List of tallest buildings in Australia facts for kids

Sydney, home to the most high-rise buildings in the country.

Melbourne, home to the most skyscrapers in the country with a height of over 150 metres.

These are lists of the tallest buildings in Australia.

Australia has more skyscrapers per person than any other country in the world with a population greater than five million, and was one of the first countries in the world to play host to the skyscraper boom along with the United States and Canada. Australia's first skyscraper as then defined was Melbourne's now demolished APA Building, completed in 1889, which was among the tallest buildings in the world at the time. The nation's first skyscraper as defined today by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat as buildings exceeding 150 metres was the Australia Square Tower in Sydney, completed in 1967.

The vast majority of Australia's buildings which exceed 150 metres in height are located in the eastern states of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, with a smaller number in Western Australia. While Australia's other states and territories contain no skyscrapers as defined, they all play host to numerous high-rise buildings.

Tallest buildings

This list includes the tallest completed and topped out buildings in Australia that reach a height of at least 200 metres (656.2 feet), ranked by their official heights as defined by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). An equal sign (=) following a rank indicates the same height between two or more buildings (in such cases, the building with the highest number of floors is listed first). The "Year" column indicates the year of completion. The list includes only habitable buildings, as opposed to structures such as observation towers, radio masts, transmission towers and chimneys.

Official heights (denoted by 'O') are also known as 'architectural heights', as they include spires but exclude communications masts and antennae. This is because spires form an integral part of a building's design while masts and antennae do not, being purely functional. Also included are heights 'excluding spires' (denoted by 'ES'), which as used here include the entire architectural structure save for architectural spires. Whilst this is not a measure used by CTBUH, the concept is nonetheless frequently referred to by skyscraper aficionados.

Other tall structures, including structures such as the 309m Sydney Tower which is Syndey's tallest, are not included in this list.

     Was Australia's tallest building when completed

Rank	Name	Image	Location	Height: m (ft)		Floors	Year	Notes	Reference
				O	ES
1	Q1		Gold Coast	322.5 (1,058)	275 (902)	78	2005	Tallest building since 2005. Sixth-tallest residential building in the world. Q1 was short for Queensland Number One.
2	Eureka Tower		Melbourne	297.3 (975)		91	2006	Tallest building in Melbourne since 2006. Tallest building in Australia to roof
3	Aurora Melbourne Central		Melbourne	270.5 (887)		84	2019	Third-tallest building in Australia. Topped–out in December 2018, the project is expected to be completed in 2019.
4	Brisbane Skytower		Brisbane	269.5 (884)		90	2019	Tallest building in Brisbane. Fourth-tallest building in Australia. Topped out in December 2018.
5	120 Collins Street		Melbourne	265 (869)	222.15 (729)	52	1991	Tallest office building in Australia. Tallest building in Australia from 1991 to 2005.
6	101 Collins Street		Melbourne	260 (853)	195 (640)	50	1991	23rd-tallest building in Australia to roof. Tallest building in Australia in 1991.
7	1 William Street		Brisbane	259.8 (852)	224 (735)	46	2016	Tallest building in Brisbane from 2016 to 2018.
8	Prima Pearl		Melbourne	254 (833)		72	2014	2nd-tallest building in Australia to roof.
9	Rialto Towers		Melbourne	251.1 (824)		63	1986	Tallest office building in Australia to roof. Tallest building in Australia from 1986 to 1991.
=10	Infinity Tower		Brisbane	249 (817)		81	2013	Tallest building in Brisbane from 2013 until 2016.
=10	Central Park		Perth	249 (817)	226 (741)	51	1992	Tallest building in Perth since 1992
12	Victoria One		Melbourne	246.8 (810)		76	2018
13	Chifley Tower		Sydney	244 (801)	216 (709)	53	1992	Tallest building in Sydney since 1992
=14	Soleil		Brisbane	243 (797)		74	2011	2nd-tallest building in Australia including basements
=14	Citigroup Centre		Sydney	243 (797)	206 (676)	50	2000	Second-tallest building in Sydney
16	Soul		Gold Coast	242.6 (796)		77	2012	4th-tallest building in Australia to roof
17	Deutsche Bank Place		Sydney	240 (787)	193 (633)	39	2005	Shortest building to roof of top 30
18	Brookfield Place		Perth	234.4 (769)		46	2011	Also known as City Square or BHP City Square
19	World Tower		Sydney	230 (755)		73	2004	Won the bronze Emporis Skyscraper Award in 2004
20	Vision Apartments		Melbourne	229 (751)		70	2016	Topped–out in July 2016.
21	MLC Centre		Sydney	228 (748)		60	1977	Tallest building in Australia from 1977 to 1986.
22	Governor Phillip Tower		Sydney	227 (745)		54	1993	Incorporates the site of Australia's first Government House
=23	568 Collins Street		Melbourne	224 (735)		68	2015	Topped-out in April, 2015
=23	Bourke Place		Melbourne	224 (735)		49	1991	A 30 m communications mast sits atop the building
25	Ernst & Young Tower at Latitude		Sydney	222 (728)	192 (630)	45	2004
26	Circle on Cavill North Tower		Gold Coast	219.5 (720)		70	2007
27	Aurora Place		Sydney	218.9 (718)	188 (617)	41	2001
=28	Light House Melbourne		Melbourne	218 (715)		69	2018	Topped-out in February 2017.
=28	Telstra Corporate Centre		Melbourne	218 (715)	193 (633)	47	1992
30	International Towers 1		Sydney	217 (711)		49	2016
31	108 St Georges Terrace		Perth	214 (702)		50	1988	A 33 m communications mast sits atop the building.
32	The Tower at Melbourne Central		Melbourne	211 (692)		54	1991	Part of a major shopping, office and public transport hub in Melbourne.
33	Aurora		Brisbane	207 (679)		69	2006
34	Freshwater Place		Melbourne	205 (673)		63	2005	The residential part of an office/residential building complex
35	Eq. Tower		Melbourne	202.7 (665)		63	2017	Topped-out in October 2016.
36	Riparian Plaza		Brisbane	200 (656)		53	2005	A 50 m communications mast stands atop the building.

