 The Great Barrier Reef , the world 's largest coral reef , lies a short distance off the north @-@ east coast and extends for over 2 @,@ 000 kilometres ( 1 @,@ 240 mi ) . Mount Augustus , claimed to be the world 's largest monolith , is located in Western Australia . At 2 @,@ 228 metres ( 7 @,@ 310 ft ) , Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range is the highest mountain on the Australian mainland . Even taller are Mawson Peak ( at 2 @,@ 745 metres or 9 @,@ 006 feet ) , on the remote Australian territory of Heard Island , and , in the Australian Antarctic Territory , Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies , at 3 @,@ 492 metres ( 11 @,@ 457 ft ) and 3 @,@ 355 metres ( 11 @,@ 007 ft ) respectively . 
