Lakes of Australia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Natural freshwater lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

s in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

are rare due to the general absence of glacial

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

and tectonic activity

Plate tectonics

Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...

in Australia.

Types

Most lakes in Australia fall within one of five categories. Excluding lakes created by man-made dams for water storage and other purposes, one can identify the following:

coast
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...

al lakes and lagoons including perched lakes;
natural freshwater inland lakes, often ephemeral
Ephemeral
Ephemeral things are transitory, existing only briefly. Typically the term is used to describe objects found in nature, although it can describe a wide range of things....

and some part of wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

or swamp areas;
the Main Range
Main Range (Snowy Mountains)
The section of the Great Dividing Range between the Ramshead Range and Dicky Cooper Bogong in the Snowy Mountains is known as the Main Range. It can also be used more generally for the peaks on or on short spurs off the range. It contains many of the highest peaks in mainland Australia...

containing mainland Australia's five glacial lake
Glacial lake
A glacial lake is a lake with origins in a melted glacier. Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,000 years ago, glaciers began to retreat. A retreating glacier often left behind large deposits of ice in hollows between drumlins or hills. As the ice age ended, these melted to create...

s. In Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

, due to glaciation, there is a large number of natural freshwater lakes on the central plateau, many of which have been enlarged or modified by hydro-electric developments;
predominantly dry, salt lakes in the flat desert regions of the country lacking organised drainage; and
lakes created in volcanic remnants.

A list of the notable lakes in Australia includes:

Coastal lakes and lagoons

Lake Alexandrina
Lake Alexandrina (South Australia)
Lake Alexandrina is a lake in South Australia adjacent to the coast of the Southern Ocean, about 100 kilometres south-east of Adelaide.-Name:The lake was named after Princess Alexandrina, niece and successor of King William IV of Great Britain and Ireland...

in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
Blue Lake
Blue Lake National Park
Blue Lake is a national park in Queensland , 44 km east of Brisbane on North Stradbroke Island. Access is provided by road 9 km west of Dunwich....

(Queensland)
Brown Lake
Brown Lake (Stradbroke Island)
Brown Lake is a lake on North Stradbroke Island, in Queensland, Australia.Known as a perched lake like other lakes on the sandy islands in the region of South-East Queensland it retains its water due to a layer of leaves lining the lake floor...
Lake Broadwater
Lake Como
Lake Cooloola
Lake Cooroibah
Lake Cootharaba
Lake Cootharaba
Lake Cootharaba is a lake on the Noosa River. It is the gateway to the Everglades, a popular tourist attraction for Noosa, being 20 km away from Noosa...
Lake Bonney
Dee Why Lagoon
Lake Illawarra
Lake Illawarra
Lake Illawarra is a large coastal lagoon located in the city of Wollongong about 100 km south of Sydney, New South Wales.The lake receives runoff from the Illawarra escarpment through Macquarie Rivulet and Mullet Creek, and has a narrow tidal entrance to the sea at Windang...
Gippsland Lakes
Gippsland Lakes
The Gippsland Lakes are a network of lakes, marshes and lagoons in east Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering an area of about 600 km2. The largest of the lakes are Lake Wellington , Lake King and Lake Victoria. They are fed by the Avon, Thomson, Latrobe, Mitchell, Nicholson and Tambo...

in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
Mallacoota Inlet
Lake Macquarie
Myall Lakes
Myall Lakes
The Myall Lakes are a series of fresh water lakes on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, Australia in Great Lakes Council. The lakes are adjacent to the coast about north of Sydney....
Narrabeen Lagoon
Smith's Lake
St George's Basin
Tabourie Lake
Tuggerah Lake
Tuggerah Lake
Tuggerah Lake is a large coastal saltwater lake on the Central Coast of New South Wales about north of Sydney. It is connected with the sea through a tidal channel at its southern end known as The Entrance. It is also connected with two smaller lakes, Budgewoi Lake and through that to Lake...
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria (Victoria)
.Lake Victoria is a 1.39 km² shallow saline lake on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, close to the township of Point Lonsdale and part of the Lonsdale Lakes Nature Reserve administered by Parks Victoria. It is separated from Bass Strait by a narrow strip of coastal dunes...
Lake Weyba
Lake Weyba
Lake Weyba, a large, shallow salt-water lake, is an important fish-breeding habitat. In the early 1900s, Lake Weyba had a large number of stingrays, which would have been easy targets for the spears of the Aboriginal people....

Perched lakes

Lake McKenzie
Lake McKenzie
Lake McKenzie is a perched lake on Fraser Island in Queensland, Australia.The sands around the lake are composed of pure, white silica and the water in the lake is also so pure it is unsuitable for many species....
Lake Wobby
Lake Wobby
Lake Wabby is a small freshwater, green colored lake. It is located in the Great Sandy National Park on the eastern side of Fraser Island off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The lake is directly adjacent to a sand blow, which is slowly moving into the lake...

