challenge, as was getting wool and meat to market.

Many stock routes, wool stores, abattoirs, wharf facilities, railways, roads, and river and ocean transport systems that were developed to link the pastoral interior with the urban and market infrastructure still survive. Windmills, fences, homesteads, shearing sheds, bores, stock yards, traveling stock routes, bush roads and railheads all changed the look of the country. These features of the landscape are symbols of a pastoral Australia, and of the foundations of a national identity, which will endure long into the future.

Key features
- Outlines the history of pastoralism from 1788 to 1967 in an accessible way
- Links the history to the many and varied surviving sites and landscape features created by it, which are now part of the heritage
- Tells the story of involvement of Aboriginal people in pastoralism, particularly in northern Australia
- Puts pastoralism into the context of Australia's development as a nation

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