List of lakes of Australia facts for kids

Natural freshwater lakes in Australia are rare due to the general absence of glacial and tectonic activity in Australia.

Types

Most lakes in Australia fall within one of five categories. Excluding lakes created by man-made dams for water storage and other purposes, one can identify the following:

• coastal lakes and lagoons including perched lakes;
• natural freshwater inland lakes, often ephemeral and some part of wetland or swamp areas;
• the Main Range containing mainland Australia's five glacial lakes. In Tasmania, due to glaciation, there are a large number of natural freshwater lakes on the central plateau, many of which have been enlarged or modified by hydro-electric developments;
• predominantly dry, salt lakes in the flat desert regions of the country lacking organised drainage; and
• lakes created in volcanic remnants.

List of lakes by state and territory

Australian Antarctic Territory

{{stack| The following is a list of prominent natural lakes and lagoons in the Australian Antarctic Territory:

Australian Capital Territory

{{stack| In the Australian Capital Territory there are no prominent naturally-formed lakes and lagoons. Artificial lakes include Bendora Dam, Cotter Dam, Corin Dam, Lake Burley Griffin, Lake Ginninderra, Lake Tuggeranong, and Stranger Pond.

New South Wales

{{stack| The following is a list of prominent natural lakes and lagoons in New South Wales:

Order	Name	Type	Region	Designation	Area		Image	Notes
					ha	acre
1	Lake Albina	Glacial	Snowy Mountains	World Heritage Area
2	Avoca Lake	Coastal	Central Coast
3	Lake Bathurst	Freshwater ephemeral
4	Blue Lake	Freshwater ephemeral; Glacial	Snowy Mountains	World Heritage Area
5	Budgewoi Lake	Coastal	Central Coast
6	Lake Cathie	Coastal
7	Chipping Norton Lake	Freshwater ephemeral
8	Lake Cootapatamba	Glacial	Snowy Mountains	World Heritage Area
9	Lake Cowal	Freshwater ephemeral
10	Dee Why Lagoon	Coastal lagoon	Northern Beaches
11	Lake George	Freshwater ephemeral
12	Glenbrook Lagoon	Freshwater ephemeral
13	Glenrock Lagoon	Coastal lagoon
14	Headley Tarn	Glacial
15	Lake Illawarra	Coastal	Illawarra
16	Lake Macquarie	Coastal	Hunter
17	Menindee Lakes	Freshwater ephemeral	Far West
18	Lake Moore	Freshwater ephemeral
19	Lake Mungo	Saline	Far West
20	Lake Munmorah	Coastal	Central Coast
21	Myall Lakes	Coastal	Mid North Coast
22	Narrabeen Lagoon	Coastal	Northern Beaches		220	544
23	Narran Lakes	Freshwater ephemeral
24	Smiths Lake	Coastal	Mid North Coast
25	St Georges Basin	Coastal	South Coast / Jervis Bay Territory
26	Tabourie Lake	Coastal	Mid North Coast
27	Terrigal Lagoon	Coastal lagoon	Central Coast
28	Tuggerah Lake	Coastal	Central Coast
29	Lake Urana	Saline	Far West
30	Wallaga Lake	Freshwater ephemeral
31	Wallis Lake	Coastal	Mid North Coast
32	Wamberal Lagoon	Coastal lagoon	Central Coast
33	Wattle Grove Lake	Freshwater ephemeral
34	Willandra Lakes	Saline	Far West
35	Lake Wollumboola	Coastal	Mid North Coast
36	Wonboyn Lake	Coastal	Mid North Coast
37	Lake Woytchugga	Freshwater ephemeral

Northern Territory

{{stack| The following is a list of prominent natural lakes and lagoons in the Northern Territory:

Order	Name	Type	Region	Designation	Area		Image	Notes
					ha	acre
1	Lake Amadeus	Saline	South-west		103,200	255,013
2	Corella Lake	Freshwater ephemeral
3	Lake Mackay	Saline	Great Sandy Desert; Gibson Desert; Tanami Desert		349,400	863,386
4	Lake Neale	Saline	South-west		30,000	74,132
5	Numby Numby	Sinkhole	Gulf of Carpentaria
6	Lake Sylvester	Freshwater ephemeral	Barkly Tableland		200,000	494,211
7	Tarrabool Lake	Freshwater ephemeral	Barkly Tableland	Tarrabool Lake – Eva Downs Swamp System Important Bird Area; Register of the National Estate; DIWA	118,600	293,067
8	Lake Woods	Freshwater ephemeral	Barkly Tableland	Important Bird Area; Longreach Waterhole Protected Area (part)	118,600	293,067

Queensland

{{stack| The following is a list of prominent natural lakes and lagoons in Queensland:

Order	Name	Type	Region	Designation	Area		Image	Notes
					ha	acre
1	Lake Awoonga	Freshwater ephemeral
2	Lake Barrine	Volcanic
3	Blue Lake	Coastal
4	Boobera Lagoon	Freshwater ephemeral
5	Brown Lake	Coastal
6	Lake Broadwater	Coastal	South East
7	Lake Buchanan	Saline
8	Lake Como	Coastal
9	Lake Cooloola	Coastal
10	Lake Cooroibah	Coastal
11	Lake Cootharaba	Coastal
12	Lake Dunn	Freshwater ephemeral
13	Lake Eacham	Volcanic
14	Lake Elphinstone	Freshwater ephemeral
15	Lake Euramoo	Volcanic
16	Lake Galilee	Saline
17	Lake McKenzie	Perched
18	Lake Nuga Nuga	Freshwater ephemeral
19	Lake Weyba	Coastal
20	Lake Wobby	Perched
21	Lake Yamma Yamma	Saline

South Australia

{{stack| The following is a list of prominent natural lakes and lagoons in South Australia:

Order	Name	Type	Region	Designation	Area		Image	Notes
					ha	acre
1	Lake Albert	Freshwater	Murray Mallee	Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland Ramsar site; Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Important Bird Area
2	Lake Alexandrina				64,900	160,371
3	Lake Blanche	Saline	Central	Strzelecki Desert Lakes Important Bird Area
4	Blue Lake	Volcanic	Limestone Coast		70	173
5	Lake Bonney SE	Coastal	Limestone Coast	Canunda National Park	505,600	1,249,365
6	Lake Bonney Riverland	Freshwater	Riverland
7	Lake Bumbunga	Saline	Mid North		1,388	3,430
8	Lake Cadibarrawirracanna	Saline	Mid North	Woomera Prohibited Area	6,000	14,826
9	Lake Callabonna	Saline	Mid North	Strzelecki Desert Lakes Important Bird Area	16,000	39,537
10	Coongie Lakes	Wetlands	Far North	Ramsar Site; Innamincka Regional Reserve; Malkumba-Coongie Lakes National Park; Strzelecki Regional Reserve	2,179,000	5,384,426
11	Lake Dey Dey	Saline	Far North
12	Lake Dutton	Saline	Central
13	Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre	Saline endorheic	Far North	Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park; Elliot Price Conservation Park	950,000	2,347,501
14	Lake Frome	Saline endorheic	Flinders Ranges	Lake Frome Regional Reserve	259,615	641,523
15	Lake Gairdner	Saline endorheic	Eyre Peninsula	Lake Gairdner National Park
16	Goyder Lagoon	Ephemeral swamp	Far North
17	Lake Gregory	Saline	Mid North
18	Lake Hart	Saline
19	Lake Hope	Saline ephemeral	Far North	Coongie Lakes wetland Ramsar Site	3,600	8,896
20	Lake Miranda	Freshwater ephemeral
21	Seagull Lake	Saline ephemeral	Eyre Peninsula	Sceale Bay Conservation Park	88	217
22	Serpentine Lakes	Saline	Great Victoria Desert	Mamungari Conservation Park	9,700	23,969
23	Sleaford Mere	Saline endorheic	Eyre Peninsula	Sleaford Mere Conservation Park	707	1,747
24	Lake Torrens	Saline ephemeral	Flinders Ranges	Lake Torrens National Park	574,500	1,419,620
25	Valley Lake	Volcanic
26	Watervalley Wetlands	Contiguous wetlands	Murray Mallee		13,100	32,371

Tasmania

{{stack| The following is a list of prominent natural lakes and lagoons in Tasmania:

Order	Name	Type	Region	Designation	Area		Image	Notes
					ha	acre
1	Lake Beatrice	Freshwater	Western
2	Lake Dora	Freshwater	Western
3	Dove Lake	Cirque freshwater	Central Highlands	Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park	150	371
4	Lake Dulverton	Freshwater ephemeral	Southern Midlands		428	1,058
5	Lake Edgar	Fault scarp pond	South West	Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area	147	363
6	Lake Fidler	Meromictic	South West	Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area
7	Great Lake	Freshwater	Central Highlands		17,600	43,491
8	Little Waterhouse Lake	Freshwater coastal	North East	Ramsar Site	10	25
9	Orielton Lagoon	Dystrophic coastal	South East Coast	Ramsar Site	3,334	8,240
10	Lake Selina	Glacial	West Coast
11	Lake St Clair	Freshwater	Central Highlands	Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park	4,500	11,120
12	Lake Westwood	Glacial	West Coast

Victoria

{{stack| The following is a list of prominent natural lakes and lagoons in Victoria.

