42 Best Shopping in Australia

This outdoor adventure store is the perfect place to stock up on all the things you will need for a camping trip around Tasmania or if you just need an emergency "Tassie tuxedo" to survive the winter. The staff are extremely knowledgeable, and this store stocks a wide variety of quality equipment.

Carrying beautiful items made from Tasmanian wood, this studio carries custom-designed furniture and locally crafted pottery, glass, and clothing. It's also known for its inspiring contemporary art exhibitions and design collections. The center often has an artist in residence and is just a short walk from the city center.

Find true Aboriginal art here, as well as gifts and souvenirs, including soaps, bath, and beauty products, featuring Australian native plants. Oils and clays are made on-site and native Australian foods and flavors known as bush tucker is available to sample and buy. The gallery is owned and operated by local Aboriginal people who are branching out to include Aboriginal cultural experiences such as bush-tucker talks and tastings. 

The Mindil Beach Sunset Market is an extravaganza that takes place every Thursday and Sunday from 4 pm to 9 pm from April through October. Come in the late afternoon to snack at one of more than 60 stalls offering food from more than 25 different countries. You can shop at more than 200 local artisans' booths; enjoy performances by singers, dancers, fire artists, and musicians; catch a whip-cracking demonstration, or join the other Darwinites with a bottle of wine to watch the sun plunge into the sea.

Bookworms and word nerds will adore this delightful bookshop on the corner of High and Henry Streets in the middle of Fremantle's shopping district. Besides a generous selection of books spanning all genres, including travel, you'll find funny greeting cards, games, puzzles, journals, Moleskine notebooks, gift wrap, and quirky stationery.

South of Lake Burley Griffin, this lively Sunday market is in the former Kingston bus depot. Handmade crafts are the staples here, and buskers and inexpensive exotic food enliven the shopping experience. The markets also run on Saturday throughout December leading up to Christmas. When you've had your fill, wander across the road to the Canberra Glassworks to watch artisans at work.

This gallery and shop sells environmental art, cards, calendars, diaries, jewelry, clothing, and ceramics, all inspired by Tasmania, the "'Wild Island." All wares are made in Australia and all support the Australian environment. Regular exhibitions feature local artists who use the Tasmanian wilderness as their muse, a must-visit for original souvenirs.

Set close to the waterfront by the Henry Jones Art Hotel, Art Mob exhibits and sells a wide range of local Tasmanian Aboriginal art and crafts, including jewelry, from many communities and artists. The collection includes rare necklaces and exquisite baskets as well as fine prints and paintings by noted Aboriginal artists.

This space has four exhibition galleries and a sculpture garden, where works by contemporary Australian artists are showcased.

Heritage-listed Brisbane Arcade, circa 1923, joins Queen Street Mall and Adelaide Street and houses designer boutiques, jewelry shops, and upscale gift, art, and antiques stores.

The Brisbane Powerhouse hosts a local produce farmers' market from 6 am to noon every Saturday. Enjoy a fresh, leisurely breakfast on the lawn by the river, and afterward, stroll through nearby New Farm Park.

Located in a refurbished 1950s cinema, Brisbane's largest antiques center houses 70-plus stalls, an on-site tart café, and everything from fine china, collectibles, and the kitschiest of curiosities, to clothing, records, prints, paintings, home wares, games, and a vast collection of Australiana. Open weekdays 9--5 and weekends 8--5.

For a mix of designer threads, high fashion, and comfy staples, head to this shiny enclosed shopping center. You'll find gorgeous Australian beauty products by Aesop; classic garments at Country Road; mature but glam women's wear at Carla Zampatti; activewear at Lorna Jane; swimwear at Seafolly; cosmetics at Mecca Comestica; and high-end everything at David Jones—they're all Australian. For international brands, seek out Chanel, French Connection, and Lululemon. There are half a dozen chic cafés, too—get a chocolate hit at Koko Black and great yum cha at Yamato Kaiten Sushi.

South Bank Parklands hosts a weekend Collective Markets, showcasing high-quality and emerging designer clothing, accessories, artwork, craft, food, and music. It runs Friday 5–9, Saturday 10–9, and Sunday 9–4 in Stanley Street Plaza.

You can find authentic Aboriginal artifacts at Creative Native with an extensive selection of Aboriginal art. Each piece of original artwork comes with a certificate of authenticity and royalties are paid to all artists. Painted boomerangs, didgeridoo, and dishes make wonderful gifts and lasting souvenirs of your holiday Down Under. 

