Notable Australian World Firsts

1838 PRE-PAID POSTAGE
First pre-paid letter-sheets were issued by the New South Wales Post Office.

1843 GRAIN STRIPPER
John Ridley and John Bull of South Australia developed the world's first grain stripper that cut the crop, removed and placed the grain into bins.

1850 REFRIGERATION PLANT
First mechanical refrigeration plant was built by Geelong publisher, James Harrison.

1876 STUMP-JUMP PLOUGH
Robert and Clarence Bowyer Smith developed a plough which could jump over stumps and stones, enabling newly-cleared land to be cultivated.

1882 STRIPPER HARVESTER
The first stripper harvester was conceived by Hugh Victor McKay of Drummartin, Victoria.

1885 TELEPHANE
Henry Sutton's telephane, which transferred signals along telegraph lines, was the forerunner of the television.

1889 ELECTRIC DRILL
Arthur James Arnot patented the world's first electric drill in Melbourne.

1897 DIFFERENTIAL GEARS
David Shearer of South Australia built a steam car with differential inside left rear wheel hub.

1898 TELEPRINTER
The teleprinter for recording messages onto a tape was invented by Donald Murray of Sydney.

1903 FROTH FLOTATION PROCESS
The process of separating minerals from rock by flotation was developed by Charles Potter and Guillaume Delprat of New South Wales.

1905 THRUST BEARING
Anthony Mitchell invented the tilt-pad thrust bearing which revolutionised thrust technology.

1906 FEATURE FILM
The world's first feature length film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, was a little over an hour long.

1907 XEROGRAPHY
The key technology for the invention of xerography was developed by Professor O U Vonwiller at The University of Sydney.

1913 AUTOMATIC TOTALISATOR
Invented by George Julius, the tote automised betting at horse races.

1915 ASPRO
Aspro was developed by Melbourne pharmacist, George Nicholas, and experimenter, Henry Woolf Shmith.

1924 CAR RADIO
The first car radio was fitted to an Australian car built by Kellys Motors in New South Wales.

1925 ELECTRIC RECORD CHANGING SALONOLA
The stepped centre spindle of the invention by Tasmanian Eric Waterworth was later used in record changers worldwide.

1927 PEDAL WIRELESS
The pedal-operated generator, connected to a wireless, was invented by Alfred Traeger.

1928 FLYING DOCTOR SERVICE
Dr Kenyon Welsh and pilot Arthur Affleck began operating the first flying doctor service out of Cloncurry, Queensland.

1934 UTILITY VEHICLE
The utility vehicle, with a front like a car and a rear like a truck was designed by Lewis Brandt at the Ford Motor Company in Geelong, Victoria.

1946 CASTORS
George Shepherd invented the dome shaped castors which replaced traditional pivoted wheel castors.

1952 ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROPHOTOMETER
The complex analytical instrument used in chemical analysis was invented by Sir Alan Walsh of the CSIRO.

1957 TROUSERS WITH PERMANENT CREASES
The process for producing permanently creased fabric was invented by Dr Arthur Farnworth of the CSIRO.

1958 'BLACK BOX' FLIGHT RECORDER
The 'black box' voice and instrument data recorder was invented by Dr David Warren in Melbourne.

ROUND-THE-WORLD AIRLINE SERVICE
The first round-the-world airline service was inaugurated by Qantas.

1965 INFLATABLE AIRCRAFT ESCAPE SLIDE
The inflatable aircraft escape slide which doubles as a raft was invented by Jack Grant of Qantas.

1967 PUNCTURE-PROOF TYRES
Puncture-proof tyres made of hollow rubber segments bolted onto a steel rim, were invented by Alan Burns.

1970 VARIABLE RATIO RACK AND PINION STEERING
The variable ratio rack and pinion steering in motor vehicles was invented by Australian engineer, Arthur Bishop.

LASER BEAM LIGHT HOUSE
The world's first laser beam lighthouse was at Point Danger, New South Wales.

1972 ORBITAL INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE
The orbital combustion process engine was invented by engineer Ralph Sarich of Perth, Western Australia.

1978 SPIRALLY WOUND PLASTIC PIPES
The production of large diameter pipes from spirally wound interlocking plastic strips was invented by South Australian engineer Bill Menzel.

1979 BIONIC EAR
The cochlear implant was invented by Professor Graeme Clark of The University of Melbourne.

RACE CAM
The tiny camera used in sports broadcasts was developed by Australian engineer, Geoff Healey.

COOL LIGHTWEIGHT WOOL FABRICS
The technique for spinning lightweight wool was invented at the CSIRO.

1984 FROZEN EMBRYO BABY
The first frozen embryo baby was born at the Queen Victoria Medical Centre in Melbourne.

WORLD'S MOST EFFICIENT SOLAR CELLS
Dr Stuart Wenham and Professor Martin Green from The University of Sydney invented the world's most efficient solar cells.

CONTINUOUS SELF-CLEANING MICROFILTRATION
A group of engineers and scientists led by Dr Doug Ford invented the continuous self-cleaning microfiltration.

1985 SPINNING CONE FLAVOUR RECOVERY
The system of capturing flavours and aromas normally lost during food processing was invented by Dr Don Casimir at the CSIRO.

WORLD'S BEST LIGHTNING PROTECTION
The first real advancement in lightning protection technology since Franklin's sharp rods and the Faraday cage, was the Dynasphere invented by Rick Gumley of Tasmania.

ORAL VACCINE FOR BRONCHITIS
Oral vaccine to prevent bronchitis was developed by Professor Robert Clancy at the University of Newcastle.

1986 GENE SHEARS
The discovery of gene shears was made by CSIRO scientists, Wayne Gerlach and Jim Haseloff.

1987 TWO-MINUTE AIDS TEST
The world's fastest AIDS test was developed at The University of Melbourne.

COMPUTERISED CANCER DETECTION
Research by Dr Bevan Reid lead to the invention of a computerised device which reliably detects cancerous and pre-cancerous cells.

WAVE PIERCING CATAMARAN
Sydney naval architect Phillip Hercus designed the first wave piercing catamaran.

1988 SPLIT-CYCLE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE
The split-cycle internal combustion engine was invented by engineer, Rick Mayne in Queensland.

CONTROLLED RELEASE ORAL MORPHINE CAPSULES
The world's first controlled release oral morphine capsules were developed by a South Australian company.

BIOLOGICAL PESTICIDES
The first non-chemical biological control agent was invented at The University of Adelaide.

1989 HYDROMETALLURGICAL COPPER PROCESS
The first economic hydrometallurgical process to produce base metals without toxic fumes was invented by Peter Everett of Sydney.

1990 READING MACHINE FOR THE BLIND
The world's first reading machine for the blind was invented by Milan Hudecek of Melbourne, Victoria.

1991 BIO-DEGRADABLE MARINE DEGREASER
The world's first bio-degradable marine degreaser was developed by the CSIRO and the Australian Analytical Laboratories.

1992 MULTI-FOCAL CONTACT LENS
The world's first multi-focal contact lens was invented by optical research scientist, Stephen Newman in Queensland.

1993 UNDERWATER PC
The world's first underwater computer with a five-button hand-held keypad was developed by Bruce Macdonald at the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

1994 NON-INVASIVE TB TEST
The world's first reliable non-invasive TB test, that avoids possible adverse reactions, was developed by scientists in Victoria.

1995 EXELGRAM
The world's most sophisticated optical anti-counterfeiting technology was developed by the CSIRO.