Hello and thank you for stopping by.
Hometown Australia is a brand new site and as such it doesn't have much on it yet.
We are building the site currently and hope to have some real content on it soon.
Stop by often and see how we are doing!
Cheers!
This Week's Featured State or Territory
Australian Antarctic Territory
History of Australia
The History of Australia refers to the history of the area and people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians are believed to have first arrived on the Australian mainland by boat from the Malay Archipelago between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago. The artistic, musical and spiritual traditions they established are among the longest surviving such traditions in human history.
The first known landing in Australia by Europeans was by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606. Other Dutch navigators explored the western and southern coasts in the 17th century, and dubbed the continent "New Holland." Macassan trepangers visited Australia's northern coasts after 1720, possibly earlier. Other European explorers followed until, in 1770, James Cook charted the East Coast of Australia for Britain and returned with accounts favouring colonisation at Botany Bay (now in Sydney), New South Wales.
Etymology
The name Australia is derived from the Latin australis, meaning "southern". The country has been referred to colloquially as Oz since the early 20th century. Aussie is a common colloquial term for "Australian". In neighbouring New Zealand the term "Aussie" is sometimes applied as a noun to the nation as well as its residents.
Legends of Terra Australis Incognita—an "unknown land of the South"—date back to Roman times and were commonplace in medieval geography, although not based on any documented knowledge of the continent. Following European discovery, names for the Australian landmass were often references to the famed Terra Australis.
Profile of Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The federation comprises six states and several territories. The population of 22.9 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated in the eastern states.
A highly developed country and one of the wealthiest, Australia is the world's 12th-largest economy and has the world's fifth-highest per capita income. Australia's military expenditure is the world's 13th-largest. With the second-highest human development index globally, Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights. Australia is a member of the G20, OECD, WTO, APEC, UN, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS and the Pacific Islands Forum.
About Us
Company Profile
After accumulating 13 years of electronic and computer experience, Matthew Hunt started A2Z Computing Services in December of 1995. As an independent contractor for MaineStreet Communications, Inc. he supported their clients with Internet connectivity issues, hardware and software support, network services and web site design consultation.
In August of 1997 he formed a partnership with Brian McKenna of PBA Communications, Inc. of Portland. This partnership, named WebMaine, was created to develop a series of web sites aimed at bringing the communities of the United States onto the World Wide Web.
In April of 1999 Matthew purchased his partner's share of the business and is currently employing a full staff for the development of the sites. This project was divided into two phases with the first one being the creation of the main site http://www.HometownUSA.com that provides a series of smaller pages for each state and community. Currently there are over 400,000 web pages on the site representing over 33,000 communities throughout the United States.
The current phase of the project is to develop expanded web sites for other countries as well. Please see:
Hometown Canada - http://www.hometowncanada.com
Hometown England - http://www.hometownengland.com
Hometown USA - http://www.hometownusa.com
Values Statement
We are responsible to the communities that we represent. To provide them a service that will enhance their online community with a professional, informative and entertaining website.
We are responsible to the residents of the communities. To provide them a source of information pertaining to all aspects of their community that are in-keeping with the town's values and morals.
We are responsible to the businesses that advertise on and sponsor our pages. To do our best to ensure the success of their advertising campaign with fair pricing and quality design work.
We are responsible to the nonprofit and community organizations. To provide them a method to market and support their missions via our community websites.
We are responsible to the participants in our fundraising programs. To provide them the opportunity to raise reasonable funds for their projects and programs.
We are responsible to our employees. To provide them a safe work environment, fair wages, opportunity for advancement, and equal opportunity regardless of sex, race or religion.
We are responsible to our subcontractors. To provide them agreeable and timely payment for services and adequate information for completion of the work ordered.
We are responsible to our suppliers. To provide them timely payment for products or services and to demand not the impossible but to request the reasonable.
We are responsible to the banks and creditors who have loaned us money. To submit payments timely and accurately.
We are responsible to our investors. To ensure their investment returns a reasonable profit.