Commissioned work available. 

This classy department store opens onto the Murray Street pedestrian mall. Inside you'll find a wide range of designer clothing, shoes, bags, accessories, makeup and beauty items, perfume, housewares, and gift ideas. 

Located on a revamped shipping wharf at riverside Hamilton, this bustling interactive market gives visitors a taste of Brisbane's best street food from more than 70 funky shipping container "restaurants." Open Friday and Saturday evening 4 pm–10 pm and Sunday 4 pm–9 pm, there's also a regular lineup of live music and entertainment, and hip wares from local artists and makers. Entry costs A$5.

Located in a converted theater, Empire Revival (formerly Paddington Antique Centre) is brimming with antiques, furniture, collectibles, various bric-a-brac as well as colorful vintage clothing. Around 50 dealers operate within the center, alongside an on-site café. It's open daily 9–5, closing an hour earlier on Sunday.

The bellwether of Australia's craft gin movement, Four Pillars' industrial-style distillery bustles with admirers: its Navy Strength Gin is a six-time winner of best its class at the world Gin Masters. Pop in for a tasting paddle of gins and a light snack and watch the distillers at work behind a glass window, or go deeper with a tour of the distillery. Like what you taste? All its standard gins and limited-edition gins (such as the Christmas gin, available from November), as well as its preferred tonic waters, are available for purchase, along with stylish cookbooks and chic drinking paraphernalia.

This retail shop and gallery specializes in high-quality products made in Tasmania, including ceramics, glass, jewelery, sculpture, and textiles. The mission here is showcase the talents of Tasmania's emerging and established artists. Located within the Salamanca Arts Centre just off Salamanca Place, the gallery represents more than 90 artisans.

The charming streets of this shopping precinct on the city's northern outskirts are lined with all sorts of fun little places to explore. Peek into art galleries and pottery shops, browse through clothing boutiques and gift stores, and nosh at several eateries.

Featuring the work of some of Tasmania's finest artists, this gallery is one of the gems of Salamanca Place. Inside you'll find Hobart's best wooden jewelry boxes as well as art deco jewelry and pottery, paintings, works on paper, and sculpture. The gallery also runs a number of exhibitions each year in conjunction with its sister gallery in Evandale, Northern Tasmania. Some of the exhibiting artists here have gone on to show at national and international galleries. The works of Tasmanian Aboriginal elder Lola Greeno are a very special feature.

This new upmarket lifestyle precinct in Fortitude Valley has an ever-growing array of local fashion, housewares, jewelry, and design stores, alongside trendy cafés and bars.

For more than 30 years, the owners of this gallery have been dedicated to the fair work trade of Aboriginal artists, so rest assured, when you purchase a piece of local art here, you are giving back to a community. You'll find traditional dot painting, as well as contemporary creatives here. Insured worldwide shipping is available.

There's no better or practical Aussie souvenir than a pair of warm and wooly, genuine Ugg boots, and Key Sole Fremantle sells them at its three locations around Fremantle. It also stocks famed Australian brands like Crocs and Emu. It's easy to miss their High Street location so look for the sign that simply says KS and the store full of Ugg boots. You can also buy online. 

Historic MacArthur Central, the WWII headquarters of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, houses boutiques and specialty shops, a food court, and a museum. Located at the bottom of the Queen Street Mall, the streets surrounding the center also feature a range of high-end fashion boutiques including Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and Tiffany & Co. The MacArthur Museum is open to the public Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday 10–2:30.

Get your fill of authentic Aboriginal art—far more than just dot paintings—by viewing one of the solo or group-curated exhibitions by emerging and established artists and communities at the Mossenson Galleries, which has been one of Australia's leading Indigenous commercial galleries since 1993. The gallery is open on Saturday 11--4. 

This popular upmarket department store, Australia's largest, carries all manner of goods and sundries, along with Australian brands. You can find some bargains on the clothing sale racks. 

One of the few markets here open year-round, Nightcliff Market takes place on Sunday morning and lasts until around 2 pm in Nightcliff Village, with craft and food stalls and performances by musicians, dancers, and other entertainers; it's a great spot for breakfast.

This arts-and-crafts store in the center of Launceston is one of the oldest shops in Tasmania. It sells a diverse range of umbrellas as well as gifts including tea towels and toiletries. The shop has been operated by three generations of the Shott family—check out the intriguing displays about the family's passion for umbrellas and wooden crafts.