n Australia, a station is a large landholding used for producing livestock,

predominantly cattle or sheep, that needs an extensive range of grazing land. The
owner of a station is called a pastoralist or a grazier, corresponding to the North
American term "rancher".

Originally station referred to the homestead – the owner's house and associated
outbuildings of a pastoral property, but it now generally refers to the whole
holding. Stations in Australia are on Crown land pastoral leases, and may also be
known more specifically as sheep stations or cattle stations, as most are stock-
specific, dependent upon the region and rainfall.[1][2]

If they are very large, they may also have a subsidiary homestead, known as an
outstation.
Sizes
Aerial views of Oulnina Park Station at Manna Hill, South Australia.

Sheep and cattle stations can be thousands of square kilometres in area, with the
nearest neighbour being hundreds of kilometres away. Anna Creek Station in South
Australia is the world's largest working cattle station.[3] It is roughly 24,000
square kilometres (9,300 sq mi);[4] much larger than the runner-up, Clifton Hills,
another South Australian cattle station spanning 17,000 square kilometres (6,600 sq
mi); and substantially larger than America's biggest ranch (King Ranch), which is
only 3,339 square kilometres (1,289 sq mi).[5][6] King Ranch is approx 13% of the
size of Anna Creek Station.
Structure
Anna Creek main homestead

A station typically has a homestead where the property owner or the manager lives.
Nearby cottages or staff quarters provide housing for the employees. Storage sheds
and cattle yards are also sited near the homestead. Other structures depend on the
size and location of the station. Isolated stations will have a mechanic's
workshop, schoolroom, a small general store to supply essentials, and possibly an
entertainment or bar area for the owners and staff. Water may be supplied from a
river, bores or dams, in conjunction with rainwater tanks. Nowadays, if rural mains
power is not connected, electricity is typically provided by a generator, although
solar electricity systems have become increasingly common.
Outstations
Cattle Creek outstation of Wave Hill, NT, 1962

Historically, an outstation was a subsidiary homestead or other dwelling on

Australian sheep or cattle stations that was more than a day’s return travel from
the main homestead.[7][8][9] Although the term later came to be more commonly used
to describe a specific type of Aboriginal settlement, also known as a homeland
community, it is still used on cattle and sheep stations today, for example the
Sturt Creek Outstation of the Ruby Plains Station in The Kimberley,[10] and
Rawlinna sheep station,[11] Australia’s largest operating sheep station. [12]
Facilities

Because of the extended distances, there is a School of the Air so that children
can attend classes from their homes, originally using pedal-powered radios to
communicate with the teachers, developed by South Australian engineer and inventor
Alfred Traeger in 1929.[13] The larger stations have their own school and teacher
to educate the children on the station until at least they commence high school.
Large isolated stations have their own stores to supply workers with their needs.
[citation needed]

Medical assistance is given by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (also originally
using Traeger's pedal radio technology), where medical staff such as doctors and
nurses can treat patients at their homes, or airlift emergency and seriously ill
patients to hospitals at the nearest towns. The Westpac Life Saver Rescue
Helicopter Service and RAC rescue helicopter and its trained medical crews also
respond quickly to emergencies threatening the life, health and safety of people
caused through medical emergency, illness, natural disaster, accidents or mishap.
Personnel

A station hand is an employee, who is involved in routine duties on a station and

this may also involve caring for livestock.

Some stations are in remote areas that are not easy to access, limiting their
population greatly. Accommodation for couples and families may be limited.[14] An
important example is the jackaroo (male) or jillaroo (female), a young person who
works on a station for several years in a form of apprenticeship, in order to
become an overseer or rural property manager.[15][16] Aboriginal people have played
a big part in the northern cattle industry where they were and still are competent
stockmen on the cattle stations. Nowadays staff on these stations may work in the
homestead and in stock camps. Stockmen, especially ringers, may be seasonal
employees. Others include boremen, managers, mechanics, machinery operators
(including grader drivers), station and camp cooks, teachers, overseers and
bookkeepers. Veterinary surgeons also fly to some of the more distant cattle and
sheep stations.