Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the Australian Geographic and Australian Geographic Adventure magazine, australiangeographic.com.au and operates, either itself or business partners, Australian Geographic stores, Australian Geographic Travel and various other businesses.
Australian Geographic magazine, originally titled Dick Smith's Australian Geographic, is a bi-monthly geographical journal created by Dick Smith in 1986. The magazine focuses mainly on stories about Australia, or about Australian people in other countries. The six editions published each year are available by subscription and on newsstands. They include posters or sheet maps in each edition, as well as photographs and detailed technical illustrations.
The entire Australian Geographic magazine archive is available on its website to subscribers.Australian Geographic website.
The profits earned by Australian Geographic Holdings are contributed to the Australian Geographic Society which is a registered Australian Charity.Australian Geographic Society.
History The Australian Geographic magazine, originally titled Dick Smith's Australian Geographic, was initially published by Australian Geographic Pty Ltd, a private company controlled by Dick Smith, the founder of Dick Smith Electronics and Dick Smith Foods. His name was removed from the title two years later. Australian Geographic Pty Ltd also operated the Australian Geographic chain of retail stores. The publication's offices were originally based in Terrey Hills north of Sydney. Smith wanted the publication to focus on accuracy by exclusively including articles that were peer-reviewed. Australian Geographic acquired rights to the Australian Encyclopaedia and published editions in 1988 and 1996. In 1995, when subscriptions totalled more than 200,000, Smith sold the business to Fairfax Media for A$41 million.
In December 1998, the business was bought out by its management.
From September 2000 to December 2001, Australian Geographic published a bimonthly science and technology magazine known as Newton Graphic Science. There were, however, only eight issues published before the magazine went permanently out of print.
In November 2006, PBL Media's ACP Magazines (now Bauer Media Group) purchased the Australian Geographic publishing division. The Australian Geographic magazine was then based at Park Street, Sydney. The editor-in-chief of Australian Geographic was Chrissie Goldrick, while the editor was John Pickrell.
In September 2007, Australian Geographic Retail, which operates an online store and retail stores selling products including Australiana, weather stations, telescopes, books and toys, was sold separately to the publication business. From 2007 to 2016 Australian Geographic Retail was owned by Myer Family Investments but after large operating losses it was sold in August 2016 to The Co-op, a retail supplier to universities. The license ended in 2019.
In 2018, the publication was sold to Blue Ant Media. Blue Ant Media subsequently sold all its Australian businesses to RACAT Group, including Australian Geographic and the Sydney-based Northern Pictures.
Australian Geographic Society Awards The Australian Geographic Society Adventure Award has been awarded since 1987 and is Australia's longest-running award for adventure. It is judged on merit and therefore not all of the categories are awarded annually. The award ceremony, attended in 2018 by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, is a celebration of achievement and is not a competition. The award is given in five categories – Lifetime of Adventure, Lifetime of Conservation, Adventurer of the Year, Conservationist of the Year, Spirit of Adventure, Young Adventurer of the Year and Young Conservationist of the Year.
Lifetime of Adventure YearAwardeeAchievements2024Lucy BarnardLucy is determined to be the first woman to walk the length of the Americas, from Ushuaia in Argentina to Utqiagvik in Alaska. Lucy's journey started in 2017 and in March 2023 she became the first woman to walk the length of South America. That is 11,100 km across five countries. Lucy is not alone on her quest as Wombat, her loyal Australian cattle dog, is right beside her. Together they are known as ‘Tangles and Tail’ on social media. Wombat's enthusiastic character provides friendship, and security and helps Lucy connect with people she meets along the way. Wombat's undying dedication is also deservedly recognised in an inaugural ‘Canine Adventurer of the Year’ award by the Australian Geographic Society.