Mission Statement
To create an online community, like no other, encompassing every facet of every municipality in the Australia, Canada, England and the United States; to aid in online economic revitalization in partnership with local schools, fundraising groups, businesses and local, state/provincial and national government agencies; to publish, maintain and connect a network of community websites designed to entertain, educate and enlighten the residents of our great nations, while maintaining the highest standards of personal morals, business ethics and web etiquette.
Privacy Statement
A2Z Computing Services, Inc. has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy. The following discloses the information gathering and dissemination practices for this Web site: HometownAustralia.com
Information Automatically Logged
We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our Web site. Your IP address is also used to gather broad demographic information.
Advertisers
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp
External Links
This site contains links to other sites. A2Z Computing Services, Inc. is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites.
Registration Forms
Our site's registration form requires users to give us contact information (like their name, email, and postal address), unique identifiers (like their social security number), and demographic information (like their zip code, age, or income level). Contact information from the registration forms is used to ship purchases and information about our company. The customer's contact information is also used to get in touch with the customer when necessary. Users may opt-out of receiving future mailings; see the choice/opt-out section below. Unique identifiers (such as personal registration numbers) are collected from Web site visitors for use as account numbers in our record system. Demographic and profile data is also collected at our site. We use this data to tailor our visitor's experience at our site showing them content that we think they might be interested in, and displaying the content according to their preferences.
Order Forms
Our site uses order forms for customers to request information, products, and services. We collect financial information (like their account or credit card numbers), and demographic information (like their post code, age, or income level). Financial information that is collected is used to bill the user for products and services. Demographic and profile data is also collected at our site. We use this data to tailor our visitor's experience at our site showing them content that we think they might be interested in, and displaying the content according to their preferences.
Contests
We may run contests on our site from time to time in which we ask visitors for contact information (like email address), and demographic information (like zip code, age, or income level). Contact information from the contests is used to ship purchases and information about our company. The customer's contact information is also used to get in touch with the visitor when necessary. Users may opt-out of receiving future mailings; see the choice/opt-out section below. Demographic and profile data is also collected at our site. We use this data to tailor our visitor's experience at our site showing them content that we think they might be interested in, and displaying the content according to their preferences.
Public Forums
This site makes chat rooms, forums, message boards, and/or news groups available to its users. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information.
Choice/Opt-Out
Our site provides users the opportunity to opt-out of receiving promotional/marketing information from our partners, and us . You can send email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Data Quality/Access
This site gives users the following options for changing and modifying information previously provided: 1.You can send email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Children's Guidelines
We care about children and understand that they have special privacy needs. Therefore, we have adopted the following privacy policy regarding children:
1.We will NOT collect, use, or distribute to third parties personally identifiable information without prior verifiable parental consent.
2.We will NOT give the child access to unmonitored chat rooms, message boards, email accounts, or other services that would give the child the ability to publicly post or otherwise distribute personally identifiable information without prior verifiable parental consent
3.When verifiable parental consent is not obtained, we will only use the online contact information (such as email) to:
a.Respond directly to the child's request on a one-time basis and not use that information to re-contact the child for other purposes.
b.Request the name or online contact information of a parent for the purpose of obtaining verifiable parental consent or providing parental notification.
c.Respond more than once directly to a specific request from a child (such as in the case where a child requests a newsletter subscription) and not used to re-contact the child for other purposes. We will use our best efforts to provide parental notification, which will include the nature and intended use as well as an opportunity for the parent to prevent the use of the information and participation in the activity.
4.We will NOT entice the child to divulge more information than is needed to participate in any activity, game, or service.
5.We will provide the parent a description of the specific types of a personally identifiable information collected from their child upon request. We will allow the parent to refuse further use or future online collection of personally identifiable information and provide a way for a parent to obtain any personally identifiable information collected from their child.
6.We will provide notice to children in age appropriate terms of what personally identifiable information is to be collected.
7.We will NOT provide any links to Web sites that are unsuitable for children.
8.We will encourage children to get their parent's permission before sharing personal information online.
Contacting the Web Site
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this Web site, you can contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.