International Olympiads (there are maths, chem, phys, bio, robots, informatics, maths) - the most important event for high school kids in the world, where the best students of each country compete in the respective discipline. Usually 50+ countries are involved in these. In Australia, these are the stages bio phys and chem:
1st stage - National Qualification Exam, usually around August - October, depending on what you are going for (phys, bio, chem), you could go for all three if you want. If you come top 20 in Australia in these exams, you areinvited to the Summer Schools held at ANU in January. You are called Rio Tinto Australian Science Olympiad Scholars (since Rio Tinto sponsors all these)
2nd stage - Training in Canberra at Australian National University for 2-3 weeks during January, during which you learn science equivalent to 1st yr and 2nd yr level (sometimes even touches a bit of honours material). You also have to do practical exams (5 hours in the case of chemistry), and they count towards you final marks.
3rd stage - Final Qualification Exam, the theory exam that is usually held 2 months after the camp in January. This theory mark is then combined with the Prac mark obtained in January to determine the rank of the ppl from summer school. In Physics, top five people ofare chosen to represent Australia in the international olympiad. In Chemistry, top four people are chosen. In Biology, top four are chosen.
This year, aluminium boy represented Australia in International Biology Olympiad and was ranked 7th in the world (gold medalist, he won a silver in 2002). Phenol represented Australia in International Chemistry Olympiad and was also a gold medalist.
So in comparison to these international events, HSC seems rather trivial.
and HSC doesn't really reflect how good a person is at science... we all have seen the syllabus.
For more information: check out
http://www.rtaso.org.au
edit: you also receive $2000 from the government if you win a medal in one of the international olympiads... the UAI 100s also receive $2000 from the government, but if you happen to be UAI 100 as well as a medalist (like aluminium boy) i think you only get $2000 once