Incumbents

• Monarch – King Edward VII
  Edward VII of the United Kingdom
  Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
  
  
• Governor-General
  Governor-General of Australia
  The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
  
   – Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote
  Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote
  Henry Stafford Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote GCMG, GCIE, CB, PC , known as Sir Henry Northcote, Bt, between 1887 and 1900, was a Conservative politician and colonial administrator...
  
   (until 9 September), then William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley
  William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley
  William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley, KP, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, KStJ, PC, TD, DL , styled Viscount Ednam before 1885, was a British Conservative politician...
  
  
• Prime Minister
  Prime Minister of Australia
  The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
  
   – Alfred Deakin
  Alfred Deakin
  Alfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the...
  
   (until 13 November), then Andrew Fisher
  Andrew Fisher
  Andrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...
  
  

State premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – Charles Wade
  Charles Wade
  Sir Charles Gregory Wade KCMG was Premier of New South Wales 2 October 1907 – 21 October 1910. According to Percival Serle, "Wade was a public-spirited man of high character...
  
  
• Premier of South Australia – Thomas Price
  Thomas Price
  Thomas Price was a stonecutter, teacher, lay preacher, businessman, stonemason, clerk-of-works, union secretary, union president and politician...
  
  
• Premier of Queensland – Robert Philp
  Robert Philp
  Sir Robert Philp, KCMG was a Queensland businessman and politician who was Premier of Queensland from December 1899 to September 1903 and again from November 1907 to February 1908.-Early life:...
  
   (until 18 February), then William Kidston
  William Kidston
  William Kidston was an Australian politician and Premier of Queensland, from January 1906 to November 1907 and again from February 1908 to February 1911.-Early life:...
  
  
• Premier of Tasmania – John Evans
  John Evans (Australian politician)
  Sir John William Evans, CMG was an Australian politician, a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly and Premier of Tasmania from 11 July 1904 to 19 June 1909.-Early life and nautical career:...
  
  
• Premier of Western Australia
  Premier of Western Australia
  The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
  
   – Newton Moore
  Newton Moore
  Major-General Sir Newton James Moore KCMG , was the eighth Premier of Western Australia and a member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1932....
  
  
• Premier of Victoria – (Sir) Thomas Bent
  Thomas Bent
  Sir Thomas Bent KCMG , Australian politician, was the 22nd Premier of Victoria. He was one of the most colourful and corrupt politicians in Victorian history....
  
  

State governors

• Governor of New South Wales – Admiral Sir Harry Rawson
  Harry Rawson
  Admiral Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson, GCB, GCMG RN , is chiefly remembered for overseeing the British Benin Expedition of 1897 that burned and looted the city of the Kingdom of Benin, now in Nigeria...
  
  
• Governor of South Australia – Sir George Ruvthen Le Hunte
  George Le Hunte
  Sir George Ruthven Le Hunte KCMG was Governor of South Australia from 1 July 1903 until 18 February 1909, soon after federation of Australia....
  
  
• Governor of Queensland – Frederic Thesiger, 3rd Baron Chelmsford
  Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford
  Frederic John Napier Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GBE, PC was a British statesman who served as Governor of Queensland , Governor of New South Wales from 1909 to 1913, and Viceroy of India from 1916 to 1921, where he was responsible for the creation of the Montagu-Chelmsford...
  
  
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Gerald Strickland
  Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland
  Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland, 6th Count of Catena, GCMG was a Maltese and British politician and peer, who served as Prime Minister of Malta, Governor of the Leeward Islands, Governor of Tasmania, Governor of Western Australia and Governor of New South Wales.-Early...
  
  
• Governor of Western Australia
  Governor of Western Australia
  The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
  
   – Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford
  Frederick Bedford
  Admiral Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford GCB, GCVO was Governor of Western Austria from 24 March 1903 to 22 April 1909.-Naval career:Bedford joined the Royal Navy at the age of 14, and later served in the Crimean War....
  
  
• Governor of Victoria – Major General Sir Reginald Talbot
  Reginald Talbot
  Major-General Sir Reginald Arthur James Talbot, KCB was a British military officer, Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons, and Governor of Victoria in Australia.-Early life:...
  
   (until 6 July), then Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael
  Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, 1st Baron Carmichael
  Thomas David Gibson-Carmichael, 1st Baron Carmichael GCSI, GCIE, KCMG, DL , known as Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, Bt, between 1891 and 1912, was a Scottish Liberal politician and colonial administrator....
  
