Australia is a country in Oceania comprising of the Australian continent and various smaller islands including Tasmania. The Wasteland is located in said country, and acts as the primary and sole setting of the Mad Max franchise.
History[]
It's likely that the history of Australia in Mad Max was the same—until the early 1980s (or the late 2010s in the reboot timeline) from the inhabitance of the aboriginals, to colonisation in the 18th century, followed by events such as the federation of Australia in 1901, Canberra being designated as the capital in the year of 1911, and Australia's involvement in the First and Second World Wars.
As a result of the Persian Gulf War, which began somewhere in the year of 1979, an severe oil crisis created an impact which devastated the global world, including Australia. Stock-brokers watched in awe as the largest companies became nothing more than just existing on paper. As a result, banks, investments, and funds began to crumble overnight, as unemployment skyrocketed in the following years.
Mad Max[]
At some stage, however, just before the events of the first Mad Max film, there was a severe oil crisis and Australian society began to collapse. Fuel became scarce, looting became widespread, and law and order slowly began to disintegrate.
Apocalypse (or "Pox-eclipse")[]
- Main article: Apocalypse
At an unknown point in time, possibly either just before or after the events of Mad Max 2, a nuclear exchange that marked the end of oil-based civilisation broke out, causing a large number of casualties. It's likely that much of Australia was spared from the conflict, however, Sydney was hit and was shown to be abandoned in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.