January

• 2 January – The fatal stabbing of a young India
  India
  India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
  
  n man, Nitin Garg, in the 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...
  
   suburb of West Footscray
  West Footscray, Victoria
  West Footscray is a suburb 7 km west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Maribyrnong. At the 2006 Census, West Footscray had a population of 9776.-Medicine:...
  
   generates deep anger in India, following other incidents of violence against Indian students in Australia.
• 7 January – The Queensland Government activates disaster relief funding for communities in central and southwest Queensland isolated by floods.

February

• 3 February – Following extensive public criticism, the South Australian Attorney-General
  Attorney-General of South Australia
  The Attorney-General of South Australia is the member of the Government of South Australia responsible for maintenance and improvement of South Australia's system of law and justice...
  
   Michael Atkinson
  Michael Atkinson
  Michael John Atkinson , an Australian politician, was the South Australian Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Veterans' Affairs, and Minister for Multicultural Affairs in the Rann Labor Government. A day after the 2010 election, he stepped down as Attorney-General and resigned...
  
   announces that controversial new electoral legislation will be repealed after the South Australian state election to be held on 20 March 2010. The new legislation requires anyone responding online to a political report during an election period to provide their full name and postcode, with the information to be retained by the publisher for six months.
• 13 February – A by-election
  By-election
  A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
  
   is held for the Victorian state electorate of Altona
  Electoral district of Altona
  The Electoral district of Altona is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly more commonly called the Lower House. It is located in Melbourne's western suburbs in traditional working class territory.-Boundaries:...
  
  . Despite a double digit swing to the Liberal Party
  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...
  
  , the safe seat is retained by 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...
  
   candidate, Jill Hennessy
  Jill Hennessy (politician)
  Jill Hennessy is an Australian politician. She has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 13 February 2010, representing the seat of Altona....
  
  .
• 19 February – Mary MacKillop
  Mary MacKillop
  Mary Helen MacKillop , also known as Saint Mary of the Cross, was an Australian Roman Catholic nun who, together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australasia with an emphasis on...
  
   is declared by Pope Benedict XVI
  Pope Benedict XVI
  Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
  
   to be a saint
  Roman Catholic calendar of saints
  The General Roman Calendar indicates the days of the year to which are assigned the liturgical celebrations of saints and of the mysteries of the Lord that are to be observed wherever the Roman Rite is used...
  
   of the Roman Catholic Church, the first Australian so declared. A formal canonisation will take place in October 2010.

March

• 1–2 March – A record rainfall for a single day, since 22 December 1956, with over 100mm of rain fall across 1.7 per cent of Australian territory on 1 March, and over 1.9 per cent of the country the following day.
• 1–20 March – Major floods hit southern Queensland and north western New South Wales, with Charleville
  Charleville, Queensland
  Charleville is a town in south western Queensland, Australia, 758 kilometres by road west of Brisbane . It is the largest town and administrative centre of the Murweh Shire, which covers an area of 43,905 square kilometres...
  
  , Roma
  Roma, Queensland
  Roma is a town in the western Darling Downs area of Queensland, Australia, by rail WNW of Brisbane. It is situated at the junction of the Warrego and Carnarvon highways...
  
   and St George
  St George, Queensland
  St George is a town of approximately 2400 people in south-western Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre for the Shire of Balonne. It was named by Major Thomas Mitchell who crossed the Balonne River on St George's Day, 23 April 1846. At the 2006 census, St George had a population of...
  
   severely affected, resulting with significant damage to properties, roads and rail lines.
• 6 March – Severe thunderstorms and hail hit Melbourne and central Victoria, causing flash flooding and widespread property damage.
• 9–11 March – Official visit to Australia of President of Indonesia
  President of Indonesia
  The President of the Republic of Indonesia is the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Indonesia.The first president was Sukarno and the current president is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.- Sukarno era :...
  
   Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
  Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
  Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono AC , is an Indonesian politician and retired Army general officer who has been President of Indonesia since 2004....
  
  . During the visit he is appointed an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia
  Order of Australia
  The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
  
   (AC) and addresses the Australian Parliament, the first Indonesian head of state to do so.
• 17 March – The remains of Special Air Service
  Australian Special Air Service Regiment
  The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR but commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army...
  
   members Lieutenant Kenneth Hudson and Private Robert Moncrieff are found in West Kalimantan
  West Kalimantan
  West Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia. It is one of four Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city Pontianak is located right on the Equator....
  
  . The Australian soldiers disappeared on 21 March 1966 whilst on patrol during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.
• 17 March – The population of Heron and Lady Elliot Island
  Lady Elliot Island
  Lady Elliot Island is the southern-most coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The island lies north-east of Bundaberg and covers an area of approximately . The island is home to a small eco resort and an airstrip, which is serviced daily by flights from Bundaberg, Hervey Bay,...
  
  s is evacuated to the mainland, in expectation of the approaching tropical Cyclone Ului
  Cyclone Ului (2010)
  Severe Tropical Cyclone Ului was one of the fastest intensifying tropical cyclones on record, strengthening from a tropical storm to a Category 5 equivalent cyclone within a 30 hour span...
  
  .
• 20 March – State elections are held in South Australia and Tasmania
  Tasmanian state election, 2010
  The 2010 Tasmanian state election was held on 20 March 2010 to elect members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The 12-year incumbent Labor government, led by Premier of Tasmania David Bartlett, won a fourth consecutive term against the Liberal opposition, led by Will Hodgman, after Labor formed a...
  
  .
• 21 March – The category 3 severe tropical Cyclone Ului
  Cyclone Ului (2010)
  Severe Tropical Cyclone Ului was one of the fastest intensifying tropical cyclones on record, strengthening from a tropical storm to a Category 5 equivalent cyclone within a 30 hour span...
  
   crosses the Queensland coast near Airlie Beach, causing moderate damage.
• 22 March – A storm featuring torrential rain
  Rain
  Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
  
   and large hailstones caused flash flooding, structural damage and loss of power to 150,000 houses in Perth
  Perth, Western Australia
  Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
  
  .
• 24 March – South Australian Liberal leader Isobel Redmond
  Isobel Redmond
  Isobel Mary Redmond is the current parliamentary leader of the South Australian division of the Liberal Party of Australia and the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of South Australia since 2009. The Redmond Liberals won 18 of 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly at the 2010...
  
   concedes defeat following the 2010 state election.
• 25 March – The Australian Bureau of Statistics
  Australian Bureau of Statistics
  The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
  
   announces that the population of Australia now exceeds 22 million.
• 29 March – 100 boats have arrived since November 2007 bringing 4,386 asylum-seekers and at least 225 crew members to Australia. The 100th boat, with 41 passengers and 3 crew on board, was intercepted in the vicinity of Christmas Island
  Christmas Island
  The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
  
  .
• 31 March – The Queensland Government
  Government of Queensland
  The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...
  
  , the Gold Coast City council and Australian Commonwealth Games Association
  Australian Commonwealth Games Association
  The Australian Commonwealth Games Association is the national body responsible for Commonwealth Games operations, publicity and development in Australia, specifically providing and organising funding, clothing, travel, accommodation and accreditation of athletes and officials to each Commonwealth...
  
   officially launch the Gold Coast
  Gold Coast, Queensland
  Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
  
  's bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games
  2018 Commonwealth Games
  The 2018 Commonwealth Games is an international multi-sport event that will be held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia between 4 to 15 April 2018...
  
  .