Tallest buildings under construction or proposed

This list includes the tallest buildings over 200 m that are currently under construction, approved or proposed in Australia according to the CTBUH, save for those which have already topped out.

Status:

Under Construction

Approved

Proposed

Australia 108 under construction in January 2019. The project is expected to be completed in 2020.

Brisbane Skytower under construction in March 2018. The project is expected to be completed in 2019.

Aurora Melbourne Central under construction in November 2018. The project is expected to be completed in 2019.

Brisbane Quarter under construction in January 2018. The project is expected to be completed in 2019.

Name	Height		Storeys	Purpose	City	Completion	Status
	m	ft
Green Spine Tower 1	356.2	1,169	100+	Mixed Use	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
Magic Tower	330	1,080	60	Mixed Use	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
Orion Towers	328	1,076	103	Residential	Gold Coast	TBA	Approved
One Queensbridge	323	1,060	90	Mixed Use	Melbourne	TBA	Approved
Australia 108	317	1,040	100	Residential	Melbourne	2020	Under Construction
Spirit	298	978	89	Residential	Gold Coast	2019	Under Construction
Cienna Square Tower 2	280	920	88	Residential	Gold Coast	TBA	Proposed
25-35 Power Street	280	920	71	Mixed Use	Melbourne	TBA	Approved
No. 1 Brisbane	274	899	82	Residential	Brisbane	TBA	Approved
505 George Street	274	899	80	Residential	Sydney	TBA	Proposed
640 Bourke Street	273	896	85	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
Crown Sydney	271	889	75	Mixed Use	Sydney	2020	Under Construction
Aurora Melbourne Central	270.5	887	88	Residential	Melbourne	2019	Under Construction
West Side Place Tower 1	270	890	81	Residential	Melbourne	2022	Under Construction
30 Albert Street	270	890	91	Residential	Brisbane	TBA	Approved
171 Edward Street	265	869	81	Residential	Brisbane	TBA	Approved
Circular Quay Tower	263	863	55	Office	Sydney	TBA	Under Construction
Brisbane Quarter	262	860	81	Residential	Brisbane	2018	Under Construction
338 Pitt Street Tower 1	258	846	80	Mixed Use	Sydney	TBA	Proposed
338 Pitt Street Tower 2	258	846	80	Mixed Use	Sydney	TBA	Proposed
280 Queen Street	252	827	80	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
Queens Place Tower 2	251	823	79	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Approved
Queens Place Tower 1	250	820	79	Residential	Melbourne	2020	Under Construction
197 Church Street	250	820	80	Residential	Sydney	TBA	Proposed
St Andrews Place	249.5	819	62	Residential	Perth	TBA	Proposed
Premier Tower	249	817	78	Residential	Melbourne	2020	Under Construction
One Sydney Harbour Tower 1	247	810	71	Residential	Sydney	2023	Under Construction
Elysium	244	801	75	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Approved
West Side Place Tower 2	240	790	75	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Approved
Swanston Central	237	778	72	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Under Construction
Greenland Centre Sydney	237	778	68	Residential	Sydney	2019	Under Construction
133 Liverpool Street	235	771	70	Residential	Sydney	TBA	Proposed
85-93 Lorimer Street	234	768	74	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
600 Collins Street	234	768	74	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
Aspire Parramatta	233	764	55	Office	Sydney	TBA	Under Construction
Ritz-Carlton Hotel	231	758	65	Hotel	Sydney	2021	Proposed
West Side Place Tower 4	230	750	68	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Approved
295 City Road	228	748	70	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
Tower Melbourne	226	741	71	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Approved
71-87 City Road	225	738	67	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
Grand Markwell Tower 2	221	725	67	Residential	Gold Coast	TBA	Proposed
380 Lonsdale Street (North tower)	218	715	67	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Approved
158 City Road	218	715	65	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
97 Franklin Street	216	709	62	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Approved
Quay Quarter Tower	216	709	54	Office	Sydney	2020	Under Construction
295-309 King Street	215	705	63	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
293-303 La Trobe Street	213	699	66	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
32-44 Flinders Street	212	696	67	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
West Side Place Tower 3	211	692	63	Residential	Melbourne	2022	Under Construction
111-125 A’Beckett Street	210	690	65	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
272 Queen Street	210	690	62	Mixed Use	Melbourne	TBA	Approved
48 Macquarie Street	210	690	61	Residential	Sydney	TBA	Proposed
One Sydney Harbour Tower 2	207	679	60	Residential	Sydney	2023	Under Construction
183-189 A'Beckett Street	206	676	67	Residential	Melbourne	TBA	Proposed
4-6 Bligh Street	205	673	55	Residential	Sydney	TBA	Proposed

