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This is a timeline of Australian history.

Color legend

Histories are marked in the following colors:

  Natural
  Pioneer explorers
  Convicts
  Exploration by sea
  Political

Pre-history

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Dates Event Summary Image
c.68,000 – 40,000 BC Aboriginal tribes are thought to have arrived in Australia.[1]

 
c.13,000 BC Land bridges between mainland Australia and Tasmania are flooded. Tasmanian Aboriginal people become isolated for the next 12,000 – 13,000 years.[2]

 
c.3,000 BC Dingos are thought to have arrived in Australia.[2]  

Sixteenth Century

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Dates Event Summary Image
1521–22 Several writers have argued that Australia was first discovered by a Portuguese expedition at this time.[3][4] However other historians disagree and the evidence remains contentious.[5][6]

 

Seventeenth Century

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Dates Event Summary Image
1606 (March) The Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship Duyfken, under Captain Willem Janszoon, explores the western coast of Cape York Peninsula. This was the first recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil.  
1606 (May) Pedro Fernandes de Queirós believed that he had found the southern continent. He named it La Australia del Espiritu Santo (The Great South Land of the Holy Spirit). He actually was on Vanuatu.  
1606 (August) Portuguese or Spanish seaman Luis Váez de Torres sails through the Torres Strait, between Australia and New Guinea, along the latter's southern coast. He may well have sighted the northernmost extremity of Australia, although this is not recorded. Torres reported 'shoals', some of which may have been the northernmost atolls of the Great Barrier Reef. The name 'Coste Dangereuse', for the tropical Queensland coast, appears on French charts.  
1616 Dutch captain Dirk Hartog in the Eendracht makes the second recorded landfall by a European, at Dirk Hartog Island on the western coast of Australia. Leaves behind the Hartog Plate.  
1623 Dutch captain Jan Carstensz navigates the Gulf of Carpentaria aboard the Pera and Arnhem. The Arnhem crosses the Gulf to reach and name Groote Eylandt.  
1642 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman explores the west coast of Tasmania, lands on its east coast and names the island Anthoonij van Diemenslandt.  
1688 English explorer William Dampier explores the west coasts of Australia.  
1696 Flemish explorer Willem de Vlamingh charts the southwestern coast of Australia, making landfall at Rottnest Island and the site of the present-day city of Perth.  

Eighteenth Century

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1700s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1770 English Lieutenant James Cook's expedition in HM Bark Endeavour charts the eastern coast, and claims it for the British Crown. Australia dubbed "terra nullius" because the indigenous inhabitants had no concept of land ownership and were incapable, at that time, of managing the country in an increasingly globally oriented community.  
1788 The First Fleet from England under Arthur Phillip arrives in Australia and founds first European settlement and penal colony at Sydney Cove (Sydney). New South Wales, according to Arthur Phillip's amended Commission dated 25 April 1787, includes "all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean" and running westward to the 135th meridian east. These islands included the current islands of New Zealand, which was administered as part of New South Wales.
1788 An English settlement is founded at Norfolk Island.  
1792 Two French ships, La Recherche and L'Espérance, anchor in what was named Recherche Bay, near the southernmost point of Tasmania at a time when England and France were racing around the globe to be the first to discover and colonise Australia.  
1797 Sydney Cove wrecked and some survivors travelled from Bass Strait to Port Jackson allowing for the rescue of others but also furthering knowledge of the geography of Australia  
1770 - Track of Captain Cook's First Voyage across the Pacific 1768-1771.

Nineteenth Century

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1800s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1803 Matthew Flinders completes the first circumnavigation of the continent.  
1804 A settlement is founded at Risdon on the Derwent River in Australia by Lieutenant Bowen.  
1804 Castle Hill convict rebellion also known as the second Battle of Vinegar Hill  
1804 The settlement is moved to Sullivan's Cove in Van Diemen's Land (now Hobart in Tasmania) by Colonel David Collins.  
1808 The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia's history. The Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was deposed by the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, working closely with John Macarthur, on 26 January 1808, 20 years to the day after Arthur Phillip founded European settlement in Australia.  
1804 - A settlement is founded at Risdon on the Derwent River in Australia by Lieutenant Bowen.

