Visits in Victoria included the Herman Research Laboratory and Exploration Geology Group of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, and the Latrobe Valley Coalfields. The S.E.C.V. system of classifying brown coal on the basis of colour, texture, degree of humic gelification, weathering pattern and physical properties was noted during inspection of core material and open-cut faces. The S.E.C.V. found each lithotype has characteristic chemical, petrograhic and physical differences and therefore different utilisation potentials. Coal samples including polished sections from the South Australian Wakefield Brown Coal Deposit were examined at Wollongong University. Air dried samples showed lithotypes similar to Victorian coals with the paler coals containing more spores and resin bodies than the darker coals. It is recommended that selected South Australian brown coals be logged in the dry state and lithotypes analysed to determine possible utilisation potentials. Division of a brown coal seam into lithotypes will allow more representative sample selection and aid in evaluation of tectonic conditions and depositional environments.