Love Jane Austen. Such a witty ***** lol.

It's not Aussie but you might enjoy Vanity Fair. And ****ens is worth a shot too. Great Expectations and Oliver Twist are probably the most accessible.

Australian literature...... The Harp in the South. Ruth Park. It's set in the 1940's so it's a bit later than you're looking for but it's never been out of print. She also wrote Playing Beatie Bow. It's a young adult novel but if you didn't read it at school it's worth your time.

Miles Franklin wrote My Brilliant Career in the very early 20th Century.