April

• 3 April – MV Shen Neng 1
  MV Shen Neng 1
  MV Shen Neng 1 is a Chinese bulk carrier which was built in 1993 as Bestore. She was sold in 2007 and renamed Shen Neng 1. In 2010, she ran aground off Great Keppel Island, Australia spilling oil into Great Barrier Reef waters....
  
  , a Chinese
  People's Republic of China
  China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
  
   bulk carrier
  Bulk carrier
  A bulk carrier, bulk freighter, or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have fueled the development of these ships,...
  
  , runs aground off Great Keppel Island
  Great Keppel Island
  Great Keppel Island lies 15 kilometres from the coast off Yeppoon, Central Queensland, Australia. The island is the largest of the eighteen islands in the Keppel Group, and covers an area of more than 14.5 square kilometres...
  
   spilling fuel oil
  2010 Great Barrier Reef oil spill
  The 2010 Great Barrier Reef oil spill occurred on 3 April 2010, when the Chinese bulk coal carrier, ran aground east of Rockhampton in Central Queensland, Australia. The vessel is owned by Shenzhen Energy Transport Co. Ltd....
  
   in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects a large part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef from damaging activities. Fishing and the removal of artefacts or...
  
  .
• 8 April – The Governor of Tasmania commissions David Bartlett
  David Bartlett
  David John Bartlett is an Australian former politician in the state of Tasmania, serving as the 43rd Premier of Tasmania from May 2008 until January 2011. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison from 2004 to 2011.-Early life:He has been a resident...
  
   to form a minority Labor government with the conditional support of the Tasmanian Greens
  Tasmanian Greens
  The Tasmanian Greens are a political party in Australia which developed from numerous environmental campaigns in Tasmania, including the flooding of Lake Pedder and the Franklin Dam campaign...
  
  , following the hung parliament
  Hung parliament
  In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...
  
   result of the 2010 state election
  Tasmanian state election, 2010
  The 2010 Tasmanian state election was held on 20 March 2010 to elect members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The 12-year incumbent Labor government, led by Premier of Tasmania David Bartlett, won a fourth consecutive term against the Liberal opposition, led by Will Hodgman, after Labor formed a...
  
  .
• 12 April – The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard
  Julia Gillard
  Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
  
  , announces a taskforce has been established to investigate allegations of rorting in the Government's $16b Building the Education Revolution
  Building the Education Revolution
  Building the Education Revolution is an Australian government program administered by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations designed to provide new and refurbished infrastructure to all eligible Australian schools...
  
  program aimed at upgrading facilities at Australian schools.
• 14 April – Peter Wellington
  Peter Wellington
  Peter Wellington is an Independent member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, for the Electoral district of Nicklin. Wellington, along with fellow independent Liz Cunningham, briefly held the balance in power following the 1998 state election...
  
   MP
  Member of Parliament
  A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
  
   introduces the Daylight Saving for South East Queensland Referendum Bill 2010 into Queensland Parliament which calls for a referendum
  Referendum
  A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
  
   to be held at the next State election on introduction of daylight saving time
  Daylight saving time
  Daylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...
  
   for South East Queensland
  South East Queensland
  South East Queensland is a region of the state of Queensland in Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population...
  
  .
• 20 April – A Richter magnitude 5.0 earthquake
  2010 Kalgoorlie-Boulder earthquake
  The 2010 Kalgoorlie-Boulder earthquake was a Richter magnitude 5.0 earthquake that occurred near the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia on 20 April 2010 at approximately 8:17 am WST....
  
   damages buildings in Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia
  Western Australia
  Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
  
  , injuring two.
• 27 April – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announces the deferral of the introduction of the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
  Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
  The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was a proposed cap-and-trade system of emissions trading for anthropogenic greenhouse gases, due to be introduced in Australia in 2010 by the Rudd government, as part of its climate change policy. It marked a major change in the energy policy of Australia...
  
   until after the end of the current commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (which ends in 2012), citing a lack of bipartisan support for the proposal and slower progress than expected in terms of global action on climate change.

May

• 2 May – The Rudd Government announces it will tax the above-normal profits—known as super profits—of the mining industry to fund a superannuation rise and a company tax cut.
• 15 May – 16-year-old sailor Jessica Watson
  Jessica Watson
  Jessica Watson is an Australian sailor. She resides in Buderim, Queensland. In May 2010, she unofficially became the youngest person to sail non-stop and unassisted around the world, although her route did not meet World Sailing Speed Record Council criteria for circumnavigation of the...
  
   completes a solo voyage around the world.

June

• 3 June – The township of Lennox Head
  Lennox Head, New South Wales
  Lennox Head is a seaside village on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the stretch of coast between Byron Bay and Ballina in Ballina Shire....
  
   on the North Coast of New South Wales
  New South Wales
  New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
  
   is affected by a tornado
  Tornado
  A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
  
  , which destroys at least 40 properties.
• 19 June – A by-election
  Penrith state by-election, 2010
  A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Penrith on 19 June 2010. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of sitting member and Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Training Karyn Paluzzano, who had lied to an Independent Commission Against...
  
   is held for the New South Wales state electorate of Penrith
  Electoral district of Penrith
  Penrith is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It has been represented by Stuart Ayres of the Liberal Party of Australia since the 2010 by-election...
  
  . The by-election was won by the Liberal Party candidate Stuart Ayres
  Stuart Ayres
  Stuart Ayres MP is an Australian politician. He is a Liberal Party of Australia Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 19 June 2010, representing the electorate of Penrith.-Private life:...
  
   with a record swing of 25.7% in two party preferred terms. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Karyn Paluzzano
  Karyn Paluzzano
  Karyn Lesley Paluzzano is a former Australian politician. She was an Australian Labor Party Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 2003 to 2010, representing the electorate of Penrith.-Private life:...
  
   after an admission that she lied to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and her subsequent expulsion from the Australian Labor Party.
• 24 June – Following a leadership spill
  Australian Labor Party leadership election, 2010
  A leadership election of the Australian Labor Party was held on 2010. The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, was challenged by the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, for the leadership of the party, and therefore the prime ministership, since the ALP has held a majority in...
  
  , Julia Gillard
  Julia Gillard
  Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
  
   replaces Kevin Rudd
  Kevin Rudd
  Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
  
   as leader of the Federal 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...
  
   and hence Prime Minister of Australia
  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...
  
  . Gillard is the 27th Prime Minister and the first female appointed to that role.
• 26 June – The bodies of eleven people, including six board members of the Australian mining company Sundance Resources
  Sundance Resources Limited
  Sundance Resources Limited is an Australian mining company, based in Perth, Western Australia, whose main assets are iron ore leases in Cameroon near Mbalam, and across the border in the Republic of Congo....
  
   who were killed in a plane that crashed
  2010 Cameroon Aero Service CASA C-212 Aviocar crash
  On 19 June 2010, an CASA C-212 Aviocar crashed on a flight from Yaoundé, Cameroon to Yangadou, Republic of the Congo, killing all 11 people on board, including the entire board of Sundance Resources, an Australian mining conglomerate.-Aircraft:...
  
   in West Africa, are recovered.
• 29 June – Jayant Patel
  Jayant Patel
  Jayant Mukundray Patel , referred to as Doctor Death is a surgeon who is at the centre of a 2005 scandal in which he was accused of gross incompetence while working at Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland, Australia...
  
   is found guilty on three counts of manslaughter and one count of grievous bodily harm for his actions as Director of Surgery at Bundaberg Base Hospital
  Bundaberg Base Hospital
  Bundaberg Base Hospital is the public hospital of Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia.A base hospital is a regional centre that takes referrals from outlying hospitals, and concentrates specialised skills. Australia has a universal publicly funded health insurance scheme, so a 'public' hospital is one...
  
   between 2003 and 2005.
• 29 June – The Victorian government officially proclaims the creation of four new National Parks, based around the River Red Gum forests in the state's north—Barmah National Park
  Barmah National Park
  Barmah National Park is a national park in Victoria, Australia. The park is located on the Murray River near the town of Barmah. The park was one of four established by the State Government of Victoria in 2009, ostensibly in response to increased pressure on remnant River Red Gum forest...
  
