How many states does the Australian Mainland have?

Again, we prepared a trap for you! The thing is that the country consists of the seven states but the question was about the mainland. Here is the trick: there are only six states on the continent as the seventh one is an island and even though it is located closely to the mainland it can't be considered a part of it in a geographical sense. There are also three federal territories and some inhabited island territories and the total of the area makes this country one of the largest ones in the world!