The Australian Army, as a late member of the Allied Rifle Committee along with the United Kingdom and Canada adopted the committee's improved version of the FAL rifle, designated the L1A1 rifle by Australia and Great Britain, and C1 by Canada.
The Australian L1A1 is also known as the "self-loading rifle" (SLR), and in fully automatic form, the "automatic rifle" (AR).
The Australian L1A1 features are almost identical to the British L1A1 version of FAL; however, the Australian L1A1 differs from its British counterpart in the design of the upper receiver lightening cuts.
The lightening cuts of the Australian L1A1 most closely resembles the later Canadian C1 pattern, rather than the simplified and markedly unique British L1A1 cuts.
The Australian L1A1 FAL rifle was in service with Australian forces until it was superseded by the F88 Austeyr (a licence-built version of the Steyr AUG) in 1988, though some remained in service with Reserve and training units until late 1990.
Some Australian Army units deployed overseas on UN peacekeeping operations in Namibia, the Western Sahara, and Cambodia still used the L1A1 SLR and the M16A1 rifle throughout the early 1990s.
The British and Australian L1A1s, and Canadian C1A1 SLRs were semi-automatic only, unless battlefield conditions mandated that modifications be made.

Australia, in co-ordination with Canada, developed a heavy-barrel version of the L1A1 as a fully automatic rifle variant, designated L2A1.
The Australian heavy-barrel L2A1 was also known as the "automatic rifle" (AR).
The L2A1 was similar to the FN FAL 50.41/42, but with a unique combined bipod-handguard and a receiver dust-cover mounted tangent rear sight from Canada.
The L2A1 was intended to serve a role as a light fully automatic rifle or quasi-squad automatic weapon (SAW).
The role of the L2A1 and other heavy barrel FAL variants is essentially the same in concept as the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) or Bren, but the Bren is far better suited to the role of a fire support base for a section, being designed for the role from the start.
In practice many considered the L2A1 inferior to the Bren, as the Bren had a barrel that could be changed, and so could deliver a better continuous rate of fire, and was more accurate and controllable in the role due to its greater weight and better stock configuration.
For this reason, Australia and Britain used the 7.62mm-converted L4 series Bren.
Most countries that adopted the FAL rejected the heavy barrel FAL, presumably because it did not perform well in the machine gun role.
Countries that did embrace the heavy barrel FAL included Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, and Israel.

Unique 30-round magazines were developed for the L2A1 rifles.
These 30-round magazines were essentially lengthened versions of the standard 20-round L1A1 magazines, perfectly straight in design.
Curved 30-round magazines from the L4A1 7.62 NATO conversion of the Bren are interchangeable with the 30-round L2A1 magazines, however they reputedly gave feeding difficulties due to the additional friction from the curved design as they must be inserted "upside down" in the L2A1.
The L4A1 Bren magazines were developed as a top-mounted gravity-assisted feed magazine, the opposite of what is required for the L2A1 FAL.
This was sometimes sorted out by stretching magazine springs.

The Australian L1A1/L2A1 rifles were produced by the Small Arms Factory – Lithgow, with approximately 220,000 L1A1 rifles produced between 1959 and 1986.
L2A1 production was approximately 10,000 rifles produced between 1962 and 1982.
Lithgow exported a large number of L1A1 rifles to many countries in the region.
Among the users were New Zealand, Singapore and Papua New Guinea.

During the Vietnam War, the SLR was the standard weapon issued to Australian infantrymen.
Many Australian soldiers preferred the larger calibre weapon over the American M16 because they felt that the SLR was more reliable and that they could trust the NATO 7.62 round to kill an enemy soldier outright.
The Australians' jungle warfare tactics used in Vietnam were inform
The Australian Army, as a late member of the Allied Rifle Committee along with the United Kingdom and Canada adopted the committee's improved version of the FAL rifle, designated the L1A1 rifle by Australia and Great Britain, and C1 by Canada. The Australian L1A1 is also known as the "self-loading rifle" (SLR), and in fully automatic form, the "automatic rifle" (AR). The Australian L1A1 features are almost identical to the British L1A1 version of FAL; however, the Australian L1A1 differs from its British counterpart in the design of the upper receiver lightening cuts. The lightening cuts of the Australian L1A1 most closely resembles the later Canadian C1 pattern, rather than the simplified and markedly unique British L1A1 cuts. The Australian L1A1 FAL rifle was in service with Australian forces until it was superseded by the F88 Austeyr (a licence-built version of the Steyr AUG) in 1988, though some remained in service with Reserve and training units until late 1990. Some Australian Army units deployed overseas on UN peacekeeping operations in Namibia, the Western Sahara, and Cambodia still used the L1A1 SLR and the M16A1 rifle throughout the early 1990s. The British and Australian L1A1s, and Canadian C1A1 SLRs were semi-automatic only, unless battlefield conditions mandated that modifications be made.
Australia, in co-ordination with Canada, developed a heavy-barrel version of the L1A1 as a fully automatic rifle variant, designated L2A1. The Australian heavy-barrel L2A1 was also known as the "automatic rifle" (AR). The L2A1 was similar to the FN FAL 50.41/42, but with a unique combined bipod-handguard and a receiver dust-cover mounted tangent rear sight from Canada. The L2A1 was intended to serve a role as a light fully automatic rifle or quasi-squad automatic weapon (SAW). The role of the L2A1 and other heavy barrel FAL variants is essentially the same in concept as the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) or Bren, but the Bren is far better suited to the role of a fire support base for a section, being designed for the role from the start. In practice many considered the L2A1 inferior to the Bren, as the Bren had a barrel that could be changed, and so could deliver a better continuous rate of fire, and was more accurate and controllable in the role due to its greater weight and better stock configuration. For this reason, Australia and Britain used the 7.62mm-converted L4 series Bren. Most countries that adopted the FAL rejected the heavy barrel FAL, presumably because it did not perform well in the machine gun role. Countries that did embrace the heavy barrel FAL included Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, and Israel.
Unique 30-round magazines were developed for the L2A1 rifles. These 30-round magazines were essentially lengthened versions of the standard 20-round L1A1 magazines, perfectly straight in design. Curved 30-round magazines from the L4A1 7.62 NATO conversion of the Bren are interchangeable with the 30-round L2A1 magazines, however they reputedly gave feeding difficulties due to the additional friction from the curved design as they must be inserted "upside down" in the L2A1. The L4A1 Bren magazines were developed as a top-mounted gravity-assisted feed magazine, the opposite of what is required for the L2A1 FAL. This was sometimes sorted out by stretching magazine springs.
The Australian L1A1/L2A1 rifles were produced by the Small Arms Factory – Lithgow, with approximately 220,000 L1A1 rifles produced between 1959 and 1986. L2A1 production was approximately 10,000 rifles produced between 1962 and 1982. Lithgow exported a large number of L1A1 rifles to many countries in the region. Among the users were New Zealand, Singapore and Papua New Guinea.
During the Vietnam War, the SLR was the standard weapon issued to Australian infantrymen. Many Australian soldiers preferred the larger calibre weapon over the American M16 because they felt that the SLR was more reliable and that they could trust the NATO 7.62 round to kill an enemy soldier outright. The Australians' jungle warfare tactics used in Vietnam were inform
L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle