During late Precambrian to Mesozoic time an overall northward migration of the locus of east Australian orogeny was complemented by an overall southward migration of the locus of initial rifting in western Australia. Related shifts in dextral and/or compressive strain occurred along a trans‐Australia zone of relative crustal mobility. Palaeomagnetic data show that this overallanticlockwisemigration of compressive and tensional tectonic regimes about the continent corresponded to apparent overallclockwiserotation upon the globe by Palaeozoic Australia. We propose that the pattern of Australia's tectonism during late Precambrian to Mesozoic time accords with the episodic application in eastern Australia of major continent‐ward‐directed compressive forces. Such forces, moreover, were directed generally palaeowestward, and relative northward migration of the locus of stress application arose by Australia's apparent clockwise rotation upon the globe.