The Greatest Australian Books of All Time
Click to learn how this list is calculated.
This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 465 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.
| Rank | Book | Authors | Year | Country | Language | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 354 | The Man Who Loved Children | Christina Stead | 1940 | Australian | English | |
| 571 | The Thorn Birds | Colleen McCullough | 1977 | Australian | English | |
| 635 | Voss | Patrick White | 1957 | Australian | English | |
| 662 | The Female Eunuch | Germaine Greer | 1970 | Australian | English | |
| 837 | Schindler's List | Thomas Keneally | 1982 | Australian | English | |
| 1011 | True History of the Kelly Gang | Peter Carey | 2000 | Australian | English | |
| 1159 | My Brilliant Career | Miles Franklin | 1901 | Australian | English | |
| 1383 | The Tree of Man | Patrick White | 1955 | Australian | English | |
| 1557 | The Getting Of Wisdom | Henry Handel Richardson | 1910 | Australian | English | |
| 1648 | Cloudstreet | Tim Winton | 1991 | Australian | English | |
| 1663 | The Living and the Dead | Patrick White | 1941 | Australian | English | |
| 1803 | A Fringe Of Leaves | Patrick White | 1976 | Australian | English | |
| 1844 | The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony | Henry Handel Richardson | 1917 | Australian | English | |
| 1886 | The Power of One | Bryce Courtenay | 1989 | Australian | English | |
| 1953 | Beat Not The Bones | Charlotte Jay | 1952 | Australian | English | |
| 2074 | Oscar and Lucinda | Peter Carey | 1988 | Australian | English | |
| 2122 | For The Term Of His Natural Life | Marcus Clarke | 1874 | Australian | English | |
| 2122 | The Harp In The South | Ruth Park | 1948 | Australian | English | |
| 2219 | The Transit of Venus | Shirley Hazzard | 1980 | Australian | English | |
| 2437 | The Tyranny Of Distance | Geoffrey Blainey | 1966 | Australian | English | |
| 2446 | One Hundred Poems | Kenneth Slessor | 1944 | Australian | English | |
| 2533 | A Fortunate Life | A. B. Facey | 1981 | Australian | English | |
| 2615 | The Commandant | Jessica Anderson | 1975 | Australian | English | |
| 2784 | The Story Of The Rainbow Serpent | Unknown | -2000 | Australian | Unknown | |
| 2815 | Johnno | David Malouf | 1975 | Australian | English | |
| 2904 | Death of a Lake | Arthur William Upfield | 1954 | Australian | English | |
| 2904 | The Bone is Pointed | Arthur William Upfield | 1938 | Australian | English | |
| 3041 | Remembering Babylon | David Malouf | 1993 | Australian | English | |
| 3065 | Monkey Grip | Helen Garner | 1977 | Australian | English | |
| 3323 | The Children's Bach | Helen Garner | 1984 | Australian | English | |
| 3345 | The Shock of the New | Robert Hughes | 1980 | Australian | English | |
| 3429 | Coonardoo | Katherine Susannah Prichard | 1929 | Australian | English | |
| 3511 | Inland | Gerald Murnane | 1988 | Australian | English | |
| 3517 | Maurice Guest | Henry Handel Richardson | 1908 | Australian | English | |
| 3548 | The Great Fire | Shirley Hazzard | 2003 | Australian | English | |
| 3609 | On The Beach | Nevil Shute | 1957 | Australian | English | |
| 4074 | The Arrival | Shaun Tan | 2006 | Australian | English | |
| 4227 | The Magic Pudding | Norman Lindsay | 1918 | Australian | English | |
| 4296 | Big Little Lies | Liane Moriarty | 2014 | Australian | English | |
| 4438 | Night Letters | Robert Dessaix | 1996 | Australian | English | |
| 4460 | Shantaram | Gregory David Roberts | 2003 | Australian | English | |
| 4785 | Eucalyptus | Murray Bail | 1998 | Australian | English | |
| 4999 | The Road from Coorain | Jill Ker Conway | 1989 | Australian | English | |
| 5023 | Carpentaria | Alexis Wright | 2006 | Australian | English | |
| 5329 | Stradbroke Dreamtime | Oodgeroo Noonuccal | 1972 | Australian | English | |
| 5400 | Animal Liberation | Peter Singer | 1975 | Australian | English | |
| 5442 | The Little Hotel | Christina Stead | 1973 | Australian | English | |
| 5582 | To Catch A Bride | Anne Gracie | 2009 | Australian | English | |
| 5683 | My Place | Sally Morgan | 1987 | Australian | English | |
| 5689 | The Hating Game | Sally Thorne | 2016 | Australian | English | |
| 5692 | Rules Of Summer | Shaun Tan | 2013 | Australian | English | |
| 5794 | Tirra Lirra By The River | Jessica Anderson | 1978 | Australian | English | |
| 5842 | The Eye Of The Storm | Patrick White | 1973 | Australian | English | |
| 5851 | Mao's Last Dancer | Li Cunxin | 2003 | Australian | English | |
| 6089 | Tracks | Robyn Davidson | 1980 | Australian | English | |
| 6219 | Man Made Language | Dale Spender | 1980 | Australian | English | |
| 6385 | Carry Me Down | M. J. Hyland | 2006 | Australian | English | |
