After giving the world the Hills Hoist, dual flush toilets and casked wine, Australia can now take credit for the term "selfie" - Oxford Dictionaries' international word of the year for 2013.

It seems certain the selfie originated in Australia with a young drunk first using the word to describe a self-portrait photograph more than a decade ago.

Nada Makdessi requested a selfie with Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott during the federal election campaign this year. Credit:Andrew Meares

Oxford Dictionaries revealed this week the earliest known usage is from a 2002 online ABC forum post.

The next recorded usage is also from Australia with the term appearing on a personal blog in 2003.