An examination of 45 clinical isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans revealed an unusually high incidence of C. neoformans var. gattii in South Australia (65%) and in the Northern Territory (95%). In assessing all the available data from Australian isolates of C. neoformans, there appeared to be an endemic focus for the incidence of C. neoformans var. gattii in the rural aboriginal population of the Northern Territory.