Freshwater lakes

Lake Awoonga
Lake Awoonga
Lake Awoonga was formed on the Boyne River by the dam located from Gladstone, in Central Queensland, Australia. It is approximately 30 minutes drive from Gladstone, via Benaraby.Lake Awoonga is the main water supply for the Gladstone region...

(Queensland)
Lake Batyo Catyo (Victoria)
Lake Batyo Catyo (Victoria)
Lake Batyo Catyo is a freshwater lake located 26km west of the town of St Arnaud in North Central Victoria, Australia.In normal conditions the lake surface area covers 230 hectares to an average depth of 2.5 metres...
Blue Lake (New South Wales)
Blue Lake (New South Wales)
The Blue Lake is one of only four cirque lakes found in mainland Australia, the other three, Cootapatamba, Albina, and Club are shallower than BL and are held...
Boobera Lagoon
Boobera Lagoon
Boobera Lagoon is a permanent water hole approximately 20 kilometers west of Goondiwindi, Australia. It is located at . It lies several kilometres south of the Macintyre River, which forms the border between Queensland and New South Wales, and is just north of the Mungindi - Goondiwindi road...
Lake Bonney
Lake Bonney (Riverland)
Lake Bonney is a freshwater lake located in the Riverland region of South Australia. The town of Barmera is located on its shores. The lake was discovered by Europeans on 12 March 1838, when encountered by the overlanding party of Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney, who were the first to drove...
Lake Bryde-East Lake Bryde
Lake Bryde-East Lake Bryde
Lake Bryde-East Lake Bryde is a DIWA-listed freshwater wetland system in Western Australia. It is located at , in the Shire of Kent, 34 kilometres south-west of Newdegate...
Corella Lake (Northern Territory)
Dove Lake
Dove Lake (Tasmania)
Dove Lake is a corrie lake near Cradle Mountain in Tasmania, Australia. It lies in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. The lake is a very popular visitor attraction and is encircled by well maintained walking paths which which also lead up onto Cradle Mountain .Like several other lakes...
Lake Elphinstone
Lake Elphinstone
Lake Elphinstone is a natural lake in Queensland. It is located about 92 kilometres west of Mackay, in Nebo Shire. The lake used to support the town of Elphinstone, however the town no longer exists, and the lake is a recreation area popular for bird-watching, fishing and camping....
Lake George, New South Wales
Lake Hindmarsh
Lake Hindmarsh
Lake Hindmarsh in western Victoria is the state’s largest natural freshwater lake. The nearest towns are Jeparit to the south and Rainbow to the north.The lake has filled after more than a decade of drought, due to floods in early 2011.-History:...
Lake Nuga Nuga
Lake Nuga Nuga
Lake Nuga Nuga is a natural water body within the Central Queensland Sandstone Belt and is adjacent to the National Park. It provides a valuable habitat for waterbirds in an otherwise arid landscape....
Lake Magenta
Lake Magenta
Lake Magenta is an ephemeral salt lake in the Wheatbelt area of Western Australia.The lake is located approximately North East of Jerramungup and approximately West of Ravensthorpe....
Lake Miranda, South Australia
Menindee Lakes
Menindee Lakes
The Menindee Lakes comprise a system of historically ephemeral, freshwater lakes fed by the Darling River when in flood. They lie in the far west of New South Wales, Australia, near the town of Menindee 100 km south-east of the mining city of Broken Hill...
Tarrabool Lake
Tarrabool Lake
Tarrabool Lake is located on the western fringe of the Barkly Tableland in northeastern Northern Territory, Australia. The size of the lake fluctuates as a function of the amount of precipitation that the surrounding area receives in any given year...

(Northern Territory)
Lake Sylvester (Northern Territory)
Lake St Clair (Tasmania)
Lake St Clair (Tasmania)
Lake St Clair is a lake in the Central Highlands area of Tasmania, Australia. It forms part of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. It has a maximum depth of 200 m, making it Australia's deepest lake....
Wallaga Lake
Wallaga Lake National Park
Wallaga Lake National Park is a former national park in New South Wales, 296 km southwest of Sydney, Australia. It now forms part of a greater Gulaga National Park....

Glacial lakes

Blue Lake
Blue Lake (New South Wales)
The Blue Lake is one of only four cirque lakes found in mainland Australia, the other three, Cootapatamba, Albina, and Club are shallower than BL and are held...
Club Lake
Club Lake
Club Lake is a salt-water lake in the central part of Breidnes Peninsula in the Vestfold Hills. The lake is long and its irregular shape resembles a club which is elongated northeast–southwest. It was mapped from air photos taken by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump, 1946–47, and remapped by...
Headley Tarn
Lake Albina
Lake Albina
Lake Albina is a glacial lake in the Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales, Australia.Lake Albina is located about 2.5 km north of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia. The lake is about 500 metres long and 50 metres wide. It is located in a ravine, with Mount Townsend to the...
Lake Cootapatamba
Lake Cootapatamba
Lake Cootapatamba is a post-glacial tarn in the Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales, Australia.Lake Cootapatamba is located about 800 metres south of the summit of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak in Australia. It is the highest altitude lake in Australia....
Lake Selina
Lake Selina (Tasmania)
Lake Selina is the name of a lake to the east of Mount Read,in the West Coast Range, West Coast of Tasmania. Its location and conditions have led it be a location of research into Pleistocene and Holocene environments ....

