Haven’t started making a dent in your Christmas shopping yet? We feel you. Deciding what to give your nearest and dearest come the holidays is a tricky business. Especially if you want to make sure the gifts you’re giving make an impact, not just on the person who’s receiving it, but the people you’re buying it from, too. Considering Australian small businesses have had a rough couple of years, we thought we’d put together a list of Aussie gifts to support our community down under. Some brands are small, others are more well-known. But they’re all Australian and many of them are ethically-focused, too.
Here we go!
The best Aussie Gifts
Stunning linens made in Australia:
Bed Threads is an Australian-owned business based in Sydney stocked with all kinds of luxurious bedding, bath towels and homewares. Their flax linen duvet covers (as pictured) are one of our personal faves on the site. Bonus points for coming in a bunch of seasonal colours. They’re also made to last. So, if you want a gift that’ll withstand the test of time, this is it.
Four Pillars Gin Range:
With its birthplace up in the rolling hills of Victoria’s Yarra Valley, Four Pillars offers an amazing range of gins. Whether you grab a Christmas Gin, a Bloody Shiraz Gin or its well-known Rare Dry Gin, this gift is sure to put the ‘silly’ in silly season.
Boozy Christmas Baubles:
We promise this list isn’t all alcohol. But a boozy gift is always a good gift. Aussie-owned Etsy retailer KandCodesignsAU has crafted the absolute goods with these Christmas “baubles” that can double as a flask or a lil’ lolly jar (depending which way your gift recipient is inclined). How’s that for festive?
The custom bauble pictured is available here for $15 (alcohol not included).
Craft Cartel’s Top 10 Tinnies:
This baby is a case of Australia’s top 10 tinnies produced by independently owned Australian craft breweries. Significantly, this box heavily features Victorian breweries who were hardest hit by the extended lockdowns. Styles include Pale Ales, NEIPAs and Brown Ales – basically, a dream gift for any Aussie beer lover.
This case comes with a beer glass guide and costs $79.
This Aussie Festive Christmas Hamper:
Available from Gourmet Basket, the Festive Christmas hamper is stocked with droves of lil’ sweet and savoury fine Aussie goods including antipasto olives, garlic nibbles, nougat, shiraz, chocolate fudge and more. And who doesn’t love food?
Star Sign Necklaces from Reliquia Jewellery:
This Sydney-based jewellery range will make the horoscope lover in your life’s day with their star sign necklace collection. A versatile gift with a thoughtful touch.
Handmade Aussie rings:
Etsy’s always got some banging small businesses that are underrated. So, don’t mind us while we spotlight this awesome Aussie brand called ‘SoulStonesAustralia’ who create these handmade raw stone sterling silver pieces.
You can shop the one pictured here.
Jazzy Jewels – Nunkeri Designs:
Turia Pitt and Grace McBride have come together to support Aussie businesses impacted by both the bushfires and COVID-19 this year with a campaign titled #SpendWithThem. Nunkeri Designs was one of the businesses Pitt selected as a gift favourite. In a recent update on the campaign, Pitt wrote:
“This beautiful Indigenous-owned small business [Nunkeri Designs] is run by Nikki in Brisbane QLD, who hand makes bold and beautiful earrings using Kangaroo leather and contemporary Aboriginal digital artworks.”
Pana Organic Chocolate:
Handmade in Melbourne with the highest quality raw organic ingredients, Pana Organic makes the absolute best plant-based choccie ever. Oh and their spreads are a damn game-changer. Especially this Raspberry, Coconut and Chocolate one that tastes like heaven in a (recyclable) jar. It’s one of those products everyone loves, but can’t justify buying day-to-day, making it the sweetest gift.
Shop the Pana Organic range here.
Banksia Gifts Gift Boxes:
If your mate is a diffuser-lover, then you’ll wanna press ‘add to cart’ right away on this family-owned Australian Banksia Gifts Eucalyptus Gift Box. Why? It comes with an intricate diffuser made from the Banksia Grandis seed pod that soaks up all the Eucalyptus essential oil and slowly releases the aroma through its pores. Simply beautiful as minimalist decor.
Aussie-owned skincare gifts:
There are far too many of these to choose from in this area, so we’ve included a couple.
Lowanna Natural Skin Care was founded by Sinead – a descendent of the Narungga people of the Yorke Peninsula region. The range is made up of natural, plant-based, native ingredients that have been used by Indigenous Australians for centuries.
Boost Lab is another Aussie-owned business you can check out for skincare. I’m personally really enjoying their Vitamin C Brightening Serum ($29.95) at the moment. These guys also make an effort to support causes like Protect a Woman (Women’s Community Shelters), Support Mental Health (Beyond Blue) and Restore the Reef (Greening Australia).
Tbh is another sustainable, cruelty-free Aussie skincare brand perfect for Chrissie gifts. These guys have adorable little packs of goodies ready for your skincare obsessed pals.
Eco-friendly sunnies:
We have two options here! Take your gifting game to a new level by investing in a pair of eco-friendly sunglasses for your loved ones. Local Supply stocks shades made from plant-based resin, and Szade Sunglasses has a range of glasses made from older, recycled shades. Amazing, no?
Art is always a winner:
Rachael Sarra is a contemporary Aboriginal artist from Goreng Goreng Country. Her work has really exploded in the last year, for obvious reasons, so be sure to get in quickly if you’d like to buy one in time for Christmas.
There are so many incredible Aussie businesses that have a lot to offer this holiday season, so we’ll do our best to update this with more gift ideas as we come across them (feel free to yell out in the comments, too). Just be sure to keep an eye out on those postage cut off dates if you’re shopping online!
It’s also worth mentioning here that according to research conducted for the inaugural 2020 Salvos Stores Christmas report, Aussies spend $669 million on unwanted presents each year. So please be sure to shop carefully, and spend consciously.
Happy holidays, friends.
This article has been updated since its original publish date.
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