THE WORDS:  (Note: verses two, four and five are rarely sung)

Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We've golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in Nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history's page, let every stage
Advance Australia fair!
In joyful strains then let us sing,
"Advance Australia fair!"

When gallant Cook from Albion sail'd,
To trace wide oceans o'er,
True British courage bore him on,
Till he landed on our shore.
Then here he raised Old England's flag,
The standard of the brave;
With all her faults we love her still,
"Brittannia rules the wave!"
In joyful strains then let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"

Beneath our radiant southern Cross,
We'll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"

While other nations of the globe
Behold us from afar,
We'll rise to high renown and shine
Like our glorious southern star;
From England, Scotia, Erin's Isle,
Who come our lot to share,
Let all combine with heart and hand
To advance Australia fair!
In joyful strains then let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"

Shou'd foreign foe e'er sight our coast,
Or dare a foot to land,
We'll rouse to arms like sires of yore
To guard our native strand;
Brittannia then shall surely know,
Beyond wide ocean's roll,
Her sons in fair Australia's land
Still keep a British soul.
In joyful strains the let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"

Origins

Advance Australia Fair was composed by Glasgow-born Peter Dodds McCormick (1834?-1916), who used the pen-name "Amicus", a Latin word meaning "friend".

The first public performance is thought to have been given in Sydney on November 30th (St Andrew's Day), 1878 at the St Andrew's Day concert of the Highland Society. The singer was a Mr Andrew Fairfax.

The song was later published by W.J. Paling and Company.

It was also sung by a choir of 10,000 at the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia (1 January 1901), with a few amendments by McCormick including the addition of the words "our youthful Commonwealth".

In 1907, the Australian Government - the Commonwealth Government of Australia - awarded McCormick £100 for his composition.

McCormick died in 1916. His obituary in The Sydney Morning Herald stated prophetically:

Mr. McCormick established a reputation with the patriotic song, "Advance Australia Fair", which [...] has come to be recognised as something in the nature of an Australian National Anthem.

The copyright on Advance Australia Fair ended in 1966, fifty years after McCormick's death.

The Australian Labor Party policy for the 1972 elections included finding an alternative to God Save the Queen. The ALP won office in that election, and the Whitlam government (1972-75) announced in the Prime Minister's 1973 Australia Day address that a competition would be held under the auspices of the Australia Council for the Arts to find a new Australian national anthem.

Although a large number of submissions were received (2,500 lyric and 1,400 music entries), none were considered acceptable.

The judges recommended that one of three existing Australian songs - Advance Australia Fair, Banjo Patterson's Waltzing Matilda or Carl Linger's Song of Australia - be selected.

On April 8th, 1974, opinion polls were held by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the government announced that henceforth Advance Australia Fair was to be Australia's anthem, but with God Save The Queen to be played when (British) royalty was present.

The Whitlam government was dismissed by the Governor-General (Sir John Kerr) on November 11, 1975, and was replaced by the Fraser (Liberal) government (1975-1983).

In January 1976, the Fraser government modified the rules governing the national anthem. Advance Australia Fair was to be used, without words, on non-regal occasions, and God save the Queen was to be used on all royal, vice-regal, defence, and loyal toast occasions.

The Fraser Government held a plebiscite, the National Song Poll, on 21 May 1977.

The results were: (from http://www.ausflag.com.au/debate/amr/amr23.html):

Despite the poll results, adoption of the new anthem met with widespread opposition and obstruction.

Thus, it was not until 19th April, 1984 (in time for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics) that Advance Australia Fair finally became Australia's national anthem, under the Hawke (Labor) government (1983-1991).

Advance Australia Fair was to be played at all official and ceremonial occasions; God Save the Queen became the "royal anthem", to be played when the Queen or members of the Royal Family are present.

Changes were also made to three lines of the text:

From the Melbourne Herald-Sun newspaper, 19 April 1984:

Information Courtesy of  http://www.hamilton.net.au/advance.html