Order	Name	Type	Region	Designation	Area		Image	Notes
					ha	acre
1	Lake Batyo Catyo	Freshwater ephemeral			230
2	Lake Corangamite	Saline
3	Gippsland Lakes	Coastal
4	Lake Hindmarsh	Freshwater ephemeral	Wimmera		13500	33000
5	Mallacoota Inlet	Coastal
6	Murtnaghurt Lagoon	Saline			81	200
7	Lake Victoria	Coastal lake			139	340
8	Lake Tali Karng	Freshwater	Alpine		14	35

Western Australia

{{stack|

The following is a list of prominent natural lakes and lagoons in Western Australia:

Order	Name	Type	Region	Designation	Area		Image	Notes
					ha	acre
1	Angove Lake	Freshwater	Great Southern	Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve	33	82
2	Lake Anneen	Saline	Mid West		12,000	29,653
3	Lake Baghdad	Saline	Rottnest Island
4	Lake Ballard	Saline ephemeral	Goldfields-Esperance		4,900	12,108
5	Lake Barlee	Saline	Mid West		198,000	489,269
6	Bibra Lake	Freshwater	Perth	Beeliar Regional Park
7	Lake Boonderoo	Freshwater	Goldfields-Esperance		2,500	6,178
8	Booragoon Lake	Freshwater	Perth	Beeliar Regional Park
9	Boyd Lagoon	Saline lagoon	Gibson Desert		870	2,150
10	Lake Breaden	Saline	Gibson Desert		2,600	6,425
11	Lake Bryde-East Lake Bryde	Freshwater wetland	Great Southern	Lake Bryde Nature Reserve	1,900	4,695
12	Lake Burnside	Saline	Gibson Desert		42,000	103,784
13	Lake Carey	Saline	Goldfields-Esperance
14	Lake Carnegie	Ephemeral	Goldfields-Esperance		571,400	1,411,960
15	Lake Disappointment	Saline endorheic	Pilbara		33,000	81,545
16	Lake Dora	Saline	Pilbara
17	Dumbleyung Lake	Saline	Great Southern	Dumbleyung Lake Nature Reserve	5,200	12,849
18	Lake Dundas	Saline	Goldfields-Esperance
19	Forrestdale Lake	Brackish seasonal groundwater	Perth	Forrestdale Lake Nature Reserve; Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes Ramsar Site	245	605
20	Lake Gore	Seasonal freshwater	Goldfields-Esperance	Lake Gore Nature Reserve; Lake Gore Ramsar Site	740	1,829
21	Lake Gregory	Seasonal freshwater	Kimberley	Paraku Indigenous Protected Area
22	Herdsman Lake	Freshwater	Perth	Herdsman Lake Regional Park	300	741
23	Lake Hillier	Saline	Goldfields-Esperance	Recherche Archipelago Nature Reserve	1.5	4
24	Hutt Lagoon	Saline	Mid West
25	Lake Jasper	Freshwater	South West		4,500	11,120
26	Lake Joondalup	Freshwater	Perth	Yellagonga Regional Park
27	Jualbup Lake	Freshwater	Perth	Shenton Park
28	Lake Lefroy	Saline ephemeral	Goldfields-Esperance
29	Lake Mackay	Saline	Great Sandy Desert		349,400	863,386
30	Lake McLarty	Freshwater	South West	Lake McLarty Nature Reserve; Peel-Yalgorup System Ramsar site
31	Lake Macleod	Freshwater	Gascoyne		150,000	370,658
32	Loch McNess	Freshwater	Perth	Yanchep National Park
33	Lake Magenta	Saline ephemeral	Wheatbelt	Lake Magenta Nature Reserve	11,000	27,182
34	Lake Maitland	Dry saline	Mid West
35	Lake Monger	Freshwater	Perth	Lake Monger Reserve	70	173
36	Lake Monginup	Freshwater	Goldfields-Esperance	Lake Monginup Nature Reserve	32	79
37	Lake Muir	Freshwater	South West	Muir-Byenup System Ramsar Site	4	10
38	Lake Nabberu	Saline	Mid West		18,000	44,479
39	Lake Newell		Goldfields-Esperance		2,600	6,425
40	North Lake	Freshwater	Perth	Beeliar Regional Park
41	Perry Lakes	Freshwater	Perth	Perry Lakes Reserve	12.6	31
42	Perth Wetlands	Wetlands	Perth	Herdsman Lake Regional Park
43	Pink Lake	Saline	Goldfields-Esperance		99	245
44	Lake Seppings	Freshwater	South West	Lake Seppings Nature Reserve
45	Serpentine Lakes	Saline	Great Victoria Desert	Mamungari Conservation Park	9,700	23,969
46	Lake Shaster	Hypersaline	Goldfields-Esperance	Lake Shaster Nature Reserve	479	1,184
47	Lake Thetis	Saline	Mid West
48	Thomsons Lake	Brackish seasonal groundwater	Perth	Thomsons Lake Nature Reserve; Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes Ramsar Site	538	1,329
49	Toolibin Lake	Perched freshwater	Wheatbelt	Toolibin Lake Nature Reserve; Toolibin Lake Ramsar Site	300	741
50	Lake Warden	Saline	Goldfields-Esperance	Lake Warden Nature Reserve	59	146
51	Lake Way	Dry saline	Mid-West		46,000	113,668
52	Lake Wooleen	Intermittent freshwater	Mid-West		5,500	13,591

Salt lake (nec)

• Island Lake