Incumbents

• Monarch
  Monarchy in Australia
  The Monarchy of Australia is a form of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign of Australia. The monarchy is a constitutional one modelled on the Westminster style of parliamentary government, incorporating features unique to the Constitution of Australia.The present monarch is...
  
   – King George VI
  George VI of the United Kingdom
  George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
  
  
• 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...
  
   – (Sir) William McKell
  William McKell
  Sir William John McKell GCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and was the 12th Governor-General of Australia. He was also the oldest Governor General of Australia, at 93 when he died....
  
  
• 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...
  
   – Robert Menzies
  Robert Menzies
  Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
  
  

State Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – James McGirr
  James McGirr
  James McGirr was the Labor Premier of New South Wales from 6 February 1947 to 3 April 1952.A Catholic, McGirr was the seventh son of John Patrick McGirr, farmer and Irish immigrant, and Mary McGirr, whose maiden name was O'Sullivan. Born in Parkes, New South Wales, he grew up on a dairy farm near...
  
  
• Premier of Queensland – Ned Hanlon
• Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
  Thomas Playford IV
  Sir Thomas Playford, GCMG was a South Australian politician. He served continuously as Premier of South Australia from 5 November 1938 to 10 March 1965, the longest term of any elected government leader in the history of Australia. His tenure as premier was marked by a period of population and...
  
  
• Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
  Robert Cosgrove
  Sir Robert Cosgrove KCMG was an Australian politician, trade unionist, and twice Premier of Tasmania from 18 December 1939 to 18 December 1947 and 25 February 1948 to 26 August 1958....
  
  
• Premier of Victoria – John McDonald
  John McDonald (Australian politician)
  John James McDonald , Australian politician, was a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1911 to 1914....
  
  
• 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...
  
   – Ross McLarty
  Ross McLarty
  Sir Duncan Ross McLarty KBE MM was the 17th Premier of Western Australia.-Early life:McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty, a farmer and grazier and member of the Western Australian Legislative Council, and his wife Mary Jane, née Campbell...
  
  

State Governors

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir John Northcott
  John Northcott
  Lieutenant General Sir John Northcott KCMG, KCVO, CB was an Australian Army general who served as Chief of the General Staff during World War II, and commanded the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in the Occupation of Japan...
  
  
• Governor of Queensland – Sir John Lavarack
  John Lavarack
  Lieutenant General Sir John Dudley Lavarack KCMG, KCVO, KBE, CB, DSO was an Australian soldier who was Governor of Queensland from 1 October 1946 to 4 December 1957, the first Australian-born governor of that state....
  
  
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Charles Norrie
  Charles Norrie, 1st Baron Norrie
  Lieutenant-General Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, 1st Baron Norrie GCMG, GCVO, CB, DSO, MC & Bar was a British Army general during World War II, following which he served terms as Governor of South Australia and the eighth Governor-General of New Zealand.-Army career:After education at Eton and...
  
  
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Hugh Binney
  Hugh Binney
  Admiral Sir Thomas Hugh Binney, KCB, KCMG, DSO was a British naval officer and administrator who was Governor of Tasmania from 1945 to 1953.-Early life:...
  
   (until 8 May), then Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet (from 22 August)
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks
  Dallas Brooks
  Brooks made his first-class debut for the Royal Navy against Cambridge University in 1919 as a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium. The same season Brooks made his debut for Hampshire against Surrey in the County Championship...
  
  
• 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;...
  
   – Sir James Mitchell
  James Mitchell (Australian politician)
  Sir James Mitchell GCMG was the 13th Premier of Western Australia, serving on two occasions, the Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia for 15 years and the 22nd Governor of Western Australia....
  
   (until 1 July), then Sir Charles Gairdner
  Charles Gairdner
  General Sir Charles Henry Gairdner, GBE, KCMG, KCVO, CB was a British Army general during World War II and was Governor of Western Australia from 1951 to 1963, and Governor of Tasmania from 1963 to 1968.-Early life:...
  
