Advance Australia Fair

"Advance Australia Fair" is the official national anthem of Australia.

Peter Dodds McCormick (c. 1834–1916) wrote the music and the words for the song. It was first performed in 1878, but it only became Australia's official anthem in 1984.^[1][2][3]

Between 1878 and 1984, the song was used inside of Australia as a patriotic song. For a time the song announced the news from the Australian Broadcasting Commission. When Australia became a Federation in 1901, the song was sung by a choir of 10,000 people.

In 1977 there was a vote for the national anthem between four songs during the 1977 Australian referendum.^[4] The other three songs were:

• God Save the Queen, which was then the official national anthem
• Waltzing Matilda, often regarded as the unofficial anthem
• Song of Australia.

Advance Australia Fair received 43.29% of the vote, defeating the three alternatives: Waltzing Matilda (28.28%), Song of Australia (9.65%), and the existing national anthem God Save the Queen (18.78%). However, it was not until 1984 that the national anthem was changed to reflect the popular vote.^[5]

Other songs and marches have been influenced by Advance Australia Fair, such as the Australian Vice-Regal salute.

1. ↑ "News of the Day". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 December 1878. p. 5. Retrieved 30 May 2020 – via Trove (National Library of Australia).
2. ↑ "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 November 1878. p. 2. Retrieved 30 May 2020 – via Trove (National Library of Australia).
3. ↑ Fletcher, Jim (1986). "McCormick, Peter Dodds (1834–1916)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 10. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 17 April 2018 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
4. ↑ Electoral pocketbook. Canberra, ACT: Australian Electoral Commission. 2005. ISBN 0-9752279-7-1. OCLC 224546641.
5. ↑ "Department of the Parliamentary Library - Referendums on alterations to the Constitution of the Commonwealth". 2008-02-05. Archived from the original on 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2022-04-16.