Australia is a constitutional monarchy whose Sovereign also serves as Monarch of the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada and twelve other former dependencies of the United Kingdom as well as Papua New Guinea, one former dependency of Australia itself. They are now all fully independent nations. This article deals with the history of the institution in Australia. For a broader treatment of the Monarchy in Australia, see Monarchy of Australia. The east coast of Australia was claimed in 1770, by Captain James Cook, in the name of and under instruction from King George III. The colony of New South Wales was founded in the name of the British sovereign eighteen years later, followed by five more: Tasmania (1825), Western Australia (1829), South Australia (1836), Victoria (1851), and Queensland (1859).

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