The Australian Outback is a land of beauty and emptiness. It is a place where no one travels the lonely stretches of road without carrying extra fuel, vehicle spare parts, and a week's worth of food and water. It is a place where sheep and cattle outnumber people. It is a place where children play in the biggest backyard imaginable.

Measuring 2.2 million square miles, the Outback is about the same size as the 48 mainland states of the United States. Although the Outback covers three quarters of the continent of Australia, "The Great Empty" is home to less than 10 percent of the population.

The Outback is full of diversity. It contains scorched and barren deserts, coastal areas, tree-lined gorges, and tropical rain forests. Animals such as red kangaroos, dingoes, birds, snakes, and lizards all call Australia home.​

The first Outback inhabitants were the Aborigines who came to the continent over 40,000 years ago. Many continue to live on the land of their ancestors.

During more recent times, sheep and cattle ranchers have also made their homes in the Outback. The large areas of land where they work and live are called stations. Because vegetation to feed the animals is scarce (limited), stations average between 15,000 and 25,000 acres. One station measures 2.3 million acres.

Life on a station is difficult. There are animals to care for, cattle to round up, sheep to shear, equipment to repair, and food to grow. There are usually no grocery stores within hundreds of miles. Devastating (really bad) droughts, floods, and brush fires are a constant threat to station animals and property. A brush fire is when a fire quickly spreads and burns the small bushes in the Outback. Dust storms can last for days, confine everyone to the house, and smother animals.

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Station life can also be very lonely. Some of the larger stations employ full-time employees, but others hire workers only during their busy season. With no neighbors nearby, families often only have each other for company. They look forward to seeing the mailman who periodically delivers mail and supplies on a small airplane or four-wheel-drive vehicle. Station children have many chores and responsibilities from an early age. They learn to drive as soon as their feet reach the pedals in case they need to get help during an emergency. They enjoy riding in amateur horse races called picnic races, which are one of the few times a year they get to be with other children.

School and education in the Outback is quite different compared to here in the United States. School aged students do not have a physical school nearby, and Australian and other global internet providing companies like Google have only very recently begun to invest in infrastructure in the Outback. Still today, Wifi and internet connectivity is limited and infrequent. Because of this, most children receive their education over a two-way radio. Started in 1950, The Outback “School of the Air” (broadcasting on a radio is called being “on air”) matches individual teachers to groups of 7 to 12 students.

Students receive books and materials by mail and tune in to their lessons on the radio at a designated time. Two-way communication allows the teacher and students to have direct interaction. Work is mailed to the teacher every two weeks for grading. After seventh grade, station children usually go to a boarding school.