Broken Hill

Broken Hill is the major city in the New South Wales outback. It is a busy mining town and the original home of Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP), now called BHP Billiton, which started out mining silver here and grew to become Australia’s largest company.

Broken Hill is a great opportunity to see what life is like in an outback mining town and you can also experience some real outback institutions including the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the School of the Air.

Unusual for an outback mining town, Broken Hill has a thriving arts scene and is home to many artists, the most well-known being Jack Absalom and Pro Hart. Many people come to Broken Hill to visit the city’s many art galleries.

Broken Hill runs on South Australian time and also uses South Australia’s 08 telephone area code.