Wikimania 2017 bids/Perth

Wikimania 2017 candidate cities:

Overview

Perth is the capital of Western Australia. European settlement started in 1829 on the banks of the Swan River. Perth has a population of just over 2 million people, Australia's fourth most populous city. Perth enjoys a Mediterranean climate with its seasons being in reverse to those of the Northern Hemisphere. The Noongar people are custodians of one of the oldest continuous cultures, having been in the area for over 40,000 years, and their language and traditions still continue on. Assisted by Wikimedia Australia they are currently developing a Noongar language Wikipedia in the incubator. Perth community is a multicultural society with more than half its population born outside of Australia.

On Perth's door step is the Swan Valley wine region, which started in the 1830s and has a history as diverse as the city itself. Fremantle is a city within a city, founded in 1829. Fremantle developed its own unique character as a port, a function it still continues today. Fremantle has the oldest public building in Western Australia, as well as the World Heritage listed Fremantle Prison. A hostel occupies a section of the prison; if anyone would like accommodation there the venue is easily accessed from Freo by both bus and train services. To Perth's south is the Margaret River wine region along with some of the best surfing beaches, all part of the Southwest biodiversity hotspot, which covers an area of 356,717 km². Western Australia's biodiversity includes 226 families, 1543 genera and 9437 identified vascular plant species.

Country: Australia
City proposed: Perth
Venue proposed: Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre (PCEC)
Date proposed: 2 - 7 August 2017
Arrival proposed:
Departure proposed:
Planned attendance: 1000-2000 (River Theatre capacity: 2500)
Contact: Gnangarra (talk)

Getting around

Perth Central Area Transit (CAT) is a free bus service running every 5 minutes. All are wheelchair accessible, and drop you either at the proposed venue or within a 5 minute walk of it. All city area accommodation is within a 5 minute walk of a CAT stop. There is also a free transit zone in the City area, which means that all bus services are also free to get from accommodation to the venue.

Getting in

Visa

Further information: w:Visa policy of Australia, voy:Australia#Get in

All visitors - apart from citizens of New Zealand - require a visa in advance of travel.

Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) subclass 601 is available on-line to nationals of Brunei, Canada, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea (ROK), Taiwan and the United States. A service fee of $20 applies. This fee can be waived if you obtain your ETA through a travel agent or most airlines.
eVisitor (subclass 651) for citizens of the European Union, EEA, Switzerland and a few European microstates. These visas are free, but otherwise effectively identical to the ETA. You must apply on-line.
Visitor Visa (subclass 600). Passport holders of 55 countries, including all the ETA and eVisitor eligible countries and Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, Kuwait, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates can make applications on-line. Other nationalities must apply using the paper form, and may need to visit an embassy or visa processing centre.

In most cases, Electronic Travel Authorities and eVisitors are approved instantly and the visa will be issued and available for use immediately. If further enquiries are needed you may be asked to return to the application system later to see if you've been approved. In the worst case scenario your application can be diverted for manual checks that can take weeks. Best to apply early, just in-case.

Airport

Perth Airport is a domestic and international airport, located about 15 km east of the Perth CBD. It is the fourth busiest airport in Australia, and has direct international flights to Johannesburg, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Auckland.