Augusta, Western Australia

Augusta Western Australia
Blackwood Avenue, Augusta, 2015
Augusta Location in Western Australia
Coordinates	34°18′43″S 115°09′32″E / 34.312°S 115.159°E / -34.312; 115.159Coordinates: 34°18′43″S 115°09′32″E / 34.312°S 115.159°E / -34.312; 115.159
Population	1,292 (2011 census)
Established	1830
Postcode(s)	6290
Elevation	14 m (46 ft)
Location	322 km (200 mi) south of Perth 146 km (91 mi) south of Bunbury 169 km (105 mi) southwest of Manjimup
LGA(s)	Shire of Augusta-Margaret River
State electorate(s)	Electoral district of Warren-Blackwood
Federal Division(s)	Forrest
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 19.7 °C 67 °F 14.1 °C 57 °F 976.1 mm 38.4 in

Augusta is a town on the south-west coast of Western Australia, where the Blackwood River emerges into Flinders Bay. It is the nearest town to Cape Leeuwin, on the furthest southwest corner of the Australian continent. In the 2001 census it had a population of 1,091; by 2011 the population of the town was 1,292 (excluding East Augusta).

The town is within the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River local government area, and is in the Leeuwin Ward. It is connected by public transport to Perth via Transwa coach service SW1.

Augusta was a summer holiday town for many during most of the twentieth century, but late in the 1990s many people chose to retire to the region for its cooler weather. As a consequence of this and rising land values in the Augusta-Margaret River area, the region has experienced significant social change.

The coastline near the Augusta area was first sighted by Europeans in March 1622 when the Dutch East India Company ship Leeuwin (Lioness) mapped and named the land north of Cape Leeuwin between Hamelin Bay and Point D'Entrecasteaux 't Landt van de Leeuwin. In 1801 Captain Matthew Flinders named the "south-western, and most projecting part of Leeuwin's Land" Cape Leeuwin.

Augusta was founded in 1830. In March of that year, a number of settlers, including John Molloy and members of the Bussell and Turner families, had arrived at the Swan River Colony on board the Warrior. On their arrival the Lieutenant-Governor Captain James Stirling advised them that most of the good land near the Swan River had already been granted, and suggested that they form a new sub-colony in the vicinity of Cape Leeuwin.