strange creature

Does anyone know what this bug may be? Its about 1 cm in diameter.

weed-woman,
I am not sure, but I think it is a lerp from the family Psyllidae . These are tiny insects that form a scale to protect themselves as they feed. If not a lerp it would be a scale insect of the family Coccidae.

The nearest I can find to your brightly coloured specimen is this one: http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_softbugs/WhiteFibrousLerpInsect.htm

what sort of leaf is it on. These little bugs are very specific to their host plant and knowing the tree can help in identifying the insect.

Kennedy

I know they love lilly pilly ...ww do your lilly pilly have "pimples'?

I found it on a Schefflera arboricola leaf. It has legs poking out from the shell and it was moving very slowly, in fact, I lost it because I forgot about it, and when I went to look at it again, it had wandered off! It's probly up the vacuum cleaner now!
Yes Chrissy, we get psyillids (your pimples) on the lily pillies. Mostly when they are young, and on the red growth, but as they get older they seem to grow out of it. I don't worry about it. It's not worth spraying the poison around as they are very hard to control.
Sue