| 6361 | Picnic At Hanging Rock | Joan Lindsay | 1967 | Australian | English | |
| 6398 | The Tattooist Of Auschwitz | Heather Morris | 2018 | Australian | English | |
| 6438 | The Secret River | Kate Grenville | 2005 | Australian | English | |
| 6481 | The Slap | Christos Tsiolkas | 2008 | Australian | English | |
| 6547 | The Ice Is Coming | Patricia Wrightson | 1977 | Australian | English | |
| 6607 | Wrong About Japan | Peter Carey | 2005 | Australian | English | |
| 6689 | Bird | Courtney Collins | 2012 | Australian | English | |
| 6905 | Riders In The Chariot | Patrick White | 1961 | Australian | English | |
| 7301 | Fathoms | Rebecca Giggs | 2020 | Australian | English | |
| 7630 | 800 Horseman | Col Stringer | 1987 | Australian | English | |
| 7713 | This House of Grief | Helen Garner | 2014 | Australian | English | |
| 7940 | The House Tibet | Georgia Savage | 1991 | Australian | English | |
| 8026 | Ordinary Matter | Laura Elvery | 2020 | Australian | English | |
| 8160 | The Lost Man | Jane Harper | 2018 | Australian | English | |
| 8247 | Confederates | Thomas Keneally | 1979 | Australian | English | |
| 8321 | New Animal | Ella Baxter | 2021 | Australian | English | |
| 8487 | Dirrayawadha | Anita Heiss | 2024 | Australian | English | |
| 8502 | The Fatal Shore | Robert Hughes | 1987 | Australian | English | |
| 8547 | Stone Yard Devotional | Charlotte Wood | 2024 | Australian | English | |
| 8622 | The Sea And Summer | George Turner | 1987 | Australian | English | |
| 8741 | Tomorrow, When The War Began | John Marsden | 1993 | Australian | English | |
| 8773 | Looking For Alibrandi | Melina Marchetta | 1992 | Australian | English | |
| 8835 | The Weather Makers | Tim Flannery | 2005 | Australian | English | |
| 8831 | Illywhacker | Peter Carey | 1985 | Australian | English | |
| 8841 | It’s Been A Pleasure, Noni Blake | Claire Christian | 2020 | Australian | English | |
| 8875 | Restless Dolly Maunder | Kate Grenville | 2023 | Australian | English | |
| 8923 | Coming Rain | Stephen Daisley | 2015 | Australian | English | |
| 9062 | Reading The Holocaust | Inga Clendinnen | 1999 | Australian | English | |
| 9173 | The Riders | Tim Winton | 1994 | Australian | English | |
| 9299 | Cherrywood | Jock Serong | 2024 | Australian | English | |
| 9312 | Murriyang | Stan Grant | 2024 | Australian | English | |
| 9357 | Rapture | Emily Maguire | 2024 | Australian | English | |
| 9443 | The Ancient Future Trilogy | Traci Harding | 1996 | Australian | English | |
| 9455 | Praiseworthy | Alexis Wright | 2024 | Australian | English | |
| 9523 | Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret | Benjamin Stevenson | 2024 | Australian | English | |
| 9527 | Juice | Tim Winton | 2024 | Australian | English | |
| 10221 | The Boat | Nam Le | 2008 | Australian | English | |
| 10300 | The Rosie Project | Graeme Simsion | 2013 | Australian | English | |
| 10303 | Ice Station | Matthew Reilly | 1998 | Australian | English | |
| 10338 | Jessica | Bryce Courtenay | 1998 | Australian | English | |
| 10385 | The Rosie Effect | Graeme Simsion | 2014 | Australian | English | |
| 10466 | Deltora Quest Series | Emily Rodda | 2000 | Australian | English | |
| 10500 | Dirt Music | Tim Winton | 2001 | Australian | English | |
| 10512 | The Swan Book | Alexis Wright | 2013 | Australian | English | |
| 10562 | Sabriel | Garth Nix | 1995 | Australian | English | |
| 10572 | The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction And Fantasy, Vol. I | Donald H. Tuck | 1974 | Australian | English | |
| 10622 | Cafe Scheherazade | Arnold Zable | 2001 | Australian | English | |
| 10691 | Fighting Mc Kenzie Anzac Chaplain | Col Stringer | 2002 | Australian | English | |
| 11003 | Boyz Rule | Phil Kettle | 2003 | Australian | English | |
| 11004 | Scarecrow | Matthew Reilly | 2003 | Australian | English | |
| 11041 | Sixty Lights | Gail Jones | 2004 | Australian | English | |
| 11350 | Rage | Steve Gerlach | 2006 | Australian | English | |
| 11474 | The White Girl | Tony Birch | 2019 | Australian | English | |
| 11881 | She Who Became The Sun | Shelley Parker-Chan | 2021 | Australian | English | |
| 11965 | Border Districts | Gerald Murnane | 2017 | Australian | English | |
| 11979 | The Devil's Advocate | Morris West | 1959 | Australian | English | |
| 12219 | Permutation City | Greg Egan | 1994 | Australian | English | |
| 12214 | Tender Morsels | Margo Lanagan | 2008 | Australian | English | |
| 12259 | Robbery Under Arms | Rolf Boldrewood | 1882 | Australian | English | |
| 12330 | Frogkisser | Garth Nix | 2017 | Australian | English | |
| 12432 | The Animals In That Country | Laura Jean McKay | 2020 | Australian | English | |
| 12521 | Stasiland | Anna Funder | 2002 | Australian | English | |
| 12559 | Faith Singer | Rosie Scott | 2000 | Australian | English |