Heath Ledger’s daughter Matilda, 18, is planning to ‘spend large chunk of time’ in Australia during gap year so she can visit with her late father’s family

The daughter of the late Australian actor Heath Ledger is reportedly planning to spend time in Australia with her late father’s family.

Matilda, 18, who currently lives in the US and was raised by her mother Michelle Williams, is considering enrolling at an Australian university, it was reported Women’s Day.

Matilda is considering moving to Australia, but she wants to postpone her further education for a year so she can travel.

According to a source, the teenager wants to take a gap year and travel the world before starting her studies.

The country where her father came from would be an important destination for Matilda.

“She will also be spending a large portion of her time in Australia. She always feels closest to her dad when she is there and loves nothing more than hearing his childhood stories from his entire family,” the source said.

The insider also claimed that Matilda is considering staying in Australia to continue her studies.

“She may even decide to study in Australia, although for now she seems to have her sights set on several colleges in New York,” they added.

This came after rumours surfaced in 2023 that Matilda wanted to spend more time with her father’s family, who live in Western Australia.

Heath’s parents have said in the past that they would like to see their granddaughter, whom they affectionately call their “little New Yorker,” more often.

The Ledgers reportedly transferred all of Heath’s assets, worth an estimated $16.3 million, to Matilda after his death in 2008.

Heath’s only child has kept a low profile all these years, as her mother Michelle wanted to keep the “real” situation from her growing daughter.

Actor Michelle Williams was in a relationship with Heath from 2004 until late 2007.

The couple welcomed Matilda, their only child, in October 2005.

Heath died on January 22, 2008, in a New York City apartment after accidentally overdosing following months of physical and mental exhaustion.

The Dark Knight actor died at the age of 28 from a lethal cocktail of drugs. He leaves behind his daughter, who was two years old at the time.

Michelle, who dated Heath from 2004 to 2007 after they met on the set of Brokeback Mountain, decided to keep Matilda out of the spotlight.

The Blue Valentine star took a break from acting and moved to upstate New York with Matilda after Heath’s death.

She previously said the move stemmed from her desire to provide her daughter with “a healthy home environment.”

“We moved, we left Brooklyn and lived in the countryside for six years because it was an unbearable situation,” she told the New York Post in June 2016.

Years later, Michelle decided to return to the Big Apple and bought a house in Brooklyn, where she had lived before moving.

Before they split, Michelle and Heath shared a $3.6 million home in Boerum Hill, a small neighborhood in the northwest corner of the borough.

Michelle, who is now married to theater director Thomas Kail, previously spoke about her desire to give Matilda siblings in a 2012 interview with GQ.

“I really wanted, and I really expected or imagined, that Matilda would have siblings who were close to her age. I wanted that for her. But I couldn’t make that happen,” she said.

“And now that she’s six, that’s not even a possibility. So something that I was impatient with has been removed. For whatever reason, that’s not our happiness, or our path.”

However, eight years later she found her happy ending with Thomas, whom she married in 2020. Later that year they had another boy and in 2022 their second child followed.