Marginal marine strata of last interglacial age occur in a range of morphostratigraphic settings around the Australian coastline. Uranium-series ages for corals and molluscs are generally in accord with the accepted age for oxygen isotope substage 5e (125 000 +/- 10 000 yr BP), the value generally accepted for the last interglacial maximum. Elevations of preserved last interglacial shorelines do not support the notion that Australia is a stable continent. Significant neotectonic anomalies include Cape Cuvier, Fleurieu Peninsula, the Coorong Coastal Plain and Tasmania. With these exceptions, the height of the last interglacial sea surface is consistently below the 6 metre level globally attributed to this high sea level stand. In Australia, the most consistent datum is from western Eyre Peninsula where a level of 2 metres above present sea level is ubiquitous. The more southerly limit of coral growth and wider distribution of subtropical molluscan fauna are in accordance with warmer ocean waters during substage 5e (approximately 2 degrees C).