By the time the pair complete the journey, they will have walked 30,000 km through 15 countries. Up to now, the intrepid pair have navigated through Central America and Mexico, passed the halfway mark of the walk and reached the United States of America.2023Glenn Singleman & Heather Swan2x recipients of the AGS spirit of adventure medal. In 2006 Glenn and Heather claimed the record for the world's highest wingsuit BASE jump, from a 6604m ledge on Mt. Meru in the Garhwal Himalaya in India (see Born to Fly, AG 84). They spent 22 days climbing steep blue ice to reach the summit. In 2009 Australia's highest balloon flight (37,838 ft), the highest skydive in Australia, and the highest wingsuit exit in the world (36,750 ft). In 2011 and 2015, they made the first (and only) wingsuit flights across Sydney Harbour and Brisbane respectively, and in 2018, Heather became the first woman to fly wingsuit over Antarctica. In April 2015 Glenn and Heather completed the first wingsuit crossing of the Grand Canyon, passing over the deepest part of the canyon – from the North Rim to the South Rim – at 160 km/h.2022Dr Geoff WilsonDr Geoff Wilson holds 6 world records throughout his lifetime of extreme weather expeditions. He holds records for: the only wind-assisted crossing of the sahara desert (2009), the fastest solo, unsupported, crossing of Antarctica (2013–14), the fastest unsupported south–north crossing of Greenland (2017), the first crossing of the Torres Strait by kiteboard (2012) and completing the longest solo, unsupported, polar journey ever (2019–20). To break this record Dr Wilson travelled with a kite-ski from Thor's Hammer to the Lenin bust at the Pole of Inaccessibility, a distance of 5600 km, and back again.2019Mal LeylandDuring the 1970s Mal and his brother rose to fame through their televised adventures across Australia, most notably the series Ask the Leyland Brothers. They went in search of lost monuments, rumoured migratory birds and ephemeral lakes. The brothers were responsible for inspiring a generation of Australians to explore their own country.2018Syd KirkbySyd has surveyed more of the Australian Antarctic Territory than any other explorer. His crew was the first to view the world's largest glacier, Lambert Glacier and explore the Prince Charles Mountains.2017Jon Muir OAMJon made the first unsupported ascent of Everest in 1988, trekked the North Pole in 2000 and traversed 6000 km across oceans by sea kayak, making him one of the most experienced adventurers in Australian history. He holds the record for the first solo traverse on foot of Australia's largest salt lakes. In 2001 he became the first person to walk, unsupported, across Australia from Port Augusta to Burketown, across 2,500 km over 128 days. In 2007 he trekked 1,700 km, unassisted, from the Spencer Gulf SA to the Geographic Centre of Australia.2016Ron AllumRon pioneered the engineering of the Deepsea Challenger, a submarine that streamed live footage from challengers deep (the lowest point in the Mariana Trench. He developed a groundbreaking foam for the chassis of the sub.2015Eric Philips OAMPhilips is the only person to have skied across Earth's four largest icecaps - Antarctica to the South Pole, Greenland, the South Patagonian Icecap and Ellesmere Island. His 84-day journey to the South Pole pioneered a new route through the Transantarctic Mountains. He was part of the first Australian team to reach the North Pole unsupported, and to ski both the North and South poles.2014Hans TholstrupTholstrup co-created the world solar challenge, which he ran for 15 years, which has solar powered cars drive from Perth to Sydney (4,130 km). Hans has more than a dozen other impressive walking, driving, flying and sailing ‘firsts’ - including being the first to sail around Australia in an open boat, 1970, and being the first to jump 14 motorcycles in a double-decker bus with AG founder Dick Smith in 1980.
Lifetime of Conservation YearAwardeeAchievements2023Brigitte StevensSince 2006, after founding the Wombat Awareness Organisation, Brigitte has rescued and rehabilitated 10,000 wombats, and lobbied for stronger legislative protections for wombats. Her sanctuary for injured, orphaned and misplaced wombats is the largest of its kind in the world.2022John WamsleyJohn Wamsley was far beyond his time in his approach to wildlife conservation. He created the Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary where he successfully bred Platypus in captivity, which had been extinct since the 1970s.2019John RumneyJohn founded Undersea Explorer, offering free berths to reef researchers, thereby facilitating vital access to remote places across the GBR. He also established Eye to Eye Marine encounters research and tourism operation, facilitating primary reef research through tourism partnerships.2018Atticus FlemingAs the Chief Executive of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy from 2002 to 2018, Fleming oversaw its growth from a small WA operation to the largest private owner of land for conservation in the world, managing 4.56 million hectares. Atticus developed a new model for conservation, thereby protecting some of the largest remaining populations of many of Australia's threatened species, including bilbies, numbat, bridled nailtail wallabies, gouldian finches, purple-crowned fairy-wrens.2017Curt & Mich JennerCurt and Mich head the Centre for Whale Research in WA and, between them, have studied everything about whales, from population biology and migratory pathways to the ecology and behaviours of whales. They identified Perth Canyon as one of only two high-density feeding sites for endangered pygmy blue whales in Australian waters. They found a humpback breeding haven in Camden Sound, off the Kimberley.2016Robyn WilliamsWilliams had a career spanning 4 decades, over 2,000 broadcasts, 14,000 stories and 7,000 interviews with experts. Williams ran the Science Show and Ockham's Razor, as well as conducting many interviews on ABC.2015Robert Purves AMPurves established the Purves Environmental Fund. The organisation donates $2 million annually for environmental sustainability and biodiversity. Robert is the president of WWF Australia, director of the Climate Council of Australia amongst a myriad of other key roles in sustainability.2014Tim FlanneryTim has communicated the science of human-induced climate change to the Australian Population, as possibly Australia's most outspoken climate advocate. He is a professor at Macquarie University and chief councillor at the Climate Council.
Adventurer of the Year