Jervis Bay Territory

How many states does Australia have? 6- New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. How many external territories Australia have? 7- Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island (yes, THAT Christmas Island), Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard and McDonald Islands and Norfolk Island. I bet most of you didn’t know that Australia had external territories, did you? How many inland territories does Australia have? Three.

But, my Australian readers are probably thinking, “No, Australia only has two mainland territories” well, you’re wrong.

You see, Australia does have the two mainland territories that you know about the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. But there’s also a little known third, little known territory. Well sort of. That territory is Jervis Bay Territory.

Now, let’s be clear, Jervis Bay Territory does not consist of the entirety of Jervis Bay. The vast, vast majority of Jervis Bay (the body of water and the region surrounding the body of water), as well as the vast majority of the population of Jervis Bay are located entirely within New South Wales, one tiny, tiny corner of Jervis Bay contains Jervis Bay Territory, Australia’s forgotten territory. Okay, to be fair, Jervis Bay Territory is sort-of-kind-of a territory. “But how can we have a sort-of-kind-of territory?” you might be thinking. Well, let me explain.

But first, what is Jervis Bay Territory? Jervis Bay Territory is a tiny exclave of New South Wales bordering the ocean and disconnected from the rest of the Australian Capital Territory, JBT has a population of less than 400, a couple of towns (mostly consistent of the area’s Aboriginal settlements) and a naval base. Jervis Bay Territory is located within the Boodeeree National Park and is very small in size. Being a nature reserve, the vast majority of the territory is consistent of wilderness and pristine beaches.

The Australian Capital Territory is the only Australian state or territory without a coastline. In order to rectify this, in 1915, the federal governments and New South Wales agreed to give a little bit of New South Wales to the Australian Capital Territory so that they could establish a port. There was also supposed to be a rail line from Canberra (the capital of the ACT and Australia) to the new port at Jervis Bay Territory. However, the port and the rail line never eventuated. Now, in 2021, more than a hundred years later, none of the vision has actually come true, and the Australian Capital Territory still has no port. Jervis Bay Territory is a remote, far away detached semi-autonomous part of the Australian Capital Territory (and therefore, under the jurisdiction of the ACT rather than New South Wales, and the ACT laws apply there, rather than those of New South Wales).

Jervis Bay Territory remains an anomaly of history and an interesting question of “what would have been” had the infrastructure actually been built, but either way, it’s a beautiful destination with beautiful greenery and beautiful beaches.