20th Century
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | Australia becomes a federation on 1 January. Edmund Barton becomes Prime Minister; the 7th Earl of Hopetoun becomes Governor-General | |
| The first parliament met in Parliament House, Melbourne | ||
| Immigration Restriction act was introduced- The White Australian Policy | ||
| 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, unless already registered to vote on State roles. | |
| King Edward VII approved the design of the Australian flag. | ||
| 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. | |
| The Defence Act gives the federal government full control over the Australian Army | ||
| Alfred Deakin elected Prime Minister | ||
| 1904 | A site at Dalgety, New South Wales chosen for the new national capital | |
| Chris Watson forms the first federal Labor (minority) government | ||
| 1906 | Australia takes control of south-eastern New Guinea | |
| 1908 | Dorothea Mackellar publishes My Country | |
| The Dalgety proposal for the national capital is revoked, and Canberra is chosen instead | ||
| 1909 | The first powered aeroplane flight in Australia is made. | |
| 1910 | Andrew Fisher forms the first federal majority Labor government. | |
| 1911 | The Royal Australian Navy is founded | |
| The Northern Territory comes under Commonwealth control, being split off from South Australia | ||
| The first national census is conducted. | ||
| Australian Capital Territory proclaimed. | ||
| 1912 | Australia sends women to the Olympic Games for the first time | |
| 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 on 25 April. | |
| Jervis Bay Territory comprising 6,677 hectares surrendered and becomes part of the Australia Capital Territory. | ||
| Surfing is first introduced to Australia | ||
| Billy Hughes became Prime Minister | ||
| 1916 | Hotels are forced to close at 6 p.m., leading to the beginning of the "six o'clock swill" | |
| Australia suffers heavy casualties in the Western Front Battle of the Somme.. | ||
| The Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia, the forerunner to the Returned and Services League of Australia is founded | ||
| The Labor government under Billy Hughes splits over conscription. First referendum on conscription is rejected | ||
| 1917 | Second referendum on conscription is rejected. Transcontinental railway linking Adelaide to Perth is completed. | |
| Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade launches last cavalry charge in modern warfare to capture Beersheba from the Ottoman Turks. | ||
| 1918 | Battle of Amiens: Australian troops spearhead 8 August offensive against Hindenberg Line: the "black day of the German Army". On 12 August, Australian commander General Sir John Monash is knighted in the field of battle by King George V | |
| First World War ends – 60,000 Australians dead. | ||
| The Darwin Rebellion takes place, with 1,000 demonstrators demanding the resignation of the Administrator of the Northern Territory, John A. Gilruth. | ||
| 1919 | Prime Minister Billy Hughes signs Treaty of Versailles: the first signing of an international treaty by Australia. Australia obtains League of Nations mandate over German New Guinea. | |
| 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. The Shrine of Remembrance is built. | |
| 1929 | Western Australia celebrates its centenary | |
| Labor returns to office under James Scullin. The Great Depression hits Australia. | ||
| 1930 | Batsman Don Bradman scores a record 452 not out in one cricket innings | |
| 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 | |
| The Labor government falls and Joseph Lyons becomes Prime Minister | ||
| 1933 | Western Australia votes at a rerefendum 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 | April, Prime Minister Lyons dies in office and is replaced by Robert Menzies and the first Menzies Government | |
| September, Australia enters the Second World War following the German Invasion of Poland. The 2nd Australian Imperial Force is raised. | ||
| The first flight is made by an Australian-made warplane, the Wirraway | ||
| Victoria is devastated by the Black Friday bushfires | ||
| 1940 | A team of scientists, under Howard Florey, develops penicillin | |
| Fascist Italy enters war, Royal Australian Navy engages Italian Navy in the early stages of the Battle of the Mediterranean. | ||
| 1941 | 3 Divisions of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force join operations in the Mediterranean. After initial successes against Italy, 2nd AIF suffered defeat against the Germans in Greece, Crete, and North Africa. | |
| Apr–Aug, Australian garrison (Rats of Tobruk) halt advance of Hitler's panzers for the first time during the Siege of Tobruk. | ||
| Menzies resigns and John Curtin becomes Prime Minister in the Curtin Government of 1941–45. | ||
| 1942 | Feb, Fall of Singapore. 15,000 Australians become Prisoners of War of the Japanese | |
| Japanese air raids – almost 100 attacks against sites in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland (to 1943). Bombing of Darwin sees largest attack on Australia by a foreign power. | ||
