What is the highest peak of Australia's Great Dividing Range?

The highest peak of Australia’s Great Dividing Range is Mount Kosciuszko, rising to 2,228 metres in New South Wales.

Mount Kosciuszko stands on the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains inside Kosciuszko National Park. It is part of the Australian Alps and is also the highest mountain on mainland Australia. Its summit is near the border with Victoria, west of Crackenback and close to the town of Jindabyne.

The mountain’s name is linked to Polish military and political leader Tadeusz Kościuszko. Polish explorer Paweł Edmund Strzelecki applied the name in 1840. A later surveyor, Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, mistakenly thought nearby Mount Townsend was higher and named it accordingly, creating decades of confusion about whether the names had been swapped.

A 1940 study by cartographer and historian B. T. Dowd reaffirmed that Strzelecki’s original naming was correct: Mount Kosciuszko is higher than Mount Townsend. The summit is accessible by a walking track, so Australia’s mainland high point is considerably less technical to climb than many famous continental summits.