   (from 27 July)

Events

• 10 March – Australians Douglas Mawson
  Douglas Mawson
  Sir Douglas Mawson, OBE, FRS, FAA was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer and Academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Mawson was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.-Early work:He was appointed geologist to an...
  
   and Edgeworth David
  Edgeworth David
  Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE, DSO, FRS, was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter Valley coalfield in New South Wales and leading the first expedition to reach the...
  
   accompanied by Ernest Shackleton
  Ernest Shackleton
  Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
  
   and others are the first people to scale Mount Erebus
  Mount Erebus
  Mount Erebus in Antarctica is the southernmost historically active volcano on Earth, the second highest volcano in Antarctica , and the 6th highest ultra mountain on an island. With a summit elevation of , it is located on Ross Island, which is also home to three inactive volcanoes, notably Mount...
  
   in Antarctica.
• 30 March – Commonwealth Quarantine service
  Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service
  The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service is the Australian government agency responsible for enforcing Australian quarantine laws...
  
   came into operation and took over quarantine stations in every state.
• 20 April – 44 are killed and 400 injured in the Sunshine train disaster
  Sunshine train disaster
  The Sunshine rail disaster occurred at the Sunshine railway station, which is the junction for the Ballarat and Bendigo railway lines, from Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia....
  
  .
• 7 May – The Coat of Arms of Australia
  Coat of arms of Australia
  The coat of arms of Australia is the official symbol of Australia. The initial coat of arms was granted by King Edward VII on 7 May 1908, and the current version was granted by King George V on 19 September 1912, although the 1908 version continued to be used in some contexts, notably appearing on...
  
   are granted Royal Assent
  Royal Assent
  The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
  
  .
• August – Boys in Australia first participated in the scouting movement
  Scouts Australia
  Scouts Australia is an organisation for children and young adults from 6 to 26 years of age. Scouts Australia is part of the global Scouting movement and has been a national member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement since 1953...
  
  , within a year of scouting
  Scouting
  Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
  
   starting in England
• 20 August – The Great White Fleet
  Great White Fleet
  The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with...
  
  , the first visit by the U.S. Navy to Australia, arrives in Sydney.
• 8 October – The capital of Australia
  Canberra
  Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
  
   is chosen, settling a feud between rivals Melbourne
  Melbourne
  Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
  
   and Sydney
  Sydney
  Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
  
  .
• 13 November – The Australian Labor Party
  Australian Labor Party
  The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
  
   withdraws its support for the minority government
  Minority government
  A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
  
   of Prime Minister Alfred Deakin
  Alfred Deakin
  Alfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the...
  
  , forcing his replacement with Andrew Fisher
  Andrew Fisher
  Andrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...
  
  .
• 18 November – The Victorian government
  Government of Victoria
  The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...
  
   passes the Adult Suffrage Bill 1908, granting female suffrage for the first time.
• 15 December – The Invalid and Old Age Pensions Act is passed, which sets up a national aged pension
  Pension
  In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
  
   scheme.
• 29 December – A general election is held in Victoria
  Victoria (Australia)
  Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
  
  . The government of Sir Thomas Bent
  Thomas Bent
  Sir Thomas Bent KCMG , Australian politician, was the 22nd Premier of Victoria. He was one of the most colourful and corrupt politicians in Victorian history....
  
   is returned to power.

Science and technology

• 1 January – The Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology
  Bureau of Meteorology
  The Bureau of Meteorology is an Executive Agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together the state meteorological services that existed before then...
  
   formally commences operation.
• 3 February – first trans-Tasman
  Trans-Tasman
  Trans-Tasman is an adjective used primarily in Australia and New Zealand, which signifies an interrelationship between both countries. Its name originates from the Tasman Sea which lies between the two countries...
  
   radio transmission (via HMS Powerful
  HMS Powerful (1895)
  HMS Powerful was a ship of the Powerful-class of protected cruiser in the Royal Navy.-Career:She was built by Vickers Limited, Barrow-in-Furness and launched on 24 July 1895 by the Duchess of Devonshire....
  
   in Tasman Sea)

Arts and literature

• 16 May – The Commonwealth Literary Fund is established.
• Henry Handel Richardson
  Henry Handel Richardson
  Henry Handel Richardson, the pseudonym used by Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson, was an Australian author. She took the name "Henry Handel" because at that time, many people did not take women's writing seriously, so she used a male name...
  