  , Gunbower National Park
  Gunbower National Park
  Gunbower is a national park in Victoria, Australia established in 2010. It contains the Gunbower Forest Ramsar wetlands site for the protection of migratory bird species....
  
  , Lower Goulburn River National Park and Warby-Ovens National Park.

July

• 2 July – Prime Minister Julia Gillard
  Julia Gillard
  Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
  
   announces major changes to the Federal Government's proposed Resource Super Profits Tax, now known as the Mineral Resource Rent Tax, including a reduction in the headline rate to 30%.
• 19 July – 250 Australian and British WWI soldiers are laid to rest in a new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery
  Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery
  Fromelles Military Cemetery is a First World War cemetery built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on the outskirts of Fromelles in northern France, near the Belgian border. Constructed between 2009 and 2010, it was the first new Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery for more than 50...
  
   in Fromelles
  Fromelles
  -References:* -External links:*** video report from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission*...
  
  , France
  France
  The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
  
  . This is the first full cemetery that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
  
   has constructed in more than 50 years.
• 31 July – A tornado
  Tornado
  A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
  
   hits the town of Penola, South Australia
  Penola, South Australia
  Penola is located 388 km south east of Adelaide and is in the heart of one of South Australia's most productive wine growing areas. Coonawarra lies just to the north and is renowned for the quality of its red wines...
  
  .

August

• 6 August – 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 Rowe & Anor v Electoral Commissioner & Anor that certain provisions of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 are invalid, specifically those introduced in the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Measures) Act 2006, which close the electoral roll on the day the writ for a federal election
  Writ of election
  A writ of election is a writ issued by the government ordering the holding of a special election for a political office.In the United Kingdom and in Canada, this is the only way of holding an election for the House of Commons...
  
   is issued. An estimated 100,000 enrolments were being reconsidered by the Australian Electoral Commission
  Australian Electoral Commission
  The Australian Electoral Commission, or the AEC, is the federal government agency in charge of organising and supervising federal elections and referendums. State and local government elections are overseen by the Electoral Commission in each state and territory.The Australian Electoral Commission...
  
  , and would be contacted to inform them they would be eligible to vote in the 2010 election.
• 21 August – The 2010 federal election is held. The result is a hung parliament
  Hung parliament
  In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...
  
  , with Labor and the Coalition winning 72 seats each. The balance of power
  Balance of power (parliament)
  In parliamentary politics, the term balance of power sometimes describes the pragmatic mechanism exercised by a minor political party or other grouping whose guaranteed support may enable an otherwise minority government to obtain and hold office...
  
   is held by four independent MPs (Bob Katter
  Bob Katter
  Robert Carl "Bob" Katter is an Australian federal politician, a member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993 for the Division of Kennedy, and the leader of Katter's Australian Party...
  
  , Rob Oakeshott
  Rob Oakeshott
  Robert James Murray "Rob" Oakeshott is an Australian politician. He is the independent Member of the House of Representatives for the Division of Lyne in New South Wales, which he won in the 2008 by-election following the resignation of former Nationals leader and Howard minister Mark Vaile...
  
  , Andrew Wilkie
  Andrew Wilkie
  Andrew Damien Wilkie is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Denison...
  
   and Tony Windsor
  Tony Windsor
  Antony Harold Curties "Tony" Windsor , an Australian politician, is an independent member of the House of Representatives since 2001, representing the Division of New England, New South Wales...
  
  ), one Green (Adam Bandt
  Adam Bandt
  Adam Paul Bandt is an Australian politician and former industrial lawyer. Bandt was elected to the Australian House of Representatives in the 2010 Australian federal election for the Division of Melbourne...
  
  ) and a member of the WA Nationals (Tony Crook
  Tony Crook
  Anthony Crook is a former racing driver from England. He was born in Manchester. He participated in 2 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 19 July 1952. He scored no championship points. He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races...
  
  ).

September

• 4 September – Widespread flooding
  2010 Victorian floods
  The 2010 Victorian floods were a widespread series of flood events across the state of Victoria, Australia. The floods, which followed heavy rain across southeastern Australia in early September 2010, caused the inundation of about 250 homes, hundreds of evacuations and millions of dollars of...
  
   across Victoria leads to the evacuation of hundreds of people and millions of dollars of property damage.
• 7 September – Seventeen days after the 2010 federal election, the three independent MPs holding the balance of power announce their decisions. Bob Katter
  Bob Katter
  Robert Carl "Bob" Katter is an Australian federal politician, a member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993 for the Division of Kennedy, and the leader of Katter's Australian Party...
  
   announces he supports the Coalition. Several hours later, Tony Windsor
  Tony Windsor
  Antony Harold Curties "Tony" Windsor , an Australian politician, is an independent member of the House of Representatives since 2001, representing the Division of New England, New South Wales...
  
   and Rob Oakeshott
  Rob Oakeshott
  Robert James Murray "Rob" Oakeshott is an Australian politician. He is the independent Member of the House of Representatives for the Division of Lyne in New South Wales, which he won in the 2008 by-election following the resignation of former Nationals leader and Howard minister Mark Vaile...
  
   announce they will support Julia Gillard's Labor government, allowing Gillard to inform the Governor-General that she is able to form a 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...
  
  .

October

• 8 October – The Murray-Darling Basin Authority releases the Guide to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. The plan proposes to cut water entitlements in the basin by up to 40% and return 4000 GL of water to the river system.
• 17 October – Mary MacKillop
  Mary MacKillop
  Mary Helen MacKillop , also known as Saint Mary of the Cross, was an Australian Roman Catholic nun who, together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australasia with an emphasis on...
  
   is canonised
  Canonization
  Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
  
   by the Pope Benedict XVI
  Pope Benedict XVI
  Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
  
  , making her Australia's first Roman Catholic saint
  Saint
  A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
  
   (Saint Mary of the Cross).

November

• 27 November – A state election
  Victorian state election, 2010
  The 2010 Victorian state election was held on 27 November. The incumbent centre-left Australian Labor Party government, led by John Brumby, was defeated by the centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition, led by Ted Baillieu....
  
   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 Liberal/National coalition
  Coalition (Australia)
  The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
  
   led by Ted Baillieu
  Ted Baillieu
  Edward Norman "Ted" Baillieu MLA is an Australian politician. He is currently the Premier of Victoria and the member for the Legislative Assembly seat of Hawthorn...
  
   wins a two-seat majority.

December

• 15 December – A boat carrying up to 80 asylum seekers crashes into a cliff face on Christmas Island
  Christmas Island
  The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
  
  , killing at least 30.
• 16–20 December - The Gascoyne River
  Gascoyne River
  At 760 km, the Gascoyne River is the longest river in Western Australia.The river rises below Wilgoona Hill in the Robinson Ranges west of the Gibson Desert and it flows into Shark Bay and the Indian Ocean at Carnarvon....
  
   in Western Australia was affected by major flooding, inundating houses in Carnarvon
  Carnarvon, Western Australia
  Carnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately 900 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean. The popular Shark Bay world heritage area lies to the south of the town and the Ningaloo Reef lies to the north...
  
