Australia is the home to seventeen World Heritage Sites. The UNESCO World Heritage List, is an international register of properties that are recognised as having outstanding cultural or natural values of international significance.

Australia Post has released three issues celebrating Australia's World Heritage Sites:

• 4 March 1993 - World Heritage Sites 1
  Featuring 45c Uluru, 85c Fraser Island, 95c Shark Bay, $2 Kakadu
   
  
• 14 March 1996 - World Heritage Sites 2
  Featuring 45c Tasmanian Wilderness, 75c Willandra Lakes, 95c Fossil Caves, Naracoorte, $1 Lord Howe Island (shown at right)
   
  The 45c Uluru, 45c Tasmanian Wilderness, $1 Lord Howe Island and $2 Kakadu stamps were also issued in the Commonwealth Games 2006 Snapshot! booklet. The stamps from this booklet can be identified from the original printing.
   
  
• 21 April 2005 - Joint Issue with Great Britain
  Featuring 50c Wet Tropics of Queensland, 50c Greater Blue Mountains, $1 Purnululu National Park, $1.80 Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The four stamps were released in se-tenant pairs with a stamp featuring a world heritage site in the United Kingdom.

This issue of four stamps includes one site that has not appeared on a stamp: the Gondwana Rainforests. The three after World Heritage Sites that have yet to appear in a World Heritage issue are: Great Barrier Reef, Queensland; Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens, Melbourne and; Sydney Opera House, Sydney.

Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Macquarie Island are also World Heritage Sites, but are administered by the Australian Antarctic Division. An issue for the bicentenary of the discovery of Macquarie Island will be issued in October.

Issue Information
General description of issue - anything new, interesting or unusual.

Gummed Sheet Stamps
The 55c and $1.10 stamps were issued in se-tenant horizontal pairs.

 
Sheet stamps

Unlike most issues featuring se-tenant pairs, these stamps only exist in horizontal pairs. Collectors might notice that the layout of the $1.10 sheet produces a vertical gutter pair, whereas vertical strips of five from the top and bottom panes contain the same stamps. There is no way to obtain vertical pairs of the 55c stamps.

 
Images of the gutters

Self-adhesive Stamps
Self-adhesive stamps were issued in coils of 100 stamp and booklets of 10 stamps. The same printer printed both the coils and booklets, and are the stamps identical. The difference in paper used is because of the different backing paper used. There are minor varieties in the shape of the die-cutting which warrant further investigation.

Coil pair

Self-adhesive Booklets
Booklets were distributed to post offices in chequebooks of 20 booklets. These are not listed on this website.

Booklet layout

Booklet cover

Postal Stationery
A set of four maximum cards accompanied this issue.

Maximum cards

Issue Summary
The table below summarises the above information. The cost of each item is given, along with a total for each section. In some cases the stamps are only available from self-adhesive booklets (sold at face value), or from prestige booklets, souvenir sheets or folders (sold above face value).

Item and Description	Cost
For the General Collector
Gummed sheet stamps Horizontal se-tenant pairs (2 x 55c, 2 x $1.10) Self-adhesive stamps Pair from booklet (2 x 55c)	$3.30   $5.50
Total	$8.80
For the Specialised Collector
Booklets Booklets with philatelic barcode Booklets with general barcode Postal stationery Maximum cards	$5.50 $5.50   $6.30
Total	$17.30
Grand Total	$26.10

References
Australia Post, Australian Stamp Bulletin, No. 219, March-May 1993, No. 234, March-May 1996, No. 279, May-May 2005, No. 304, May-June 2010
Wikipedia, List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and Australasia, accessed 10 April 2010

If you have more information, or spot an error, please e-mail me.