Salt lakes

Lake Amadeus
Lake Amadeus
Lake Amadeus is a huge salt lake in the southwest corner of Australia's Northern Territory, about 50 km north of .-Physical features and nearby landmarks:...

in Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
Lake Barlee
Lake Barlee
Lake Barlee is an intermittent salt lake in Western Australia. It is about 150 km east of Paynes Find and west of Leonora on the border between the Shires of Sandstone and Menzies. Lake Barlee is more than 100 km wide from west to east, and about 80 km wide from north to south. The...
Lake Buchanan
Lake Buchanan (Queensland)
Lake Buchanan is a flat salt lake approximately 28 km long and 8 km wide at its widest point, with a surface area of about 117 km². It is part of the Thomson River catchment and part of the Desert Uplands bioregion....
Lake Cadibarrawirracanna
Lake Cadibarrawirracanna
Lake Cadibarrawirracanna is a salt lake in central South Australia. It is located in the northeastern portion of the Woomera Prohibited Area, east of the Stuart Highway. Lake Cadibarrawirracanna, meaning stars dancing on water, is the second longest official place name in Australia....
Lake Carey, Western Australia
Lake Disappointment, Western Australia
Dumbleyung Lake, Western Australia
Lake Dundas in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre is the lowest point in Australia, at approximately below sea level, and, on the rare occasions that it fills, it is the largest lake in Australia and 18th largest in the world...

in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
Lake Frome
Lake Frome
Lake Frome is a large endorheic lake in South Australia, east of the Northern Flinders Ranges. It is a large, shallow, unvegetated salt pan, 100 km long and 40 km wide, lying mostly below sea level and having a total surface area of 259,615 hectares...

in South Australia
Lake Gairdner
Lake Gairdner
Lake Gairdner is a large endorheic lake in central South Australia, and is considered the fourth largest salt lake in Australia when it is flooded....

in South Australia
Lake Galilee
Lake Galilee (Queensland)
Lake Galilee is approximately 29 km long but the width varies between 3 km and 15 km. The lake floor is 275 m ASL and has a surface area of approximately 260 km2....
Lake Gregory (South Australia)
Goyder Lagoon
Goyder Lagoon
Goyder Lagoon is a large ephemeral swamp in arid north-eastern South Australia. It is part of the Diamantina River floodplain, lying beside the Birdsville Track close to the state border with Queensland. Exceptionally large floods in the Georgina-Mulligan River system may contribute water to the...
Lake Hart, Australia in South Australia
Island Lake
Lake Lefroy
Lake Lefroy
Lake Lefroy is a large salt lake in southern Western Australia. It is north of Lake Cowan and near Boulder. Kambalda is on its western edge.- Overview :...
Lake Mungo
Lake Mungo
Lake Mungo is a dry lake in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is located about 760 km due west of Sydney and 90 km north-east of Mildura. The lake is the central feature of Mungo National Park, and is one of seventeen lakes in the World Heritage listed Willandra Lakes Region...

in New South Wales
Lake Torrens
Lake Torrens
Lake Torrens is a salt lake in central South Australia. It is located in the Lake Torrens National Park....
Willandra Lakes in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
Lake Yamma Yamma
Lake Yamma Yamma
Lake Yamma Yamma is an ephemeral lake on the Cooper Creek system in the arid Channel Country of south-western Queensland, Australia. The lake, which is sometimes called Lake Mackillop, is the largest inland ephemeral lake in Queensland.-Description:...

Volcanic lakes

Blue Lake
Blue Lake (South Australia)
The Blue Lake in Mount Gambier, South Australia is a large monomictic lake located in an extinct volcanic maar associated with the Mount Gambier maar complex. It is one of four crater lakes on Mount Gambier...

, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
Lake Barrine
Lake Barrine
Lake Barrine is a freshwater lake situated on the eastern parts of Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia, close to Lake Eacham. The lake and surrounds are protected within the Crater Lakes National Park and are accessible via the Gillies Highway.Lake Barrine was formed over...

, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
Lake Eacham
Lake Eacham
Lake Eacham: is a popular lake of volcanic origin on the Atherton Tableland of Queensland, Australia, within the World Heritage listed Wet Tropics of Queensland.-Origins:...

, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
Little Blue Lake, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
Lake Euramoo, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
Valley Lake, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...