YHA Australia is a youth hostelling association 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...

 that is a member association of Hostelling International

Hostelling International

Hostelling International, formerly known as International Youth Hostel Federation , is the federation of more than 90 national youth hostel associations in more than 80 countries who have over 4,500 affiliated hostels around the world....

.

Formation

Youth hostelling in Australia started in 1939 when YHA 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....

 was formed in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. This was followed by YHA 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...

 (1942), YHA 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...

 (1949), YHA 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...

 (1951), YHA 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...

 (1951), YHA 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...

 (1962) and YHA 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...

 (1976).

In 1947 the state organisations formed YHA Australia as a federated body to enable Australia to be represented in the International Youth Hostelling Federation (the original name for Hostelling International).

Modern hostelling in Australia

Although the state organisations remain as separate entities, moves are being made to consolidate them into one organisation. New South Wales, which already covered the Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

, and Northern Territory merged in 2007, and a merger between YHA NSW and YHA Queensland was completed on 1 January 2010, forming a new entity called YHA Ltd.

It operates 120 hostels. These are mostly located on the coast, but there are a few in the centre of Australia in the Northern Territory. During 2009, YHA in Australia expanded considerably, with new properties opening in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Sydney Central YHA hostel won the best backpacker accommodation prize at the 2008 Australian Tourism Awards, and also again in 2009.

The YHA hostel in Blue Mountains won the HostelBookers Hostel Awards for Excellence 2010 in Oceania.