Tallest buildings by state or territory

The following table provides the tallest building in each state given that only New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia are currently featured in the lists of tallest buildings to architectural detail and to roof. Heights to architectural detail are used.

Current
State / Territory	Building	Height	Floor count	Year
Queensland	Q1	323 m (1059.7ft)	78	2005
Victoria	Eureka Tower	297 m (974.4ft)	91	2006
Western Australia	Central Park	249 m (816.9ft)	52	1992
New South Wales	Chifley Tower	244 m (800.5ft)	53	1992
South Australia	Westpac House	132 m (433.0ft)	31	1988
Northern Territory	Evolution on Gardiner	99 m (324.8ft)	33	2008
Australian Capital Territory	Lovett Tower	93 m (305.1ft)	25	1973
Tasmania	Wrest Point Hotel Casino	73 m (239.5ft)	19	1973

The following table lists future tallest buildings that when completed, will become the tallest buildings in their respective state or territory. All buildings listed are either under construction or have topped-out.

Future
State / Territory	Building	Height	Floor count	Status	Year
Queensland	Orion Tower 1	328 m (1076.1ft)	103	Approved	TBA
Victoria	Australia 108	317 m (1040.0ft)	100	Under Construction	2020
New South Wales	Crown Sydney	271 m (889.1ft)	75	Under Construction	2019
South Australia	Frome Central Tower One	135 m (442.9ft)	36	Under Construction	2019
Australian Capital Territory	High Society Tower One	113 m (370.7ft)	27	Under Construction	2020

Cities with the most skyscrapers

A cumulative line graph of skyscrapers above 150 metres in height (completed and under construction, as of January 2018 in Australian cities. Data is according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat).

This table shows Australian cities with at least one skyscraper over 150 metres in height, completed, topped–out or under construction.

Rank	City	State	150 m+ (492.1ft+)	200 m+ (656.1ft+)	250 m+ (820.2ft+)	300 m+ (984.2ft+)	Total
1	Melbourne	Victoria	58	22	10	1	58
2	Sydney	New South Wales	45	12	1	–	45
3	Brisbane	Queensland	17	7	3	–	17
4	Gold Coast	Queensland	10	4	2	1	10
5	Perth	Western Australia	6	3	–	–	6

Notes

• N1. Of a total 58 skyscrapers, 18 are under construction or have topped-out
• N2. Of a total 45 skyscrapers, 12 are under construction or have topped-out
• N3. Of a total 17 skyscrapers, 3 are under construction or have topped-out
• N4. Of a total 10 skyscrapers, 2 are under construction or have topped-out
• N5. Of a total 6 skyscrapers, 2 are under construction or have topped-out