Top Free Basemaps for Australia in QGIS

1. AusMap Plugin

A dedicated QGIS plugin tailored for Australian geospatial data. AusMap provides layers from Geoscience Australia, OpenStreetMap, and Google Maps via WMS, WFS, WMTS, and XYZ formats. An excellent one-stop solution for Aussie-specific base layers.

2. XYZ Tiles & QuickMapServices Plugin

• XYZ Tiles: Built-in in QGIS—just open the Browser panel, locate XYZ Tiles, right-click to add a connection, and drop in URLs (e.g., ESRI World Imagery, OpenTopoMap).
• QuickMapServices plugin: Offers easy access to basemap layers like OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Bing Imagery, Sentinel‑2 cloudless, and more—globally available, including Australia.

3. Geoscience Australia WMTS / Vicmap (Victoria-specific)

• Geoscience Australia Topographic WMTS: Accessible via WMTS in QGIS using service URLs; ideal for detailed topographic maps across Australia.
• Vicmap Basemaps: For Victorian regions, Vicmap provides WMTS services with aerial imagery, cartographic, overlay, and topographic layers—all public and up-to-date.

4. Other Australian Government Resources

Although NationalMap has been decommissioned (June 2025), the Digital Atlas of Australia now serves as a central hub for accessing and visualizing government geospatial datasets. Good for discovering additional base map sources.

Quick Comparison Table

How to Add These Basemaps in QGIS

1. Using AusMap:
   • Go to Plugins → Manage and Install Plugins
   • Search and install AusMap, then access its layers via the menu.
2. Via XYZ Tiles:
   • Open Browser → XYZ Tiles
   • Right-click → New Connection, then add URLs like:
     • ESRI World Imagery: https://services.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}
     • OpenTopoMap: https://tile.opentopomap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png
       
3. QuickMapServices plugin:
   • Install via Plugins menu.
   • Access under Web → QuickMapServices, search by keywords like “satellite” or “Bing”.
4. WMTS Layers (GA or Vicmap):
   • Go to Layer → Add Layer → Add WMTS Layer
   • Paste service URL (e.g., Geoscience Australia’s Topographic service or Vicmap WMTS), select layers, and add.