On October 18, 1896, while loaded with coal, the Australasia sank in Lake Michigan near the town of Sevastopol, Door County, Wisconsin, United States, after burning off Cana Island.

The Australasia (Official number 106302) was built in 1884 in West Bay City, Michigan, by the shipyard owned by Captain James Davidson.

[6] On October 17, 1896, the Australasia was bound from a port on Lake Erie for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, carrying 2,200 tons of soft coal.

At 9:00 a.m. on October 18, 1896, the crew of the Leathem gave up trying to salvage her and instead dragged her onto the beach in 15 feet (4.6 m) of water south of Cave Point.

[11] Today her lower hull lies mostly buried in sand under 15 to 20 feet of water off Whitefish Dunes State Park.

[11] Close by are the wrecks of several other ships, including the early steel freighter Lakeland, the large wooden bulk carrier Frank O'Connor, the wooden steamer Louisiana, which was lost during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, the schooner Christina Nilsson and the steamboat Joys.