There are lots of possibilities, some of which you might not have thought of before, so here we provide some ideas about your choices in Australian Made gifts and souvenirs.
Supporting Australian makers and companies
Supporting local makers and creators ensures availability of choices into the future, so buying Australian Made when choosing your gifts and souvenirs means that you are helping local communities and ensuring there is plenty to choose from in the future as well.Traditional Australiana
Australiana refers to all the people, animals, places, flora, and doovalackies of Australian origin. Anything that is linked to Australian culture, or society, geography and ecology would fall under the term Australiana.
Australiana includes famous attractions like the Sydney Opera House, animals like the kangaroo, native flowers like gum blossom, wattle and the Waratah, Aboriginal artworks, slang words like “G'day” and food like Tim Tams!
So buy a piece of Australiana, making sure your Australiana is authentic and made in Australia, not just designed here but then made somewhere else.
Animals (Fauna)
From dangerous and creepy crawly to cute and cuddly, Australia's unique wildlife is both beautiful and fascinating. We have some of the world's deadliest animals including venomous snakes, spiders and killer sharks, endangered species like the Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat and Tasmanian Devil, and of course Quokkas!
So an Australian Made koala soft toy or quokka brooch would make an ideal souvenir from Australia.
Flowers & Plants (Flora)
From the tropical rainforests of Northern Queensland to the country outback, the enormous size and geographical diversity of Australia means we have thousands of unique flower and tree species that can't be found anywhere else.
Banksia aroma pods or tea light holders make the perfect gift for lovers of natural products.
Language
G'day mate is one of the most Aussie things anyone can say, but did you know there are dozens more slang words that originated and are commonly used only here in Australia?
Food
Australia has created and shared about 40 unique and now popular foods and snacks including Anzac biscuits, Weet-Bix, Iced Vo Vo's, Pavlova, Cherry Ripe, Fairy Bread, Vanilla Slice and Fantales to name a few!
And Australian Bush Food is becoming more and more popular, with many of Australia’s top chefs developing menu items using these unique ingredients which add something new to your cooking.
Contemporary Australia
Add a little bit of modern-day Australia to your home or outfit with work from one of the many great contemporary artists and designers producing amazing products here in Australia today.
Created by some of our talented contemporary artists and designers, each product takes inspiration from Australia's flora and fauna, and make great gifts for any occasion.
From cotton scarves to jewellery and tableware, Bits of Australia has a great range of contemporary Australiana.
Aboriginal Art
Celebrate Australia's Indigenous culture with Aboriginal art homewares, fashion accessories and jewellery.
Read more about buying Aboriginal Art here.
Quirky and unusual
Australia is known for its sense of humour and approach to life so there are plenty of amusing and unusual products to find when you are looking for a souvenir to take home.
Christmas
It's never too early to think about Christmas! Especially if you're planning to deck the halls with unique Australian made decorations and accessories like us!
Bits of Australia Originals
Our exclusive Bits of Australia range features jewellery, stationery, decorations and accessories that we have created just for you.
Bits of Australia’s perspective
We interviewed Micaela Smith, the owner, to learn more about what she looks for when sourcing her products:
"At Bits of Australia, we are committed to providing our customers access to a wide range of Australian made gifts and souvenirs that are also environmentally friendly, or made using eco-friendly materials and production techniques.
Our first rule is to look for products that are made here in Australia, so they don't travel half the planet before the customers even think of buying them.
We also make sure of the environmentally friendly source of materials, like the banksia pods that already are in the end of their life cycle, and come from areas regulated by the Department of Parks and Wildlife in Western Australia. And because sometimes we have a hard time finding the right products that follow our standards, we now have our own range of jewellery.
We also select products that are durable, practical, and with a meaningful purpose. We offer a range of ceramic products for the kitchen, including coffee cups that you can bring to your favourite coffee shop, and vases for the home that you can use everyday and will last the long term.
Eco-friendly doesn't mean ugly faded material! For instance our range of greeting cards and wrapping paper, printed carbon neutral, with vegetable based ink on luxuriously thick 100% post-consumer recycled paper, is made with bright and vivid colours.
We are very keen to support local businesses that include an eco-sustainability focus in their process.
As a business, we're also always trying to make better consumption choices and to minimise the environmental impact of our business - like our wrapping service, where we use locally-sourced materials, recycle the packaging filler from our deliveries, like bubble wrap into our own parcels, and we avoid excess packaging or using plastic satchels as much as possible."
So to conclude, there is plenty of choice when you are looking for Australian Made gifts and souvenirs, so happy shopping!