  's first novel Maurice Guest is published
• We of the Never Never
  We of the Never Never
  We of the Never Never is an autobiographical novel by Jeannie Gunn. Although published as a novel, it is an account of the author's experiences in 1902 at Elsey Station near Mataranka, Northern Territory in which she changed the names of people to obscure their identities. She published this book...
  
  by Mrs Aeneas Gunn
  Jeannie Gunn
  Jeannie Gunn OBE was an Australian novelist, teacher and Returned and Services League of Australia volunteer.- Life :...
  
   is published
• The poem My Country
  My Country
  "My Country" is an iconic patriotic poem about Australia, written by Dorothea Mackellar at the age of 19 while homesick in England. After travelling through Europe extensively with her father during her teenage years she started writing the poem in London in 1904 and re-wrote it several times...
  
  by Dorothea Mackellar
  Dorothea Mackellar
  Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar, OBE was an Australian poet and fiction writer.The only daughter of noted physician and parliamentarian Sir Charles Mackellar, she was born in Sydney in 1885...
  
   first published

Film

• 2 February – The Limelight Department
  Limelight Department
  The Limelight Department was one of the world's first film studios, beginning in 1898, operated by The Salvation Army in Melbourne, Australia. The Limelight Department produced evangelistic material for use by the Salvation Army, including lantern slides as early as 1891, as well as private and...
  
   of the Salvation Army
  Salvation Army
  The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
  
   films Grand Memorial Service, a film of the funeral of Major Kenneth McLeod, the Director of the Bayswater Boys' Home. The funeral was held at the Kew Cemetery in Melbourne.

Sport

• 31 January – Victoria
  Victorian Bushrangers
  The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
  
   wins the 1907–08 Sheffield Shield
  Pura Cup
  The Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...
  
  .
• 11 February – Australia regains The Ashes
  The Ashes
  The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
  
   with a 308 run victory over England.
• 20 April – The first New South Wales Rugby League premiership
  New South Wales Rugby League premiership
  The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's and later the country's elite rugby league competition...
  
   begins in Sydney.
• 29 August – South Sydney
  South Sydney Rabbitohs
  The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...
  
   win the grand final to become the first NSWRFL premiers
• 3 November – Lord Nolan wins the Melbourne Cup
  Melbourne Cup
  The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
  
  .
• At the 1908 Summer Olympics
  1908 Summer Olympics
  The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...
  
   held in London, Australia forms a team with New Zealand and competes as Australasia
  Australasia at the 1908 Summer Olympics
  Australasia was the name of a combined team from Australia and New Zealand that competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England. It was the fourth appearance of Australia, which had not missed any edition of the Summer Olympic Games, and the first appearance of New Zealand...
  
  . They win a gold medal for rugby football
  Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics
  Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics. The event was summarised under the "Football" heading along with association football. The host Great Britain was represented by Cornwall, the 1908 county champion...
  
  , a silver medal for middleweight boxing
  Boxing at the 1908 Summer Olympics
  At the 1908 Summer Olympics, five boxing events were contested. All of the boxing was conducted on October 27. The event was held in the Northampton Institute in Clerkenwell, East London....
  
  , and in swimming
  Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics
  At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, six swimming events were contested. These were the first Olympic Games in which a 100 metre pool had been especially constructed . Previous Olympic events were swum in open water...
  
   a silver medal for men's 400 metre freestyle and bronze medal for men's 1500 metre freestyle – both won by Frank Beaurepaire
  Frank Beaurepaire
  Sir Francis "Frank" Joseph Edmund Beaurepaire was an Australian distance freestyle swimmer from the 1900s to the 1920s, who won three silver and three bronze medals, from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London to the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, setting 15 world records.He was also a decorated...
  
  .
• Australia's national rugby league team
  Australian national rugby league team
  The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...
  
   sets sail for England on the 1908/09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
  1908/09 Kangaroo Tour of Great Britain
  A Kangaroo tour is a rugby league tour of Great Britain and France by an Australia representative squad. Traditionally Kangaroo tours took place every four years and involved a three-Test Ashes series against Great Britain and a number of tour matches...
  
  .

Births

• 23 February – William McMahon
  William McMahon
  Sir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia...
  