  .
• December 2010 - January 2011 – Around 200,000 people in 22 cities and towns across Queensland are affected by floods, most wide-spread flooding disaster in Queensland history.

Arts

• 26 March – Sam Leach
  Sam Leach
  Sam Leach is an emerging Australian contemporary artist. He was born in Adelaide, South Australia. Leach worked for many years in the Australian Tax Office after completion of a degree in Economics. He also completed a Diploma of Art, Bachelor of Fine Art degree and a Master of Fine Art degree at...
  
   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...
  
   for portraiture for his painting of musical comedian Tim Minchin
  Tim Minchin
  Timothy David "Tim" Minchin is a British-Australian comedian, actor, and musician.Tim Minchin is best known for his musical comedy, which has featured in six CDs, three DVDs and a number of live comedy shows which he has performed internationally. He has also appeared on television in Australia,...
  
  .

Literature

• 22 June – Peter Temple
  Peter Temple
  Peter Temple is an Australian crime fiction writer.Formerly a journalist and journalism lecturer, Temple turned to fiction writing in the 1990s. His Jack Irish novels are set in Melbourne, Australia, and feature an unusual lawyer-gambler protagonist...
  
   wins the Miles Franklin Award
  Miles Franklin Award
  The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases’. The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin , who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career ...
  
   for his crime novel Truth
  Truth (novel)
  Truth is an award-winning 2009 crime fiction novel written by Peter Temple. The novel is a sequel to Temple's 2005 novel The Broken Shore, and won the Miles Franklin Award in 2010....
  
  .

Science and technology

• 13 June – The 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...
  
  ese space probe Hayabusa
  Hayabusa
  was an unmanned spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis....
  
   lands in the Woomera Prohibited Area in South Australia
  South Australia
  South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
  
  , after returning to Earth with samples from the asteroid 25143 Itokawa
  25143 Itokawa
  25143 Itokawa is an Apollo and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was the first asteroid to be the target of a sample return mission, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa.-Discovery and naming:...
  
  .

Film

• 11 December – The 52nd Australian Film Institute Awards are presented. The film Animal Kingdom
  Animal Kingdom (film)
  Animal Kingdom is a 2010 Australian crime drama written and directed by David Michôd, and starring Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Luke Ford, Sullivan Stapleton, Jacki Weaver and James Frecheville...
  
  wins ten awards (including three industry awards presented the night before).

Sport

• 12 – 28 February – Australia sends a team of 40 competitors to the 2010 Winter Olympics
  Australia at the 2010 Winter Olympics
  Australia participated at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A team of forty athletes was selected to compete in eleven sports...
  
   in Vancouver, Canada. Two Australians win gold medals, Torah Bright
  Torah Bright
  Torah Jane Bright is an Australian snowboarder. She turned pro at age 14 and finished fifth in snowboarding at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. She lives and trains in the area of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA...
  
   in the Women's halfpipe
  Snowboarding at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Women's halfpipe
  The women's halfpipe competition of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics was held at Cypress Mountain on February 18, 2010.-Qualification:-Semifinal:-Final:-References:...
  
   and Lydia Lassila in the Women's aerials
  Freestyle skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Women's aerials
  The women's aerials event in freestyle skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada took place on the February 20 and February 24 at Cypress Bowl Ski Area.-Qualification:-Final:-External links:...
  
  .
• 14 February – Sydney FC
  Sydney FC
  Sydney FC is a professional football club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and competes in the country's premier football competition, the A-League...
  
   defeats Melbourne Victory
  Melbourne Victory
  Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, that plays in the A-League....
  
   2-0 in the final match of the home-and-away season of the 2009–10 A-League, securing the club its second A-League premiership and a spot in the 2011 AFC Champions League
  2011 AFC Champions League
  The 2011 AFC Champions League was the 30th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation , and the 9th under the current AFC Champions League title...
  
  .
• 13 March – Australia defeats Germany
  Germany national field hockey team
  The Germany national field hockey team represents Germany in international field hockey. The team have won the 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup in Mönchengladbach, Germany...
  
   2-1 in the final of the 2010 Men's Hockey World Cup
  2010 Men's Hockey World Cup
  The 2010 Hockey World Cup was the twelfth installment of the Men's Hockey World Cup. On November 14, 2007, the International Hockey Federation announced that the championship would be held in India, taking place over two weeks from February 28 to March 13, 2010 at New Delhi's Dhyan Chand National...
  
   at Dhyan Chand National Stadium
  Dhyan Chand National Stadium
  Dhyan Chand National Stadium commonly known by its former name, National Stadium is a field hockey stadium at New Delhi, India. It originally held 25,000 people. It is named after former Indian field hockey player, Dhyan Chand...
  
  , in New Delhi, India. This is Australia's second World Cup title.
• 20 March – Sydney FC
  Sydney FC
  Sydney FC is a professional football club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and competes in the country's premier football competition, the A-League...
  
   defeats Melbourne Victory
  Melbourne Victory
  Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, that plays in the A-League....
  
   in the 2010 A-League Grand Final
  2010 A-League Grand Final
  The 2010 A-League Grand Final took place at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on 20 March 2010.It was the final match in the A-League 2009–10 season, and was played between premiers and runners-up...
  
   at Etihad Stadium to add the A-League Championship to their Premiership. Sydney FC wins 4–2 on penalties, after the match is tied at 1–1 after extra time.
• 21 March – 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...
  
   win their 28th Sheffield Shield
  2009–10 Sheffield Shield season
  The 2009–10 Sheffield Shield season is the 117th season of official first-class domestic cricket in Australia. The season began on 13 October 2009...
  
   title, defeating Queensland
  Queensland Bulls
  The Queensland cricket team, nicknamed the Bulls, are the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket team in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments:*Sheffield Shield, 4-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926/27 season...
  
   by 457 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
  Melbourne Cricket Ground
  The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
  
  .
• 21 – 24 March – The 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships
  2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships
  The 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championships for track cycling in 2010. They took place at the Ballerup Super Arena in Ballerup, Denmark from 24 to 28 March 2010.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-External links:*...
  
   are held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Australia tops the medal table, winning 6 gold medals, 2 silver and 2 bronze.
• 28 March – British driver Jenson Button
  Jenson Button
  Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British...
  
   wins the 2010 Australian Grand Prix
  2010 Australian Grand Prix
  The 2010 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 28 March 2010 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia. It was the second race of the 2010 Formula One season. The race was won by McLaren driver Jenson Button, the first back-to-back Australian Grand Prix winner...
  
   for McLaren
  McLaren
  McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
  
  , his second successive victory in the race. He finishing 12 seconds ahead of Polish driver Robert Kubica
  Robert Kubica
  Robert Józef Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006...
  
  .
• 22 April – The Melbourne Storm
  Melbourne Storm
  The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria....
  
   are stripped of their 2007
  2007 NRL grand final
  The 2007 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive, premiership-deciding match of the 2007 NRL season. Played between the first-placed Melbourne Storm and second-placed Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at Telstra Stadium on September 30, in front of 81,392 spectators. It was the fourth NRL Grand Final played...
  
   and 2009
  2009 NRL Grand Final
  The 2009 NRL Grand Final was a rugby league football game played on 4 October 2009 at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney. It was the 12th annual championship game of the National Rugby League staged to decide the premiers of the 2009 NRL season....
  
   National Rugby League
  National Rugby League
  The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
  
   premierships and 2006–2008 minor premiership
  Minor premiership
  A minor premiership is the name of the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the playoffs....
  
  s, fined a record $1.689 million, deducted all eight premiership points for the 2010 season
  2010 NRL season
  The 2010 NRL season was the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the National Rugby League. The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 3 October at ANZ Stadium...
  
   and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season after systematic breaches of the NRL salary cap
  Salary cap
  In professional sports, a salary cap is a cartel agreement between teams that places a limit on the amount of money that can be spent on player salaries. The limit exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both...
  
   were discovered.
• 4 May – Neil Robertson
  Neil Robertson (snooker player)
  Neil Robertson is an Australian professional snooker player and the 2010 World Champion and World #4...
  
   defeats Scotland's Graeme Dott
  Graeme Dott
  Graeme Dott is a Scottish professional snooker player from Larkhall in Scotland. He won the 2006 World Championship, which was his first ranking title after four previous runner-up spots...
  
   18-13 to win the 2010 World Snooker Championship.
• 16 May – Australia wins the 2010 ICC Women's World Twenty20
  2010 ICC Women's World Twenty20
  The 2010 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was an international Twenty20 cricket tournament which was held in the West Indies from 5 May to 16 May 2010. The group stage matches were played at the Warner Park Sporting Complex on Saint Kitts. It was won by Australia, who defeated New Zealand in the final...
  
   defeating New Zealand by 3 runs in the final at Bridgetown
  Bridgetown
  The city of Bridgetown , metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael...
  
  , Barbados. In the corresponding men's event
  2010 ICC World Twenty20
  -------------------------------------------------Group A:---------Group B:---------Group C:---------Group D:---------Super 8s:...
  
  , Australia finish runners-up, losing the final to England by 7 wickets.
• 30 May – The Australian team
  Australia women's national association football team
  The Australia women's national association football team, nicknamed the Matildas , represents Australia in international women's association football and is governed by Football Federation Australia . The team has regularly qualified for both the Women's World Cup and the Olympics although has won...
  
   wins the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup
  2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup
  -Semi finals:-----Third place playoff:-Final:- Awards :-Goalscorers:3 goals Yoo Young-A Kozue Ando Homare Sawa Jo Yun-Mi2 goals Zhang Rui Mami Yamaguchi Samantha Kerr...
  
  , defeating North Korea
  Korea DPR women's national football team
  The Democratic People's Republic of Korea women's national football team represents North Korea in international women's football. North Korea were the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship winners, and won the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2001, 2003 and 2008....
  
   5-4 on penalties after the two teams were level on 1-1 after extra time.
• 10 June – Football Federation Australia
  Football Federation Australia
  Football Federation Australia is the governing body for the sport of football in Australia. Before 1 January 2005, it was known as the Australian Soccer Association , which succeeded Soccer Australia in this role in 2003...
  
   withdraws Australia's bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but continues to bid for the 2022 event.
• 12 June – Timana Tahu
  Timana Tahu
  Timana James Aporo Tahu is an Australian professional rugby league footballer and former rugby union player, a dual-code international, currently playing for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League. He formerly played for the New South Wales Waratahs in the Super 14 competition...
  
   withdraws from the New South Wales team
  New South Wales rugby league team
  The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...
  
   for the second match of the 2010 State of Origin series
  2010 State of Origin series
  The 2010 State of Origin series was the 29th year that the annual best-of-three series of interstate rugby league football matches contested between the Queensland and New South Wales representative teams was played under 'State of Origin' selection rules...
  
   after assistant coach Andrew Johns
  Andrew Johns
  Andrew Gary "Joey" Johns is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s who is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time. He was heralded as the world's best halfback for a number of years...
  
   made racially disparaging comments about Queensland player Greg Inglis
  Greg Inglis
  Greg Inglis is an Australian professional rugby league player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative outside back, Inglis joined the Rabbitohs in 2011 after much controversy.Inglis is a versatile back, having played in several...
  
  .
• 23 June – Despite defeating Serbia
  Serbia national football team
  The Serbia national football team represents Serbia in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia, the governing body for football in Serbia. Serbia's home ground is Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade and their last head coach was Vladimir Petrović...
  
   2-1 in their final match in Group D
  2010 FIFA World Cup Group D
  Group D of the 2010 FIFA World Cup began on 13 June and ended on 23 June 2010. The group consisted of Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana. Along with Group G, it was considered to be a group of death....
  
  , Australia did not progress past the group stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
  2010 FIFA World Cup
  The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
  
  —finishing third in their group behind Ghana
  Ghana national football team
  The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
  
   on goal difference.
• 5 August – Melbourne Heart FC
  Melbourne Heart FC
  Melbourne Heart FC is an Australian professional football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 2008, the club has competed in the A-League, the highest division of football in Australia, since its inaugural 2010–2011 season. It is the twelfth club to have played in the league...
  
   plays its first match in the A-League
  A-League
  The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...
  
  . It is defeated 0–1 by Central Coast Mariners
  Central Coast Mariners FC
  Central Coast Mariners Football Club is a professional football club based on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. They participate in the A-League and are one of three teams from the state of New South Wales playing in the competition...
  
   at AAMI Park.
• 20 September – Carlton
  Carlton Football Club
  The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
  
   player Chris Judd
  Chris Judd
  Christopher Dylan "Chris" Judd is a professional Australian rules footballer and current captain of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League ....
  
   wins his second Brownlow Medal
  Brownlow Medal
  The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
  
  .
• 25 September – The 2010 AFL Grand Final
  2010 AFL Grand Final
  The 2010 AFL Grand Final is either of two Australian rules football contests between the Collingwood Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club. Together they are considered the 114th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League, and were staged to determine the...
  
   is a draw between Collingwood
  Collingwood Football Club
  The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
  
   and St Kilda.
• 2 October – Collingwood
  Collingwood Football Club
  The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
  
   wins the replay of the 2010 AFL Grand Final
  2010 AFL Grand Final
  The 2010 AFL Grand Final is either of two Australian rules football contests between the Collingwood Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club. Together they are considered the 114th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League, and were staged to determine the...
  
  , defeating St Kilda 16.12 (108) to 7.10 (52).
• 10 October – Craig Lowndes
  Craig Lowndes
  Craig Lowndes is a multi-championship winning Australian racing driver. He is a three-time V8 Supercar champion and five-time winner of Australia's most famous motor race, the Bathurst 1000...
  
   and Mark Skaife
  Mark Skaife
  Mark Stephen Skaife OAM is an Australian motor racing driver. Skaife is a five time winner of the V8 Supercar Championship Series, including its predecessor the Australian Touring Car Championship. He is also a six-time winner of Australia's most prestigious domestic motor race, the Bathurst 1000...
  
   win the 2010 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000
  2010 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000
  The 2010 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was a motor race for V8 Supercars. The race, which was held on Sunday, 10 October 2010 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia was Race 18 of the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series...
  
   ahead of Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
  Holden
  GM Holden Ltd is an automaker that operates in Australia, based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the U.S.-based General Motors in 1931...
  
   team mates Jamie Whincup
  Jamie Whincup
  Jamie Whincup is Australian auto racing driver who competes in the V8 Supercar, driving for TeamVodafone. He is a two-time V8 Supercars champion and three-time Bathurst 1000 winner.-Early career:...
  
   and Steve Owen. It was Lowndes' fifth victory at Bathurst and Skaife's sixth, and the first team 1–2 finish since 1984
  1984 James Hardie 1000
  The 1984 James Hardie 1000 was the 25th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 30 September 1984 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia and was Round 4 of the 1984 Australian Endurance Championship...
  
  .
• 17 October - Ducati Corse
  Ducati Corse
  Ducati Corse S.r.l. is a subsidiary arm of Ducati that deals with the firm's involvement in motorcycle racing. It is directed by Claudio Domenicali and is based inside Bologna, in quartiere Borgo Panigale. More than one hundred people work in Ducati Corse...
  
   rider Casey Stoner
  Casey Stoner
  Casey Stoner is an Australian professional motorcycle racer. Born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia and raised in Southport, Queensland, Stoner raced from a young age and moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a racing career...
  
   took a popular home crowd victory in the 2010 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
  2010 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
  The 2010 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix was the sixteenth round of the 2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 15–17 October 2010 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit...
  
  , finishing eight seconds ahead of Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo
  Jorge Lorenzo
  Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero , is a Spanish professional motorcycle road racer. He is the 2006 and 2007 250cc World Champion, and the MotoGP World Champion...
  
   for the Yamaha Motor Racing team.
• 1 November – Surfer Stephanie Gilmore
  Stephanie Gilmore
  Stephanie Louise Gilmore is an Australian professional surfer and four-time world champion on the Women's ASP World Tour . She was born in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia on 29 January 1988 and currently resides in Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia.Gilmore's life as a surfer began at...
  
   wins the 2010 ASP World Tour
  2010 ASP World Tour
  The 2010 ASP World Tour is a professional competitive surfing league run by the Association of Surfing Professionals. Men and women compete in separate tours with events taking place from late February to mid-December, at various surfing locations around the world.Surfers receive points for their...
  
  , her fourth world championship.
• 2 November – French horse Americain
  Americain
  Americain is an American-bred French trained thoroughbred racehorse. The six-year-old stayer won the 150th Melbourne Cup in 2010, ridden by Gérald Mossé, trained by Alain De Royer-Dupre and owned by Melbourne businessmen Gerry Ryan and Kevin Bamford....
  
  , ridden by Gérald Mossé
  Gérald Mossé
  Gérald Mossé is a jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding professionally in April 1983 and his success during his apprenticeship under Patrick-Louis Biancone led to an offer to ride for renowned trainer François Boutin and his stable of horses belonging to Jean-Luc Lagardère...
  
  , wins the 150th Melbourne Cup
  2010 Melbourne Cup
  The 2010 Melbourne Cup, the 150th running of Australia's most prestigious Thoroughbred horse race, was held on Tuesday, 2 November 2010 at 3:00 PM. local time ....
  
  .
• 2 December – Australia's bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup
  2022 FIFA World Cup
  The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be the 22nd FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that is scheduled to take place in 2022 in Qatar. The competition is scheduled to take place in June and July, although proposals have been made for a winter season. The tournament will involve...
  
   is unsuccessful, with Qatar
  Qatar
  Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
  
   selected as the location for the 2022 event.
• 26–29 December – England win the fourth Test and retain 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...
  
  .
• 28 December – Wild Oats XI
  Wild Oats XI
  Wild Oats XI is a maxi yacht, most famous for being a multiple line honors winner of the 'blue water classic' Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. She is owned by Robert Oatley, and skippered by New South Welsh yachtsman, Mark Richards....
  
  takes line honours for the fifth time in the 2010 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
  2010 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
  The 2010 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, sponsored by Rolex, was the 66th annual running of the "blue water classic" Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. As in past editions of the race, it was hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia based in Sydney, New South Wales...
  
  , although a protest is unsuccessfully raised over the yacht's failure to report its position by radio as it entered Bass Strait at Green Cape.

Deaths

• 8 January – Monica Maughan
  Monica Maughan
  Monica Maughan was an Australian actor with notable and well-known roles in film, theatre, radio and television.-Early life and education:...
  
  , 76, stage, film and television actor.
• 10 January – Bill Patterson
  Bill Patterson (racing driver)
  Gerard William Riggall "Bill" Patterson was an Australian motor racing driver, race team owner and businessman....
  
  , 86, racing driver and businessman.
• 12 January – Ken Colbung
  Ken Colbung
  Kenneth Desmond Colbung, AM, MBE , also known by his indigenous name Nundjan Djiridjarkan, was an Aboriginal Australian leader who became prominent in the 1960s. He was awarded an MBE and an AM for his service to the Aboriginal community.-Early life:Colbung was born on the Moore River Native...
  
  , 78, Aboriginal elder
• 18 January – Cyril Burke
  Cyril Burke
  Cyril Thomas Burke, BEM was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative scrum-half who made twenty-six Test appearances for the Wallabies between 1946 and 1956.-Playing career:...
  
  , 84, rugby union player
• 22 January – Betty Wilson
  Betty Wilson
  Elizabeth Rebecca "Betty" Wilson was considered one of the greatest woman cricket players of all time. She represented Australia in Women's Test cricket between 1947–48 and 1957-58...
  
  , 88, cricketer
• 25 January – Lynn Bayonas
  Lynn Bayonas
  Lynn Bayonas was an Australian television producer and writer. Her sister is Neighbours executive producer Susan Bower.-Personal life:...
  
  , 66, writer and producer
• 27 January – George Hanlon
  George Hanlon
  George Hanlon was an Australian race horse trainer. Inducted in the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2002, Hanlon trained three Melbourne Cup winners; Piping Lane in 1972, Arwon in 1978 and Black Knight in 1984....
  
  , 92, racehorse trainer
• 2 February – Nelli Shkolnikova
  Nelli Shkolnikova
  Nelli Efimovna Shkolnikova was a Russian Jewish classical violinist who spent many years teaching in Australia and the United States....
  
  , 83, violinist
• 3 February – John McCallum
  John McCallum (actor)
  John Neil McCallum, AO, CBE was an Australian theatre and film actor. He was also a television producer.McCallum was born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1918, son of theatre owner and entrepreneur John Neil McCallum Sr., who built and for many years ran the 2,000 seat Cremorne Theatre on the banks of...
  
  , 91, actor and television producer
• 13 February – Ken Emerson
  Ken Emerson
  Ken Emerson was an Australian cartoonist and comic strip creator. He is best known for writing the comic strips The WarrumbunglersThe Warrumbunglers title is sometimes written with a hyphen but this is most likely a stylistic decision to fit the long title within one panel of the comic strip. and...
  
  , 79, cartoonist
• 13 February – Jock Ferguson
  Jock Ferguson (Australian politician)
  John Kilday "Jock" Ferguson was a Scottish-born Australian politician.Quotes - "May we all see the day when the unity of the community and the workers become so strong that we see the end of unemployment and poverty in the midst of plenty , and it is replaced by a just and equitable that ensures a...
  
  , 64, union leader and politician
• 15 February – Ian Gray
  Ian Gray (Australian soccer)
  Ian Gray was a former Australian football player and Socceroo.-Early life:Ian Gray is the son of Avenel and Georgina Gray...
  
  , 46, soccer player
• 18 February – Ruby Hunter
  Ruby Hunter
  Ruby Charlotte Margaret Hunter was an Australian singer and songwriter. She was a member of the Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal nationality, and often performed with her partner, Archie Roach, whom she met at the age of 16, while both were homeless teenagers...
  
  , 55, singer
• 21 February – Robert Woodward
  Robert Woodward (architect)
  Robert Raymond Woodward AM was an Australian architect who gained widespread recognition for his innovative fountain designs....
  
  , 86, architect and fountain designer
• 26 February – Tom Bass, 93, sculptor
• 28 February – Phillip Law
  Phillip Law
  Phillip Garth Law AC, CBE, FAA was an Australian scientist and explorer who served as director of Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions from 1949 to 1966.-Early life:...
  
  , 97, scientist and explorer
• 9 March – Lionel Cox
  Lionel Cox
  Lionel Malvyne Cox OAM was an Australian Olympic cyclist.-Results and awards:*1948 – 49 1st N.S.W. 1000 metre Sprint Title*1949 – 50 1st N.S.W...
  
  , 80, cyclist
• 20 March – Chicka Dixon
  Chicka Dixon
  Charles "Chicka" Dixon was an Australian Aboriginal activist and leader.He was active in campaigns around the 1967 referendum and the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, dedicating his life to the fight for basic human rights and justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.In 1970 Dixon was...
  
  , 81, Aboriginal activist
• 24 March – Ron Hamence
  Ron Hamence
  Ronald Arthur Hamence was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. A short and compact right-handed batsman, Hamence excelled in getting forward to drive and had an array of attractive back foot strokes...
  
  , 94, cricketer, member of The Invincibles
• 26 March – Rocco Pantaleo
  Rocco Pantaleo
  Rocco Pantaleo was an Australian businessman.Born in Calabria, Italy, he emigrated to Australia in 1977 to find work. In 1985 he co-founded the La Porchetta restaurant chain. By the time of his 2010 death it had grown to 80 restaurants.In 1996, he shot dead Keith Lane...
  
  , 53, restaurateur (La Porchetta)
• 2 April – Lady Sonia McMahon
  Sonia McMahon
  Sonia McMahon, known from 1977 as Lady McMahon , was the wife of Sir William McMahon, Prime Minister of Australia, and a philanthropist and Sydney socialite.-Biography:...
  
  , 77, socialite and wife of William McMahon
• 13 April – Bernie Kilgariff
  Bernie Kilgariff
  Bernard Francis "Bernie" Kilgariff AM was an Australian politician. He was one of the founders of the Country Liberal Party and served as a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly before being elected to the Australian Senate.-Early life:Kilgariff was born in Adelaide, South...
  
  , 86, Northern Territory politician
• 15 April – Sir Edward Woodward, 81, judge
• 18 April – Viewed
  Viewed
  Viewed was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 148th Melbourne Cup on 4 November 2008. Prior to the Cup, Viewed won the AJC JRA Plate and qualified by winning the Brisbane Cup on 9 June 2008....
  
  , 6, racehorse, winner of the 2008 Melbourne Cup
  2008 Melbourne Cup
  The 2008 Melbourne Cup, the 148th running of Australia's most prestigious Thoroughbred horse race, was run on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, starting at 3:00 pm local time ....
  
  
• 18 April – William Yates, 88, politician
• 19 April – Carl Williams, 39, murderer
• 21 April – Sir Laurence Muir
  Laurence Muir
  Sir Laurence Macdonald Muir, VRD, FSIA, FAIM was an Australian philanthropist and businessman.- Early life :Laurence Muir was born in Victoria and educated at Scotch College , and the University of Melbourne...
  
  , 85, businessman and philanthropist
• 23 April – Georgia Lee
  Georgia Lee (singer)
  Georgia Lee was a jazz and blues singer from Cairns, Queensland, Australia.Born as Dulcie Rama Pitt, her father was of Jamaican descent and her mother was Indian, Australian Aboriginal, Islander and Scottish. With her sisters Sophie and Heather Pitt, she formed the Harmony Sisters and performed as...
  
  , 89, jazz and blues singer
• 23 April – Peter Porter
  Peter Porter (poet)
  Peter Neville Frederick Porter, OAM was a British-based Australian poet.-Life:Porter was born in Brisbane, Australia, in 1929. His mother, Marion, died of a burst gall-bladder in 1938. He attended the Church of England Grammar School and left school at 18, and went to work as a trainee journalist...
  
  , 81, poet
• 29 April – Kevin Humphreys, 80, rugby league administrator
• 2 May – Andrew McFarlane
  Andrew McFarlane (motocross racer)
  Andrew McFarlane was an Australian motocross racer who died of injuries sustained on 2 May 2010 in an accident during a practice lap at the third round of the 2010 Australian Motocross Championship at Broadford held on State Motorcycle Sports Complex in Broadford, north of Melbourne, Australia. He...
  
  , 33, motocross racer
• 2 May – Murray Nicoll
  Murray Nicoll
  Murray Nicoll was an Australian journalist and broadcaster whose career spanned more than 45 years. He was best known for providing reports on 5DN radio from his own burning home during the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983...
  
  , 66, journalist and broadcaster, Ash Wednesday fires
  Ash Wednesday fires
  The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia on 16 February 1983. Within twelve hours, more than 180 fires fanned by winds of up to 110 km per hour caused widespread destruction across the states...
  
   commentator
• 3 May – Merv McIntosh
  Merv McIntosh
  Mervyn Francis "Merv" McIntosh was an Australian rules footballer in the West Australian National Football League...
  
  , 87, Australian rules footballer
• 10 May – Jeff Shaw
  Jeff Shaw (politician)
  Jeffrey William "Jeff" Shaw, QC was an Australian lawyer, judge and former Attorney General of New South Wales.-Early life and education:...
  
  , 60, New South Wales Attorney-General and Supreme Court judge
• 13 May – Peter Provan
  Peter Provan
  Peter Provan was an Australian professional rugby league footballer for St. George Dragons, Balmain Tigers and Australia....
  
  , 73, rugby league footballer
• 18 May – Don Day
  Don Day
  Don Day was an Australian politician and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1971 until 1984. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party ....
  
  , 86, politician
• 21 May – Adrian Cruickshank
  Adrian Cruickshank
  Adrian John Cruickshank was an Australian politician and philanthropist. He was the National Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Murrumbidgee from 1984 to 1999....
  
  , 73, politician
• 25 May – Alan Hickinbotham
  Alan Hickinbotham
  Alan David Hickinbotham AM was an Australian businessman and Australian rules football player and coach.-Biography:Hickinbotham was born on 9 December 1925 in Geelong, Victoria...
  
  , 84, Australian rules footballer and businessman
• 30 May – Dame Pat Evison
  Pat Evison
  Dame Helen June Patricia Evison, DBE , known as Pat Evison, was a New Zealand actress.-Early life and education:...
  
  , 86, television actress
• 2 June – Michael Schildberger
  Michael Schildberger
  Michael Julius Schildberger was an Australian journalist, radio and television presenter, and author. He is best known for hosting A Current Affair in the 1970s.-Career:...
  
  , 72, journalist
• 7 June – Adriana Xenides
  Adriana Xenides
  Adriana Xenides was an Australian television personality. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a Greek father and a Spanish mother,...
  
  , 54, television personality
• 18 June – John Whitelaw
  John Whitelaw (1921–2010)
  Major General John Stewart Whitelaw AO CBE was a career soldier in the Australian Army who rose to the position of Deputy Chief of the General Staff...
  
  , 89, soldier
• 20 June – Ken Talbot
  Ken Talbot
  Ken Talbot was the principal shareholder and former CEO of the Macarthur Coal Ltd mining company. He was the only child of Norman and Nita Talbot...
  
  , 59, businessman
• 28 June – Peter Bowers
  Peter Bowers (Australian journalist)
  Peter Bowers was an Australian journalist. He was awarded the Walkley Award in 1982 for the most outstanding contribution to journalism.-Obituaries:**...
  
  , 80, journalist
• 4 July – Alf Howard
  Alf Howard
  Alf Howard was an Australian scientist, educator and explorer. He was most prominently known for being the last remaining member of the expedition to Antarctica, which was led by Sir Douglas Mawson on-board the RRS Discovery in 1929-1931...
  
  , 104, explorer
• 7 July – Brian O'Shaughnessy
  Brian O'Shaughnessy (philosopher)
  Brian Joseph O'Shaughnessy was an Australian philosopher of mind, who lived in London and taught at King's College London. He attended Melbourne and Oxford Universities.-Major works:...
  
  , 84, philosopher
• 9 July – Jessica Anderson
  Jessica Anderson
  Jessica Margaret Queale Anderson was an Australian novelist and short story writer. She won several awards and has been published in Britain and the United States.-Life:...
  
  , 93, writer
• 14 July – Charles Mackerras
  Charles Mackerras
  Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
  
  , 84, conductor
• 19 July – Jon Cleary
  Jon Cleary
  Jon Stephen Cleary was an Australian author.-Biography:Cleary was born in Erskineville, Sydney. He wrote many books, among them The Sundowners , a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and The High Commissioner , the first of a long series of popular...
  
  , 92, novelist
• 19 July – David Warren
  David Warren (inventor)
  David Ronald de Mey Warren AO was an Australian scientist, best known for inventing and developing the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder .-Early life:...
  
  , 85, inventor of the flight data recorder
• 26 July – Sir Brian Bell
  Brian Bell (businessman)
  Sir Brian Bell CSM, KBE, C.St.J. was an Australian-born businessman who established a successful business empire in Papua New Guinea.-Early life:...
  
  , 82, businessman in Papua New Guinea
• 27 July – Alan Gilbert, 65, historian and education administrator
• 30 July – Roy Smith
  Roy Smith (Australian politician)
  Roy Anthony Smith was an Australian politician, and a former manager of the New South Wales Sporting Shooters Association of Australia. He was a member of the Shooters Party, and at the 2007 state election was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council...
  
  , New South Wales politician
• 2 August – Ian Castles
  Ian Castles
  Ian Castles, AO OBE was Secretary of the Australian Government Department of Finance , the Australian Statistician , and a Visiting Fellow at the Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University, Canberra.Castles was born in Kyneton, Victoria and educated at...
  
  , 75, statistician, economist and public servant
• 4 August – Jim Kennan
  Jim Kennan
  James Harley "Jim" Kennan SC was an Australian politician and later Adjunct Professor of Law at Deakin University.He earned a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne...
  
  , 64, lawyer and politician, Deputy Premier of Victoria
  Deputy Premier of Victoria
  The Deputy Premier of Victoria is the second-most senior officer in the Government of Victoria. The Deputy Premiership has been a ministerial portfolio since , and the Deputy Premier is appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Premier....
  
   (1990–1992)
• 4 August – Frank Latta, 63, surfer and surfboard shaper
• 5 August – Sue Napier
  Sue Napier
  Sue Napier was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Division of Bass...
  
  , 62, politician, Deputy Premier of Tasmania (1996–1998)
• 6 August – Jeff McLean, 63, rugby union footballer
• 13 September – Gus Williams
  Gus Williams (musician)
  Kasper Gus Ntjalka Williams OAM, known as Gus Williams was a country singer from Hermannsburg in Central Australia. He was an Arrernte man, who was born in Alice Springs. He was the father of country star Warren H Williams.In 1983 Williams was given a Medal of the Order of Australia for services...
  
  , 73, musician
• 23 September – Malcolm Douglas, 69, bushman and documentary maker
• 10 October – Dame Joan Sutherland
  Joan Sutherland
  Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
  
  , 83, opera singer (died in Switzerland)
• 17 October – Ken Wriedt
  Ken Wriedt
  Kenneth Shaw "Ken" Wriedt was an Australian politician and minister in the Whitlam government.Wriedt was born in Melbourne, of Danish ancestry. His early life included time spent as a seaman...
  
  , 83, politician
• 21 October – Sir Leslie Froggatt
  Leslie Froggatt
  Sir Leslie Trevor Froggatt was a British-born Australian businessman, who was chairman and CEO of Shell Australia from 1969 to 1980.-Early life:...
  
  , 90, businessman
• 4 November – James Freud
  James Freud
  James Randall Freud was an Australian rock musician-songwriter. He was a member of Models during the 1980s and wrote their two most popular singles, "Barbados" and "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"....
  
  , 51, musician (Models
  Models (band)
  Models were an alternative rock group formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1978 and went into hiatus in 1988. They are often incorrectly referred to as The Models. They re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit,...
  
  )
• 14 November – Bobbi Sykes
  Bobbi Sykes
  Roberta "Bobbi" Sykes was an Australian poet and author...
  
  , 67, Aboriginal rights activist
• 22 November – Frank Fenner
  Frank Fenner
  Frank John Fenner, AC, CMG, MBE, FRS, FAA was an Australian scientist with a distinguished career in the field of virology...
  
  , 95, scientist
• 26 November – Kevin Parry
  Kevin Parry
  Kevin John Parry was a businessman from Western Australia, most noted for his backing of the Taskforce '87 syndicate which unsuccessfully defended the 1987 America's Cup in Fremantle, Western Australia...
  
  , 77, businessman
• 6 December – Norman Hetherington
  Norman Hetherington
  Norman Frederick Hetherington OAM was an Australian artist, etcher, cartoonist , puppeteer, and puppet designer....
  
  , 89, cartoonist and creator of Mr. Squiggle
• 7 December – Gus Mercurio
  Gus Mercurio
  Augustino Eugenio "Gus" Mercurio was an American-born Australian character actor who appeared on both film and television.-Early life :...
  
  , 82, actor
• 8 December – John James, 76, Australian rules footballer
• 13 December – James Dibble
  James Dibble
  James Edward Dibble AM MBE was an Australian television presenter, best known as the presenter of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Sydney news, reading the first news bulletin in 1956, and remaining with the ABC for 27 years up until his retirement in 1983.-Career:Dibble joined the ABC...
  
  , 87, television presenter
• 14 December – Ruth Park
  Ruth Park
  Ruth Park, AM was a New Zealand-born author, who spent most of her life in Australia. Her best known works are the novels The Harp in the South and Playing Beatie Bow , and the children's radio serial The Muddle-Headed Wombat , which also spawned a book series .-Personal history:Park was born in...
  
  , 93, author
• 15 December – Stan "Pops" Heal
  Stan Heal
  Stan "Pops" Heal was an Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne in the Victorian Football League as well as West Perth in the West Australian National Football League during the 1940s and early 1950s.Heal played his best football as a wingman but was also used on occasions as a rover...
  
  , 90, Australian rules footballer
• 16 December – Reg Hope
  Reg Hope
  Reginald Thomas "Reg" Hope was an Independent member of the Tamar and Meander divisions of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 1979 to 1997....
  
  , 83, Tasmanian politician
• 25 December – Gavin Brown
  Gavin Brown (academic)
  Gavin Brown, AO was a Scottish-born mathematician, and the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney....
  
  , 68, academic
• 25 December – Maurice Rioli
  Maurice Rioli
  Maurice Rioli was an Australian rules football player best known for his time spent with the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League...
  
  , 53, Australian rules footballer