   (from 6 November)

Events

• 1 January – The 50th anniversary of Australian federation
  Federation of Australia
  The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
  
   is celebrated.
• 19 February – Jean Lee
  Jean Lee (murderer)
  Jean Lee was an Australian woman, convicted of murder, and notable as the last woman to be executed in Australia.- Life :...
  
   becomes the last woman to be hanged
  Hanging
  Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
  
   in Australia, when she, Robert Clayton and Norman Andrews are executed in Melbourne for the murder of a 73-year-old man.
• 1 March – The Bank of Australasia merges with the Union Bank of Australia to form the ANZ Bank.
• 9 March – The High Court of Australia
  High Court of Australia
  The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
  
   rules in the case Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth
  Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth
  Australian Communist Party v The Commonwealth 83 CLR 1, also known as the Communist Party Case, was a legal case in the High Court of Australia described as "undoubtedly one of the High Court's most important decisions."- Background :...
  
  that the Communist Party Dissolution Bill 1950, passed by the parliament to ban the Communist Party of Australia
  Communist Party of Australia
  The Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991; it was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Australia, which then renamed itself, becoming the current Communist Party of Australia. The CPA achieved its greatest political strength in the 1940s and faced an attempted...
  
  , was unconstitutional.
• 19 March – The Governor-General, William McKell
  William McKell
  Sir William John McKell GCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and was the 12th Governor-General of Australia. He was also the oldest Governor General of Australia, at 93 when he died....
  
  , issues a double dissolution
  Double dissolution
  A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks between the House of Representatives and the Senate....
  
   of parliament for the second time in its history, citing the Senate's referral of the Commonwealth Bank Bill as a "failure to pass" the bill.
• 12 April – Conscription
  Conscription in Australia
  Conscription in Australia, or mandatory military service also known as National Service, has a controversial history dating back to the first years of nationhood...
  
   begins as the first call-up notice is issued under the National Service Act (1951)
  National Service Act (1951)
  The National Service Act was Australian federal legislation providing for the compulsory call-up of males turning 18 on or after 1 November 1950, for service training of 176 days. Trainees were required to remain on the Reserve of the Commonwealth Military Forces for five years from initial call...
  
  , requiring Australian 18-year-old males to undergo compulsory military training.
• 28 April – A federal election
  Australian federal election, 1951
  Federal elections were held in Australia on 28 April 1951. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution called after the Senate rejected the Commonwealth Bank Bill...
  
   is held. The Liberal
  Liberal Party of Australia
  The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
  
   government of Robert Menzies
  Robert Menzies
  Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
  
   retains power.
• 8 June – The first lessons of the School of the Air
  School of the Air
  School of the Air is a generic term for correspondence schools catering for the primary and early secondary education of children in remote and outback Australia.-History:...
  
   are broadcast from the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Adelaide.
• 16 August – The Australian Financial Review is first published.
• 1 September – The Anzus Treaty
  ANZUS
  The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty is the military alliance which binds Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States to cooperate on defence matters in the Pacific Ocean area, though today the treaty is understood to relate to attacks...
  
  , between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, is signed.
• 9 September – Australia signs the Treaty of San Francisco
  Treaty of San Francisco
  The Treaty of Peace with Japan , between Japan and part of the Allied Powers, was officially signed by 48 nations on September 8, 1951, at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California...
  
  , formalising peace with Japan
  Japan
  Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
  
  .
• 22 September – A federal referendum
  Australian referendum, 1951
  The 1951 Australian Referendum was held on 22 September 1951 and sought approval for the federal government to ban the Communist Party of Australia. It was not carried.-Background:...
  
   is held, proposing to alter the Australian Constitution to allow the banning of the Communist Party
  Communist Party of Australia
  The Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991; it was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Australia, which then renamed itself, becoming the current Communist Party of Australia. The CPA achieved its greatest political strength in the 1940s and faced an attempted...
  
  . The referendum was not carried.
• 4 October – Francis McEncroe sells the first Chiko Roll
  Chiko Roll
  The Chiko Roll is an Australian savoury snack, inspired by the Chinese egg roll and spring rolls. It was designed to be easily eaten on the move without a plate or cutlery. The Chiko roll consists of beef, celery, cabbage, barley, carrot, onion, green beans, and spices in a tube of egg, flour and...
  
  s at the Wagga Wagga agricultural show.
• 13 November – William McKell
  William McKell
  Sir William John McKell GCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and was the 12th Governor-General of Australia. He was also the oldest Governor General of Australia, at 93 when he died....
  
   is gazetted a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
  Order of St Michael and St George
  The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
  
  , becoming the only Governor-General of Australia to be knighted during their term.

Arts and literature

• Ivor Hele
  Ivor Hele
  Sir Ivor Henry Thomas Hele, CBE was an Australian artist. He was the longest serving war artist for the Australian War Memorial and completed more commissioned works than any other Australian artist in the history of Australian art.He was the first war artist appointed in the Second World War, and...
  
   wins the Archibald Prize
  Archibald Prize
  The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919...
  
   with his portrait of Laurie Thomas
• Justin O'Brien wins the inaugural Blake Prize for Religious Art
  Blake Prize for Religious Art
  The Blake Prize for Religious Art is an annual art prize in Australia.The prize was established in 1949 as an incentive to raise the standard of religious art. Founded by Mr R. Morley, the Reverend Michael Scott SJ, Rector of Newman College, University of Melbourne, and lawyer Mrs M. Tenison, it...
  
   with his work The Virgin Enthroned

Sport

• Athletics
  • 5 March – Gordon Stanley wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:59:44.6 in Hobart
    Hobart
    Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
    
    .

• Cricket
  • 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 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...
    
    
  • Australia defeats England 4-1 in 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...
    
    

• Football
  • Bledisloe Cup
    Bledisloe Cup
    Rugby Union's Bledisloe Cup is contested by the Australia national rugby union team and New Zealand national rugby union team. It is named after Lord Bledisloe, the former Governor-General of New Zealand who donated the trophy in 1931. The trophy was designed in New Zealand by Nelson Isaac, and...
    
    : won by the All Blacks
    All Blacks
    The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
    
    
  • Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Souths defeated Easts
    Easts Tigers
    The Eastern Suburbs Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, which is in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1996. From 1996 they have competed in the Queensland Cup. Their jersey is traditionally an all gold jersey...
    
     20-10
  • 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...
    
    : 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...
    
     defeated Manly-Warringah
    Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
    The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...
    
     42-14
  • South Australian National Football League premiership: won by Port Adelaide
    Port Adelaide Magpies
    The Port Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the South Australian National Football League...
    
    
  • Victorian Football League premiership: Geelong
    Geelong Football Club
    The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...
    
     defeated Essendon
    Essendon Football Club
    The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
    
     81-70

• Golf
  • Australian Open
    Australian Open (golf)
    The Australian Open is one of the principal annual golf tournaments on the PGA Tour of Australasia, and also the OneAsia Tour since its formation in 2009. The event was first played in 1904 and takes place toward the end of each year...
    
    : won by Peter Thomson
  • Australian PGA Championship
    Australian PGA Championship
    The Australian PGA Championship, formerly known as the Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship, is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is the home tournament of the Australian PGA and dates back to 1905...
    
    : won by Norman Von Nida
    Norman Von Nida
    Norman Guy Von Nida was an Australian professional golfer.Von Nida was born in Strathfield and grew up in Brisbane. He turned professional in 1933, after attracting attention by winning the Queensland Amateur aged just 18...
    
    

• Horse Racing
  • Basha Felika wins the Caulfield Cup
    Caulfield Cup
    The Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's richest Thoroughbred horse races and the richest of its type in the world is held annually by the Melbourne Racing Club. The race is a handicap like the Melbourne Cup, which means that horses that compete in the Caulfield Cup are capable of running on the...
    
    
  • Bronton wins the Cox Plate
    Cox Plate
    The W.S. Cox Plate is an Australian Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne every October by the Moonee Valley Racing Club to honour W.S. Cox, the club's founder. For three-year-olds and over, the race is considered to be the Weight for Age championship of Australasia...
    
    
  • Delta 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...
    
    

• Motor Racing
  • The Australian Grand Prix
    Australian Grand Prix
    The Australian Grand Prix is a motor race held annually and is held to be the pinnacle of motor racing in Australia. The Grand Prix is the oldest surviving motor racing competition held in Australia having been held 76 times since it was first run at Phillip Island in 1928. Since 1985 the race has...
    
     was held at Narrogin
    Narrogin, Western Australia
    Narrogin is a large town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, southeast of Perth on the Great Southern Highway between Pingelly and Wagin...
    
     and won by Warwick Pratley driving a George Reed Special

• Tennis
  • Australian Open men's singles: Dick Savitt
    Dick Savitt
    Richard "Dick" Savitt is a 6’ 3" and 185-pound right-handed American male former tennis player.Savitt was ranked 2nd in the world in 1951. That year, at the age of 24, he won both the Wimbledon Singles Championship and the Australian Singles title...
    
     defeats Ken McGregor
    Ken McGregor
    Kenneth Bruce McGregor was a former tennis player from Australia who won the Men's Singles title at the Australian Championships in 1952. He and his longtime doubles partner, Frank Sedgman, are generally considered to be one of the greatest men's doubles teams of all time...
    
     6-3 2–6 6-3 6-1
  • Australian Open women's singles: Nancye Wynne Bolton
    Nancye Wynne Bolton
    Nancye Wynne Bolton was a female tennis player from Australia. She won the women's singles title six times at the Australian Championships, second only to Margaret Court who won 11 titles...
    
     defeats Thelma Coyne Long
    Thelma Coyne Long
    Thelma Dorothy Coyne Long was one of the female tennis players who dominated Australian tennis from the mid-1930s to the 1950s.-Tennis career:...
    
     6-1 7-5
  • Davis Cup
    Davis Cup
    The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
    
    : Australia
    Australia Davis Cup team
    The Australian Davis Cup team is the second most successful team ever to compete in the Davis Cup, winning the coveted title on 23 separate occasions, second behind the United States with 32....
    
     defeats the United States 3-2 in the 1951 Davis Cup
    1951 Davis Cup
    The 1951 Davis Cup was the 40th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 26 teams would enter the competition, 21 in the Europe Zone, and 5 in the Americas Zone...
    
     final
  • US Open: Frank Sedgman
    Frank Sedgman
    Frank Arthur Sedgman, born 29 October 1927, in Mont Albert, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, was a tennis player who was arguably the world No.1 in 1952. In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Sedgman in his list of the 21...
    
     wins the Men's Singles
  • Wimbledon
    The Championships, Wimbledon
    The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
    
    : Ken McGregor
    Ken McGregor
    Kenneth Bruce McGregor was a former tennis player from Australia who won the Men's Singles title at the Australian Championships in 1952. He and his longtime doubles partner, Frank Sedgman, are generally considered to be one of the greatest men's doubles teams of all time...
    
     and Frank Sedgman
    Frank Sedgman
    Frank Arthur Sedgman, born 29 October 1927, in Mont Albert, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, was a tennis player who was arguably the world No.1 in 1952. In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Sedgman in his list of the 21...
    
     win the Men's Doubles

• Yachting
  • Margaret Rintoul takes line honours and Struen Marie wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
    Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
    The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, Australia on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart. The race distance is approximately...
    
    

Births

• 19 January – Charles Blunt
  Charles Blunt
  Charles William Blunt Australian politician and businessman, was leader of the National Party of Australia from 1989 to 1990....
  
  , politician
• 20 January – Clyde Sefton
  Clyde Sefton
  Kevin "Clyde" Sefton is a former road racing cyclist from Australia, who was a professional rider from 1982 to 1983. He represented his native country at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, where he won the silver medal in the men's individual road race, behind Holland's Hennie Kuiper...
  
  , road cyclist
• 26 February – Wayne Goss
  Wayne Goss
  Wayne Keith Goss was Premier of Queensland from 7 December 1989 until 19 February 1996.-Early life:He was born at Mundubbera, Queensland and educated at Inala High School and the University of Queensland...
  
  , Premier of Queensland
• 29 April – Jon Stanhope
  Jon Stanhope
  Jonathan Ronald Stanhope is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly from 1998 until 2011. He resigned as Chief Minister on 12 May 2011 and as...
  
  , Chief Minister of the ACT
• 29 May – Don Baird
  Don Baird
  Don Baird is a retired male pole vaulter from Australia. He set his personal best on 16 April 1977 at a meet in Long Beach. He was coached by pole vault coach Walter Chisholm.-Achievements:-References:*...
  
  , pole vaulter
• 4 July – John Alexander
  John Alexander (tennis player)
  John Gilbert Alexander OAM MP is a former Professional Touring Tennis Player and current Australian Politician.During an ATP tour career spanning the late 1960s to mid 1980s, Alexander won 7 singles titles and 27 doubles titles. He achieved a career best singles ranking of World No. 8 in...
  
  , tennis player and politician
• 6 July – Geoffrey Rush
  Geoffrey Rush
  Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor and film producer. He is one of the few people who has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award and an Emmy Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting , three British Academy Film Awards , two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen...
  
  , actor
• 31 July – Evonne Goolagong Cawley
  Evonne Goolagong
  Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley, AO, MBE is a former World No. 1 Australian female tennis player. She was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s, when she won 14 Grand Slam titles: seven in singles , six in women's doubles, and one in mixed doubles.-Early life:Goolagong is the...
  
  , tennis player
• 5 August – John Jarratt
  John Jarratt
  -Early life:Jarratt was born and grew up in Wongawilli, a small rural town near Wollongong, New South Wales and later in the Snowy Mountains area. Jarratt's father was a coal miner and later concreter, who worked on the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme. Both his parents were of Irish origin....
  
  , actor
• 6 August – Daryl Somers
  Daryl Somers
  Daryl Paul Somers OAM , is an Australian television personality. The son of a dairy farmer and a cabaret singer, Somers rose to national fame as the host of the long-running comedy-variety program Hey Hey It's Saturday.-Early life:Somers, who has an Irish Catholic heritage, was educated at...
  
  , television personality
• 30 August – Daniel Clark
  Daniel Clark (cyclist)
  Daniel "Danny" Clark OAM is a retired track cyclist and road bicycle racer from Australia, who was a professional rider from 1974 to 1997...
  
  , track cyclist and road bicycle racer
• 9 September – Alexander Downer
  Alexander Downer
  Alexander John Gosse Downer is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was Foreign Minister of Australia from March 1996 to December 2007, the longest-serving in Australian history...
  
  , politician
• 27 September – Geoff Gallop
  Geoff Gallop
  Geoffrey Ian Gallop, AC is an Australian academic and former politician. He was the Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He currently resides in Sydney.-Early life and education:...
  
  , Premier of Western Australia
• 1 December – Doug Mulray
  Doug Mulray
  Douglas John Mulray is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter.-Radio career:...
  
  , radio personality
• 18 December – Andy Thomas
  Andy Thomas
  Andrew "Andy" Sydney Withiel Thomas is an Australian-born American aerospace engineer and a NASA astronaut. He became a U.S. citizen in December 1986, hoping to gain entry to NASA's astronaut program...
  
  , astronaut
• 22 December – Jan Stephenson
  Jan Stephenson
  Jan Lynne Stephenson is an Australian professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1974 and won three major championships and 16 LPGA Tour events in all....
  
  , professional golfer

Deaths

• 29 January – Frank Tarrant
  Frank Tarrant
  Frank Tarrant Frank Tarrant Frank Tarrant (in full Francis Alfred Tarrant (Melbourne, Australia, 11 December 1880 – 29 January 1951 in Melbourne) was an Australian all-rounder who played with great success for Middlesex in the County Championship in the years before World War I.His record is...
  
   (b. 1880), cricketer
• 18 April – Daisy Bates
  Daisy Bates (Australia)
  Daisy May Bates, CBE was an Irish Australian journalist, welfare worker and lifelong student of Australian Aboriginal culture and society. She was known among the native people as 'Kabbarli' .-Early life:...
  
   (b. 1863), journalist and social worker
• 27 May – Thomas Blamey
  Thomas Blamey
  Field Marshal Sir Thomas Albert Blamey GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED was an Australian general of the First and Second World Wars, and the only Australian to date to attain the rank of field marshal....
  
   (b. 1884), soldier
• 13 June – Ben Chifley
  Ben Chifley
  Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
  
  (b. 1885), Prime Minister of Australia