Leaders

• Governor of New South Wales – Captain Arthur Phillip
  Arthur Phillip
  Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
  
  
• Governor of Norfolk Island
  Administrative heads of Norfolk Island
  The Administrator of Norfolk Island acts as a representative both of the Crown and of the Australian Federal Government, as well as carrying out other duties according to the Norfolk Island Act 1979....
  
   – Philip Gidley King
  Philip Gidley King
  Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
  
  
• Commanding officer of the colony's marine
  Royal Marines
  The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
  
   presence – Major Robert Ross

Events

• January – A convict uprising on Norfolk Island
  Norfolk Island
  Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
  
   is easily crushed.
• April – An outbreak of smallpox at the Sydney Cove
  Sydney Cove
  Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson , on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia....
  
   settlement kills many local Eora
  Eora
  The Eora are the Aboriginal people of the Sydney area, south to the Georges River, north to the Hawkesbury River, and west to Parramatta. The indigenous people used this word to describe where they came from to the British. "Eora" was then used by the British to refer to those Aboriginal people...
  
   Aboriginals, including Arabanoo.
• 29 April – The Mutiny on the Bounty
  Mutiny on the Bounty
  The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...
  
   occurs; Captain William Bligh
  William Bligh
  Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
  
   and 18 others are cast adrift.
• 4 June – The first Government House is completed.
• 4 June – Australia's first theatrical performance The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar
  George Farquhar
  George Farquhar was an Irish dramatist. He is noted for his contributions to late Restoration comedy, particularly for his plays The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem .-Early life:...
  
   staged with convicts acting in the roles.
• 12 June – Phillip leads an expedition to Broken Bay
  Broken Bay
  Broken Bay is a large inlet of the Pacific Ocean located about 50 km north of Sydney on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, and is the first major bay north of Sydney's Port Jackson.- Geography :...
  
   (departed from Sydney on the 6th), and discovers the Hawkesbury River
  Hawkesbury River
  The Hawkesbury River, also known as Deerubbun, is one of the major rivers of the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its tributaries virtually encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.-Geography:-Course:...
  
  .
• 27 June – Captain Watkin Tench
  Watkin Tench
  Lieutenant-General Watkin Tench was a British Marine officer who is best known for publishing two books describing his experiences in the First Fleet, which established the first settlement in Australia in 1788...
  
   and party discover the Nepean River
  Nepean River
  The Nepean River is a river in the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia.The headwaters of the Nepean River rise near Robertson, about 100 kilometres south of Sydney and about 15 kilometres from the coast. The river flows north in an unpopulated water catchment area into Nepean Dam, which...
  
  
• 5 October – The first ship built in the colony, Rose Hill Packet, begins service on the Parramatta River
  Parramatta River
  The Parramatta River is a waterway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson, along with the smaller Lane Cove and Duck Rivers....
  
  .
• 21 November – James Ruse
  James Ruse
  James Ruse was a Cornish farmer who, at the age of 23, was convicted of breaking and entering and was sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia. He arrived at Sydney Cove on the First Fleet with 18 months of his sentence remaining...
  
  , a convict, provisionally given land at Parramatta
  Parramatta, New South Wales
  Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...
  
   to establish Experiment Farm.
• 25 November – For the purposes of understanding Aboriginal culture, Phillip captures Bennelong
  Bennelong
  Woollarawarre Bennelong was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia, in 1788...
  
   and Colebec.
• December – First successful harvest at Parramatta

Deaths

• 18 May – Arabanoo, cultural mediator between the British settlers and Eora
  Eora
  The Eora are the Aboriginal people of the Sydney area, south to the Georges River, north to the Hawkesbury River, and west to Parramatta. The indigenous people used this word to describe where they came from to the British. "Eora" was then used by the British to refer to those Aboriginal people...
  
  Aboriginals