1810s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1813 Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth cross the Blue Mountains.  
1813 Matthew Flinders calls New South Wales (Australia's old name) Australia  
1817 John Oxley charts the Lachlan River. In March 1817 John Oxley was instructed to take charge of an expedition to explore and survey the course of the Lachlan River. He left Sydney on 6 April with George Evans as second-in-command, and Allan Cunningham as botanist. They reached the Lachlan River on 25 April 1817 and commenced to follow its course, with part of the stores being conveyed in boats.  
1817 Australia's first bank, the Bank of New South Wales, opens in Macquarie Place, Sydney (it became Westpac in 1982)  
1818 Oxley charts the Macquarie River.  
1813 - Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth cross the Blue Mountains.

1820s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1824 A penal colony is founded at Moreton Bay, now the city of Brisbane.  
1824 Bathurst and Melville Islands are annexed.  
1825 New South Wales western border is extended to 129° E. Van Diemen's Land is proclaimed.  
1828 Charles Sturt charts the Darling River.  
1829 The whole of Australia is claimed as British territory. The settlement of Perth is founded. Swan River Colony is declared by Charles Fremantle for Britain.  

1830s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1830 Sturt arrives at Goolwa, having charted the Murray River.  
1831 Sydney Herald (later to become The Sydney Morning Herald) first published.  
1832 Swan River Colony has its name changed to Western Australia.  
1833 The penal settlement of Port Arthur is founded in Van Diemen's Land.  
1835 John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner establish a settlement at Port Phillip, now the city of Melbourne.  
1836 Province of South Australia proclaimed with its western border at 132° E.  
1838 First Prussian settlers arrive in South Australia; the largest group on non-British migrants in Australia at the time.

 
1833 - the penal settlement of Port Arthur is founded in Van Diemen's Land.

1840s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1840 Australia's first municipal authority, the City of Adelaide, is established. 100x100px
1841 New Zealand is proclaimed as a separate colony, no longer part of New South Wales.  
1842 Copper is discovered at Kapunda in South Australia.  
1845 The ship Cataraqui is wrecked off King Island in Bass Strait. It is Australia's worst civil maritime disaster, with 406 lives lost.  
1845 Copper is discovered at Burra in South Australia.  
1842 - Copper is discovered at Kapunda, South Australia.

1850s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1850 Western Australia becomes a penal colony.  
1850 Australia's first university, the University of Sydney, is founded.  
1851 Victoria separates from New South Wales.  
1851 The Victorian gold rush starts when gold is found at Summerhill Creek and Ballarat.  
1851 Forest Creek Monster Meeting of miners at Chewton near Castlemaine  
1853 Bendigo Petition and Red Ribbon Rebellion at Bendigo  
1854 The Eureka Stockade  
1855 The transportation of convicts to Norfolk Island ceases.  
1856 Van Diemen's Land name changed to Tasmania.  
1858 Sydney and Melbourne linked by electric telegraph.  
1859 SS Admella wrecked off south-east coast of South Australia with the loss of 89 lives.  
1859 Australian rules football codified, Melbourne Football Club founded  
1859 Since their introduction from Europe in 1859, the effect of rabbits on the ecology of Australia has been devastating. Rabbits are suspected of being the most significant known factor in species loss in Australia.  
1859 Queensland separates from New South Wales with its western border at 141° E.  
1850 - Australia's first university, the University of Sydney, is founded.

1860s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1860 John McDouall Stuart reaches the centre of the continent. South Australian border changed from 132° E to 129° E.  
1861 The ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition occurs.  
1862 Stuart reaches Port Darwin, founding a settlement there. Queensland's western border is moved to 139° E.  
1863 South Australia takes control of the Northern Territory which was part of the colony of New South Wales.  
1867 Gold is discovered at Gympie, Queensland.  
1868 The transportation of convicts to Western Australia ceases.  
1869 Children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent are removed from their families by Australian and State government agencies.  

1870s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1872 Overland Telegraph Line linking Darwin and Adelaide opens.  
1873 Uluru is first sighted by Europeans, and named Ayers Rock.  
1875 SS Gothenburg strikes Old Reef off North Queensland and sinks with the loss of approximately 102 lives.  
1875 Adelaide Steamship Company is formed.
1878 First horse-drawn trams in Australia commenced operations in Adelaide.  
1879 The first congress of trade unions is held.

1880s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1880 The bushranger Ned Kelly is hanged.  
1880 Parliamentarians in Victoria become the first in Australia to be paid for their work. 100x100px
1882 First water-borne sewerage service in Australia commenced operations in Adelaide.  
1883 The opening of the Sydney-Melbourne railway.

 
1883 Silver is discovered at Broken Hill  
1887 An Australian cricket team is established, defeating England in the first Ashes series. First direct Inter-colonial passenger trains begin running between Adelaide and Melbourne.  
1889 The completion of the railway network between Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.  
1889 Sir Henry Parkes delivers the Tenterfield Oration.  

1890s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1890 The Australian Federation Conference calls a constitutional convention.
1891 A National Australasian Convention meets, agrees on adopting the name "the Commonwealth of Australia" and drafting a constitution.  
1891 A severe depression hits Australia
1892 Gold is discovered at Coolgardie, Western Australia.  
1893 The Corowa Conference (the "people's convention") calls on the colonial parliaments to pass enabling acts, allowing the election of delegates to a new constitutional convention aimed at drafting a proposal and putting it to a referendum in each colony.

 
1894 South Australia becomes the first Australian colony, and the second place in the world, to grant women's suffrage.  
1895 The premiers, except for those of Queensland and Western Australia, agree to implement the Corowa proposals.
1895 Waltzing Matilda is first sung in public, in Winton, Queensland  
1895 Banjo Paterson publishes The Man from Snowy River  
1896 The Bathurst Conference (the second "people's convention") meets to discuss the 1891 draft constitution  
1897 In two sessions, the Second National Australasian Convention meets (with representatives from all colonies except Queensland present). They agree to adopt a constitution based on the 1891 draft, and then revise and amend it later that year.
1898 The Convention agrees on a final draft to be put to the people.
1898 After much public debate, the Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian referendums are successful; the New South Wales referendum narrowly fails. Later New South Wales votes "yes" in a second referendum, and Queensland and Western Australia also vote to join.
1899 The decision is made to site the national capital in New South Wales, but not within 100 miles of Sydney.  
1899 The Australian Labor Party holds office for a few days in Queensland, becoming the first trade union party to do so anywhere in the world.

 

Twentieth Century

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1900s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1900 Several delegates visit London to resist proposed changes to the agreed-upon constitution.  
1900 The constitution is passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom as a schedule to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, and is given royal assent  
1901 Australia becomes a federation on 1 January. Edmund Barton becomes Prime Minister; the 7th Earl of Hopetoun becomes Governor-General  
1901 The first parliament met in Parliament House, Melbourne  
1901 Immigration Restriction act was introduced - the White Australia policy. 100x100px
1901 The Australian National Flag was flown for the first time  
1902 The Franchise Act guarantees women the right to vote in federal elections (by this stage, most states had already done this). However, it excludes most non-European ethnic groups, including Aboriginal people.
1902 King Edward VII approved the design of the Australian flag.  
1902 Breaker Morant is executed for having shot Boers who had surrendered  
1903 The High Court of Australia is established with Samuel Griffith as the first Chief Justice.  
1903 The Defence Act gives the federal government full control over the Australian Army  
1903 Alfred Deakin elected Prime Minister  
1904 A site at Dalgety, New South Wales chosen for the new national capital  
1904 Chris Watson forms the first federal Labor (minority) government  
1906 Australia takes control of south-eastern New Guinea  
1908 Dorothea Mackellar publishes My Country  
1908 The Dalgety proposal for the national capital is revoked, and Canberra is chosen instead.  
1909 The first powered aeroplane flight in Australia is made.

 
1908 - Canberra is chosen as the location for the national capital.

1910s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1910 Andrew Fisher forms the first federal majority Labor government.
1911 The Royal Australian Navy is founded  
1911 The Northern Territory comes under Commonwealth control, being split off from South Australia
1911 The first national census is conducted.
1911 Australian Capital Territory proclaimed.
1912 Australia sends women to the Olympic Games for the first time
1912 Walter Burley Griffin wins a design competition for the new city of Canberra
1913 The foundation stone for the city of Canberra is put in place
1914 Australian soldiers are sent to the First World War. This was first time Australians had fought under the Australian flag, as opposed to that of Britain's.
1915 Australian soldiers land at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey
1915 Jervis Bay Territory comprising 6,677 hectares surrendered and becomes part of the Australia Capital Territory.
1915 Surfing is first introduced to Australia
1915 Billy Hughes became Prime Minster
1916 Hotels are forced to close at 6 p.m., leading to the beginning of the "six o'clock swill"
1916 The Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia, the forerunner to the Returned and Services League of Australia is founded
1916 The Labor government under Billy Hughes splits over conscription. First referendum on conscription is rejected
1917 Second referendum on conscription is rejected. Trans-continental railway linking Adelaide to Perth is completed.
1918 First World War ends
1918 Darwin Rebellion takes place

1920s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1920 The airline Qantas is founded  
1921 Edith Cowan becomes the first woman elected to an Australian parliament
1922 The Smith Family charity is founded in Sydney
1923 Vegemite is first produced
1926 The first Miss Australia contest is held
1927 The tenth parliament is formally opened in Canberra, finalising the move to the new capital
1928 Bert Hinkler makes the first successful flight from Britain to Australia, and Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first flight from the United States to Australia
1929 Western Australia celebrates its centenary
1929 Labor returns to office under James Scullin. The Great Depression hits Australia.

1930s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1930 Don Bradman scores a record 452 not out in one cricket innings  
1930 Phar Lap wins his first Melbourne Cup
1931 Sir Douglas Mawson charts 4,000 miles of Antarctic coastline and claims 42% of the icy mass for Australia
1932 The Sydney Harbour Bridge opens
1932 The Labor government falls and Joseph Lyons becomes Prime Minister
1933 Western Australia votes at a referendum to secede from the Commonwealth, but the vote is ignored by both the Commonwealth and British governments
1936 The last Thylacine dies
1937 The radio series Dad and Dave begins
1938 Sydney hosts the Empire Games, the forerunner to the Commonwealth Games
1939 Australia enters the Second World War
1939 The first flight is made by an Australian-made warplane, the Wirraway
1939 Victoria is devastated by the Black Friday bushfires
1939 Joseph Lyons is the first Australian Prime Minister to die in office; he is succeeded by Robert Menzies

1940s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1940 A team of scientists, under Howard Florey, develops penicillin 100x100px
1941 Labor comes to power under John Curtin
1942–43 Japanese planes make almost 100 attacks against sites in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland.

1942 National daylight saving is introduced as a war time measure.
1942 The UK Statute of Westminster is formally adopted by Australia. The Statute formally grants Australia (along with New Zealand, South Africa, and the Irish Free State) the right to pass laws that conflict with UK laws.
1943 Australia wins its first Oscar, with cinematographer Damien Parer being honoured for his coverage of the war
1944 A mass escape of Japanese prisoners of war occurs in NSW during the Cowra breakout.
1944 The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is introduced, providing subsidised medicine to all Australians
1945 The Second World War ends.
1945 Australia becomes a founding member of the United Nations
1945 The Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race is held for the first time
1945 Curtin dies in office and is succeeded by Ben Chifley
1946 Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell introduces the major post-war immigration scheme
1946 An Australian, Norman Makin, is voted in as the first President of the United Nations Security Council.
1948 Australian Minister for External Affairs, Dr. H.V. Evatt is elected President of the United Nations General Assembly.
1948 Australia becomes a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
1949 Construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme begins
1949 Indigenous Australians who are eligible to vote in State Elections in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are also given the right to vote in Federal Elections.
1949 The Nationality and Citizenship Act is passed. Rather than being identified as subjects of Britain, the Act established Australian citizenship for people who met eligibility requirements.
1949 Menzies returns to power as leader of the new Liberal Party

1950s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1950 Australian troops are sent to the Korean War, as well as to fight a communist insurgency in Malaya
1951 Australia signs the ANZUS treaty with the United States and New Zealand  
1950 Voters reject a referendum to change the Constitution to allow the Menzies Government to ban the Communist Party
1952 First nuclear test conducted in Australian territory by the United Kingdom off the coast of Western Australia.
1954 Elizabeth II and Prince Philip make a royal visit; the Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov defects, leading to the Petrov Affair and another split in the Labor Party
1955 Hotels in New South Wales no longer have to close at 6 p.m., ending the "six o'clock swill"
1956 Melbourne holds the Olympics 100x100px

1960s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1964 The Beatles tour Australia; 82 sailors die when HMAS Voyager sinks after being rammed by HMAS Melbourne; the editors of Oz magazine are charged with obscenity; PM Robert Menzies announces the reintroduction of compulsory military service for men aged from 18–25 years old.  
1965 Indigenous Australians gain right to vote in state of Queensland
1966 The ban on the employment of married women in the Commonwealth Public Service is lifted; Menzies retires as Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister and is succeeded by Harold Holt.
1966 Decimalisation; on 14th February the Australian currency is changed to dollars and cents, with the Australian Dollar replacing the Australian pound.
1967 Large areas of Hobart and south-eastern Tasmania are devastated by bushfires on 7 February that kill 62 people; Prime Minister Holt drowns and is succeeded by John Gorton; the constitution is changed to allow Aboriginal Australians to be included in the population count and for the federal government to legislate for them; Sydney is rocked by a series of brutal underworld killings; talkback radio is introduced; British comedian Tony Hancock commits suicide in Sydney; Gough Whitlam becomes leader of the Labor Party
1968 Australia signs the nuclear non-proliferation treaty; Aboriginal boxing champion Lionel Rose defeats Masahiko "Fighting" Harada in Japan to become the world bantamweight champion; Australia's first liver transplant operation is performed in Sydney;
1969 French conceptual artist Christo 'wraps' Little Bay in Sydney; renowned author-artists Norman Lindsay and May Gibbs die; the Australian production of the rock musical Hair premieres in Sydney; top pop groups The Easybeats and The Twilights break up; Tim Burstall directs2000 Weeks, the first all-Australian feature released since Charles Chauvel's Jedda in 1958

1970s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1970 More than 200,000 people participate in the largest demonstrations in Australian history, against the Vietnam War
1971 Neville Bonner becomes the first Aborigine to become an Australian Member of Parliament; John Gorton resigns and is succeeded by William McMahon
1971 The 1971 Springbok tour sparks protest all throughout Australia. Premier of Queensland Joh Bjelke-Petersen declares a state of emergency in QLD in response to escalating protest.
1972 The Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission rules that women doing the same job as men have the right to be paid the same wage.
1972 Aboriginal Tent Embassy erected in response to the Coalition government's approval of exploration licences and mining tenements on reserves
1972 The first Labor government since 1949 is elected under the leadership of Gough Whitlam
1972 Australia recognizes the People's Republic of China
1973 The Sydney Opera House is opened  
1973 The White Australian Policy (established 1901) is officially dismantled
1973 The federal voting age is dropped from 21 to 18
1973 Unionists save the historic "The Rocks" area of Sydney from demolition by introducing "Green Bans"
1973 Patrick White becomes the first Australian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature
1974 Darwin is devastated by Cyclone Tracy
1975 A constitutional crisis occurs when Malcolm Fraser blocks supply, bringing the nation to a standstill until Governor-General John Kerr dismisses Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Fraser wins elections and becomes Prime Minister
1975 The 'Privy Council (Appeals from the High Court) Act removes the right to appeal High Court decisions to the British Privy Council. Appeals to the Privy Council direct from State Supreme Courts remain until 1988.
1975 South Australia becomes the first state in Australia to legalise homosexuality between consenting adults in private.
1975 Whitlam government introduced the Aboriginal Land (NT) Bill into Parliament. The bill proposed land rights in the Northern Territory based on land claimed on grounds of need as well as traditional affiliation and traditional landowners maintaining control over mining and development.
1976 The Australian Capital Territory legalises homosexuality between consenting adults in private.
1977 Advance Australia Fair becomes Australia's official national anthem
1977 Granville rail disaster killed Eighty-three people
1978 The First Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras kicks off in Sydney
1979 Australian women win the right to maternity leave
1979 Kakadu National Park and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park are both proclaimed.

1980s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1980 Baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite at Ayers Rock (Uluru), reportedly taken by a dingo. The Coalition wins the 1980 Australian federal election. 100x100px
1981 A referendum is held in Tasmania to vote for whether or not the Franklin Dam should be built.
1982 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane. The National Gallery of Australia is opened.
1983 Australia wins the America's Cup; Bob Hawke defeats Fraser and leads Labor back to government. The Australian Dollar is floated. The Ash Wednesday fires kill 71 people.
1984 Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's national anthem. The one dollar coin is introduced. Labor wins the 1984 Australian federal election. Medicare is established.
1985 The government grants the freehold title of a large area of land in central Australia, including prominent landmarks Uluru and Kata Tjuta, to the Mutitjulu people, who in turn give them a 99-year lease. The last state to do so (New South Wales) abolishes capital punishment.
1986 The Australia Act removes the right of appeal from State courts to the British Privy Council, making the High Court the final court of appeal in Australia. The Act also removes all remaining rights of the UK parliament to pass law for Australia. Anita Cobby murder in Sydney. Russell Street Bombing in Melbourne. Crocodile Dundee is released in Australia.
1987 Hoddle Street Massacre kills 7 victims and injures 19, Queen Street Massacre kills 8 victims and injures 5. Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen resigns as Premier of Queensland after 19 years at the top.
1988 Australia celebrates its bicentenary, with large celebrations and major funding for capital works projects. The new Parliament House opens. Federal referendums on 4-year parliamentary terms, recognition of local government and other issues are defeated. Brisbane hosts World Expo '88.
1989 Newcastle Earthquake kills 13 people. ACT gains self-Government. The Kempsey bus crash and Grafton bus crash kill a total of 56 people.

1990s

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Dates Event Summary Image
1990 Royal Australian Navy deployed in preparation for the First Gulf War. Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female premier of an Australian state. Labour wins the 1990 federal election.  
1991 Prime Minister Bob Hawke is replaced by Paul Keating. Seven people die in the Strathfield massacre. Prominent heart surgeon Victor Chang is gunned down. The Coode Island chemical storage facility in Melbourne explodes, leaving a toxic cloud hanging over the city for days.  
1992 The High Court delivers the Mabo Decision, which rules that indigenous native title does exist. This effectively extinguishes the concept of terra nullius. New South Wales Premier Nick Greiner resigns.
1993 Keating defeats John Hewson in the 1993 federal election; the Murderer Party stand candidates for the first time.  
1995 The Northern Territory legalises voluntary euthanasia, but it is overruled by the federal government when Liberal MP Kevin Andrews proposes the Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996  
1996 The High Court hands down the Wik Decision, which holds that indigenous native title can survive the granting of pastoral leases.
1996 Liberal John Howard becomes Prime Minister, defeating Paul Keating after a record 13 years of Labor government
1996 All Australian states and territories agree to introduce uniform gun laws following the deaths of 35 people in the Port Arthur massacre
1997 Expelled Liberal MP Pauline Hanson forms the One Nation Party
1997 On 1 May 1997 Tasmania legalises homosexuality.
1997 Eighteen people die when the Bimbadene and Carinya Lodges collapse at Thredbo Alpine Village at 11.30 p.m. on 30 July
1998 A major strike results when Patrick Stevedores attempt to introduce non-union labour to reduce the influence of the Maritime Union of Australia  
1998 The Australian Stock Exchange is de-mutualised and floated as a public company, becoming the world’s first stock exchange to be listed on an exchange.
1999 Both houses of the federal parliament pass a motion signifying both recognition of and regret at past treatment of indigenous Australians.
1999 A referendum on changing to a republic is unsuccessful.  
1999 Australian soldiers are deployed to East Timor as part of the INTERFET peacekeeping force  

Twenty First Century

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2000s

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Dates Event Summary Image
2000 Sydney holds the Summer Olympics. Australia introduces a Goods and Services Tax.
2001 John Howard is re-elected after the Tampa affair and Children overboard affair occur as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration
2001 Western Australia adopts a uniform Age of consent of 16.
2003 Australian military deployed to participate in the Iraq War.
2003 The Northern Territory now has a uniform Age Of Consent set at 16 for everyone.
2003 New South Wales becomes the last State to have a Uniform Age of Consent at 16 for everyone.
2004 A bomb explodes outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Asia.
2004 Federal Election: The John Howard led conservative Liberal and National Party coalition wins its fourth term in office after defeating the Mark Latham led Australian Labor Party at the federal election.
2005 Sixteen people are charged with planning terrorist attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
2005 Sydney beachside suburb of Cronulla sees racially charged riots.
2006 The Commonwealth Games are held in Melbourne.
2006 Australian Forces are again deployed to East Timor to help stabilize the country.
2007 Australians Forces are brought home from East Timor.
2007 Sydney hosted the APEC summit meeting.
2007 Federal Election: Australian Labor Party is elected; Kevin Rudd becomes Prime Minister.  
2008 Kevin Rudd officially apologises to the Stolen Generation.  
2008 Longest heatwave for an Australian Capital City recorded in Adelaide.
2009 Black Saturday: Massive bushfires swept across Victoria, resulting in 173 fatalities.[7][8][9]  

2010s

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Dates Event Summary Image
2010 Julia Gillard becomes the first female Prime Minister after the occouring leadership election.  

References

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  1. ^ ANU Reporter
  2. ^ a b Indigenous Australia: Timeline – Pre-contact
  3. ^ McIntyre, K.G. (1977) The Secret Discovery of Australia, Portuguese ventures 200 years before Cook, Souvenir Press, Menindie ISBN 028562303 6
  4. ^ Trickett, P (2007). Beyond Capricorn. How Portuguese adventurers discovered and mapped Australia and New Zealand 250 years before Captain Cook. East Street Publications. Adelaide. ISBN 9 78097511459 9
  5. ^ Richardson, W.A.R. (2006). Was Australia charted before 1606? The Jave La Grande inscriptions. Canberra, National Library of Australia, P.96, ISBN 0 64227642 0
  6. ^ Pearson, M. Great Southern Land; The Maritime Exploration of Terra Australis. Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage, 2005. ISBN 0642551855
  7. ^ "Toll capped at 210". Herald Sun. 22 March 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  8. ^ "Bushfires death toll". Victoria Police. 30 March 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  9. ^ "Bushfire death toll revised down". News Limited. 30 March 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2009.