  , 20th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1988)
• 15 May – Kevin Ellis
  Kevin Ellis (Australian politician)
  Sir Kevin William Collin Ellis KBE was an Australian politician, elected as a Liberal member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly....
  
  , NSW politician (d. 1975)
• 20 May – Henry Bolte
  Henry Bolte
  Sir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG was an Australian politician. He was the 38th and longest serving Premier of Victoria.- Early years :...
  
  , Premier of Victoria (d. 1990)
• 10 July – John Armstrong
  John Armstrong (Australian politician)
  John Ignatius Armstrong, AC was an Australian politician and federal minister.Armstrong was born in the Sydney suburb of Ultimo and ducated at St Bede's School, Pyrmont, and Marist Brothers' High School, Darlinghurst...
  
  , ALP senator (d. 1977)
• 5 August – Harold Holt
  Harold Holt
  Harold Edward Holt, CH was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.His term as Prime Minister was brought to an early and dramatic end in December 1967 when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.Holt spent 32 years...
  
  , 17th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
• 10 August – Rica Erickson
  Rica Erickson
  Frederica Lucy "Rica" Erickson AM, née Sandilands, was an Australian naturalist, botanical artist, historian, author and teacher. Without any formal scientific training, she wrote extensively on botany and birds, as well as genealogy and general history...
  
  , Australian botanist
• 26 August – Alexandra Hasluck
  Alexandra Hasluck
  Dame Alexandra Hasluck, AD, alternatively named Lady Hasluck , was an author and social historian in Western Australia...
  
  , author and social historian (d. 1993)
• 27 August – Donald Bradman
  Donald Bradman
  Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
  
  , cricketer (d. 2001)
• 10 September – Angus Bethune, Premier of Tasmania (d. 2004)
• 17 October – Wally Prigg
  Wally Prigg
  Wally Prigg was an Australian rugby league player. He was a lock forward for the Australian national rugby league team. He played 19 Tests for the Kangaroos between 1929–38, 7 as captain and has since been named amongst the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.-Club and representative...
  
  , rugby league player (d. 1980)
• 3 November – Eddie Scarf, boxer and wrestler (d. 1980)

Deaths

• 14 February – David Syme
  David Syme
  David Syme was a Scottish-Australian newspaper proprietor of The Age and regarded as "the father of protection in Australia" who had immense influence in the Government of Victoria.-Early life and family:...
  
  , newspaper proprietor (b. 1827)
• 29 February – John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow
  John Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow
  John Adrian Louis Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC , also known as Viscount Aithrie before 1873 and as The 7th Earl of Hopetoun between 1873 and 1902, was a Scottish aristocrat, politician and colonial administrator. He is best known for his brief and controversial tenure as the...
  
  , first Governor-General of Australia (b. 1860)
• 7 March – Alfred William Howitt
  Alfred William Howitt
  Alfred William Howitt was an Australian anthropologist and naturalist.-Background:Howitt was born in Nottingham, England, the son of authors William Howitt and Mary Botham. He came to the Victorian gold fields in 1852 with his father and brother to visit his uncle, Godfrey Howitt...
  
  , anthropologist (b. 1830)
• 11 May – Charles Kingston
  Charles Kingston
  Charles Cameron Kingston, Australian politician, was an early liberal Premier of South Australia serving from 1893 to 1899 with the support of Labor led by John McPherson from 1893 and Lee Batchelor from 1897 in the House of Assembly, winning the 1893, 1896, and 1899 state elections against the...
  
  , Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)
• 20 October – Vaiben Solomon
  Vaiben Solomon
  Vaiben Louis Solomon was the 21st Premier of South Australia and a member of the first Australian Commonwealth parliament....
  
  , Premier of South Australia (b. 1853)
• 14 November – Ernest Favenc
  Ernest Favenc
  Ernest Favenc was an explorer of Australia, a journalist and historian.-Personal life:Favenc was born in Walworth, Surrey, England. Of Huguenot descent, he was the son of Abraham George Favenc, merchant, and his wife Emma, née Jones...
  
  , explorer (b. 1845)
• 18 November – Pierce Galliard Smith
  Pierce Galliard Smith
  Pierce Galliard Smith was the rector at St John the Baptist Church, Reid in Canberra, Australia. He was well known for planting trees all over his 2330 square kilometre parish....
  
  , priest (b. 1826)