The beginning of a new dialect: Australian english (AusE)

The founding of the British penal colony of New South Wales at Sydney in 1788 is the starting point of a process of evolution from British English, spoken by the children of early settlers exposed to a wide range of different dialects, particularly from Ireland and South East England. Then arose Australian English,a new variety of English and the standard language of Australia.

'Many of the words now thought of as Australian in fact started out in Britain, and some can still be heard in British local dialects - such as dinkum, cobber, tucker (cf. tuck shop) and joker (person). 

On the other hand, in recent years the influence of American English has been apparent, so that the country now displays a curious lexical mixture.Thus we find American truck, elevator, and freeway alongside British petrol, boot (of a car) and tap.

People usually think of Australian English as characterized by such Aboriginal borrowings as boomerang, billabong, dingo, kangaroo, koala, kookaburra, wallaby, and wombat; but in fact the English settlers took very few words from the native languages spoken in the country'.It was due to the Aborigines of Australia were very few, nomadic and because over 200 languages were in use at the time.

On the other hand,about a third of Australian place names are unmistakably Aboriginal: Woolloomooloo, Bugarribbee, Warragumby'. 

I invite you to listen to a really interesting podcast to know more about where did the Australian accent come from: Download audio  Show transcript

Sources:

Crystal, David. The English Language. A guided tour of the language. London. Penguin. 2002.

ABC.RadioNational.Speaking our language:THE STORY OF AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH