<P> Metrication in Australia effectively began in 1966 with the conversion to decimal currency under the auspices of the Decimal Currency Board . The conversion of measurements--metrication--commenced subsequently in 1971, under the direction of the Metric Conversion Board and actively proceeded until the Board was disbanded in 1981 . </P> <P> Before 1970, Australia mostly used the imperial system for measurement, which the Australian colonies had inherited from the United Kingdom . Between 1970 and 1988, imperial units were withdrawn from general legal use and replaced with SI metric units, facilitated through legislation and government agencies . SI units are now the sole legal units of measurement in Australia . Australia's largely successful transition to the metric system contrasts with the ongoing opposition to metrication in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom . </P>

When did the metric system come to australia