Does Australia Use Hectares or Acres? Units Explained

Australia officially uses hectares for land measurement, not acres. While acres appear in older documents and some rural conversation, the metric system has been the legal standard since the 1970s, making hectares the unit for buying, selling, and zoning land today.

Formula

To convert acres to hectares, multiply the number of acres by 0.404686.

Hectares = Acres × 0.404686

To convert hectares to acres, divide by the same factor: Acres = Hectares ÷ 0.404686 (or multiply by 2.47105).

One hectare equals 10,000 square metres (100 m × 100 m). One acre equals 43,560 square feet, or about 4,046.86 square metres.

Worked Example

Using the calculator defaults: you enter 1 acre.

1. Start with the conversion factor: 1 acre = 0.404686 hectares.
2. Multiply: 1 × 0.404686 = 0.404686 hectares.
3. Round to 4 decimal places: 0.4047 hectares.

For square metres: 1 × 4046.86 = 4,046.86 m². That matches the calculator output above.

Background: How Australia Switched to Metric

Australia began its official metric conversion in the early 1970s. The Metric Conversion Act 1970 (Commonwealth) set the framework, and the Metric Conversion Board oversaw the change. By the mid-1980s, almost all sectors—including land measurement—had adopted metric units.

Before that, Australian land was measured in acres, roods, and perches, inherited from British imperial practice. One acre equals 4 roods, and one rood equals 40 perches. A perch is 25.29 square metres. Older property titles, especially in rural areas, still reference these units, and you may encounter them in historical records or when researching old boundaries.

What a Hectare Looks Like in Practice

A hectare is a square with sides of 100 metres, so it covers 10,000 square metres. To visualise it:

• A hectare is roughly the size of a rugby field (including the end zones).
• It is about 2.47 acres, so two and a half hectares would be roughly six acres.
• A typical suburban block in Australia is far smaller—often 400 to 1,000 square metres, which is 0.04 to 0.1 hectares.

When Australians talk about farmland, they say “a 50-hectare property” or “he runs 200 hectares.” You will rarely hear “acres” except in casual conversation among older generations or in specific rural communities.

How to Read Land Listings and Documents

Real estate listings, council zoning maps, and rural property sales all use hectares. A house block might be described as “600 m²,” while a farm is “120 ha.” If you see “acres” in a listing, it is usually a marketing choice for older buyers or a direct quote from an old title.

When dealing with legal documents, always check the title. If a title says “2 acres 1 rood,” that converts to about 2.25 acres, or roughly 0.91 hectares. Surveyors and land registries use metric exclusively today, so modern titles will show square metres or hectares.

Common Mistakes When Converting

The most frequent error is using the wrong conversion factor. Some people approximate 1 acre = 0.4 hectares, which is close but can cause problems on large properties. For a 100-acre farm, that error adds up to about 0.47 hectares—enough to matter in a boundary dispute.

Another mistake is confusing hectares with square metres. A hectare is 10,000 m², not 1,000 m². If someone says “I bought 5,000 square metres,” that is half a hectare, not five hectares.

Also be careful with rounding. The exact conversion is 1 acre = 0.40468564224 hectares. For most purposes, 0.4047 is fine, but for legal or survey work, use the full figure or the official conversion from the National Measurement Institute.

Why It Matters for Buyers and Sellers

If you are buying rural land in Australia, knowing whether the price is per hectare or per acre changes the total cost significantly. A property advertised at $10,000 per acre is about $24,710 per hectare. Always confirm which unit the agent is using.

For overseas buyers, especially from the US or UK, the hectare/acre difference can be confusing. A “quarter-acre block” in Australian history is roughly 1,011 square metres, but you will not see that term in modern listings. Instead, you will see “1,000 m² block.”

When comparing property sizes internationally, use a reliable converter. The calculator above gives you the exact hectare equivalent for any acre figure, and you can reverse it by dividing the hectares by 0.404686.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an acre bigger than a hectare?

No. A hectare is about 2.47 times larger than an acre. One hectare equals 10,000 square metres, while one acre equals about 4,047 square metres.

Do Australians ever use acres?

Yes, but rarely in official contexts. Older people may use acres casually, and some rural communities still say “acres” out of habit. However, all legal, government, and real estate transactions use hectares or square metres.

How many acres are in a hectare?

There are about 2.47105 acres in one hectare. To convert hectares to acres, multiply by 2.47105.

Why did Australia switch from acres to hectares?

Australia adopted the metric system in the 1970s to standardise measurements with most of the world and simplify trade, science, and education. The change was phased in over about a decade, with land measurement being one of the last areas to fully convert.

What is a “rood” and a “perch”?

These are old imperial land units. One acre equals 4 roods, and one rood equals 40 perches. A perch is 25.29 square metres. You may see these on historical titles, but they are not used in modern Australian land measurement.

Does the US use acres or hectares?

The US primarily uses acres for land, even though it officially uses metric for some scientific work. This is why conversions between acres and hectares are common for international property comparisons.

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in a | Area in acres | acres | 1 | 0
out h | Area in hectares | hectares | a * 0.404686 | 4
out m2 | Area in square metres | m² | a * 4046.86 | 0