An unwell traveller whose itinerary has included Australia may be infected with agents that are uniquely found in that country or by more cosmopolitan agents that exist there. This brief review will discuss some of the more common or important infectious disease diagnoses and discuss some features that can be elicited on examination or from the history that would be useful in directing investigation and treatment. Diseases discussed include epidemic polyarthritis, dengue fever, Murray Valley encephalitis, melioidosis, leptospirosis, Buruli ulcer, scrub typhus and spotted fever.