[4] Later it was leased to John Murray, situated at 116 Cumberland Street on land contained in the Observatory Hill Resumed Area.

[1] The hotel still retains many of its original features, including the saloon bar, etched signage and pressed metal ceilings.

[1] The Australian Hotel is significant as a largely intact example of the public houses built in The Rocks from the establishment of the Colony and part of a suite of buildings, which demonstrate changing social and drinking habits over time.

It is also likely to have a high degree of social significance as a traditional meeting place and the abode of working men within The Rocks area, and it continues to provide the service for which it was designed.

[1] Its form and siting reflect the 1903 Hickson, Davis and Vernon planning scheme, designed to improve the hygiene and amenity of The Rocks inhabitants following the 1900 plague outbreak.

The combination of Hotel and shops in one architectural treatment and the two-level bar demonstrates an innovative response to the site's characteristics and the needs of the community at the time.

The Australian Hotel is historically significant because the complex and site followed the precepts of the 1903 Hickson, Davis and Vernon planning scheme, designed to improve the hygiene and amenity of The Rocks inhabitants following the 1900 plague outbreak.

The relocation of the hotel and the whole development provides evidence of the town planning principles and the prevailing concepts of public health and amenity of the period.

Substantially intact purpose-built hotels of this period are rare, as most have been altered as a result of changing licensing laws and drinking habits.

The site also is indicative of the consistent two-storey scale of the area, which predominated in the vicinity prior to construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The whole building, designed in an Edwardian architectural idiom, remains highly intact and thus provides evidence of past tastes, customs and forms.

[8][1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The Australian Hotel is aesthetically significant because it has landmark qualities on a prominent site at the corner of Cumberland and Gloucester Streets.

It makes a significant contribution to The Rocks precinct as a visual marker of post-resumption development along with the housing board terraces across the road.

The building has a high degree of intact fabric and details and integrity and as such is relatively rare, as most hotels of this period have been altered as a result of revised licensing laws and changing drinking habits.

Rock-cut features and footings associated with the residential neighbourhood from settlement to c. 1910 have been found and retained beneath both the Hotel and shops.

The combination of hotel and shops in one architectural treatment and the two level bar provided an innovative response to the characteristics of the site and the needs of the community at the time.