| The Royal Australian Navy and 6th and 7th Divisions of 2nd AIF are recalled from Mediterranean Theatre to participate in the anticipated Battle of Australia. | ||
| Sparrow Force engages in guerilla campaign in Battle of Timor (to 1943) | ||
| Battle of the Coral Sea – United States and Royal Australian Navy halt advance of the Japanese towards Port Moresby (Australian Territory of Papua) | ||
| Battle of Kokoda Trail – Australian soldiers halt Japanese march on Port Moresby | ||
| Aug–Sep, Australian forces inflict the first defeat on the Imperial Japanese Army in the Battle of Milne Bay. | ||
| Jul–Nov, Australia's 9th Division plays crucial role in the First and Second Battle of El Alamein, which turned the North Africa Campaign in favour of the Allies. | ||
| National daylight saving is introduced as a war time measure. | ||
| The UK Statute of Westminster is formally adopted by Australia. The Statute formally grants Australia the right to pass laws that conflict with UK laws. | ||
| 1943 | Australia wins its first Oscar, with cinematographer Damien Parer honoured for Kokoda Front Line! documentary. | |
| 2,815 Australian Pows die constructing Japan's Burma-Thailand Railway | ||
| Australian forces engage Japan in New Guinea, Wau, and the Huon peninsula. (to 1944) | ||
| 1944 | Cowra breakout, mass escape of Japanese prisoners of war occurs in NSW. | |
| Japanese inflict Sandakan Death March on 2,000 Australian and British prisoners of war – only 6 survive. The single worst war crime perpetrated against Australians. | ||
| Australian forces battle Japanese garrisons from Borneo to Bougainville. | ||
| The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is introduced, providing subsidised medicine to all Australians | ||
| 1945 | the Liberal Party of Australia is established with Robert Menzies as its first leader. | |
| Australian forces lead Battle of Borneo | ||
| 7 May, Nazi Germany surrenders | ||
| July, Prime Minister Curtin dies and is replaced by Ben Chifley and the Chifley Labor Government | ||
| 14 August, Japan Surrenders | ||
| Australia becomes a founding member of the United Nations | ||
| The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is held for the first time | ||
| 1946 | Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell introduces the major post-war immigration scheme | |
| Norman Makin, is voted in as the first President of the United Nations Security Council. | ||
| 1948 | Minister for External Affairs, Dr. H.V. Evatt is elected President of the United Nations General Assembly. | |
| Australia becomes a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. | ||
| 1949 | Construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme begins | |
| All indigenous ex-servicemen and any Indigenous Australians who are eligible to vote in State Elections (NSW, VIC, SA and TAS) are given an unrestricted right to vote in Federal Elections. | ||
| 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. | ||
| Menzies returns to power as leader of the new Liberal Party Menzies Government. | ||
| 1950 | Australian troops are sent to the Korean War to assist South Korea. (to 1953) | |
| 1951 | Voters reject a referendum to change the Constitution to allow the Menzies Government to ban the Communist Party | |
| Australia signs the ANZUS treaty with the United States and New Zealand | ||
| 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 | Democratic Labor Party splits from Australian Labor Party over concerns of Communist influence in the labour movement | |
| Australia becomes involved in Malayan Insurgency | ||
| Hotels in New South Wales no longer have to close at 6 p.m., ending the "six o'clock swill" | ||
| 1956 | Television in Australia is launched. | |
| Melbourne holds the Olympics | ||
| performing artist Barry Humphries introduces Edna Everage to the Australian stage | ||
| 1957 | the song "Wild One" makes Johnny O'Keefe the first Australian rock'n'roller to reach the national charts. | |
| Slim Dusty's Australian country music hit Pub With No Beer becomes the first Australian song to attain international chart success. | ||
| 1962 | Robert Menzies' Commonwealth Electoral Act provided that all Indigenous Australians should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections, removing remaining restrictions applying in QLD, WA and NT. | |
| Malayan Insurgency ends | ||
| 1964 | The Beatles tour Australia; 82 sailors die when HMAS Voyager sinks after collision with 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; First troops sent to Vietnam War. | |
| 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. | |
| Decimalisation; on *14 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; Ronald Ryan becomes the last person legally executed in Australia. | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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. | ||
| Daylight Saving is introduced to New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory. | ||
| 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. | |
| Aboriginal Tent Embassy erected in response to the Coalition government's approval of exploration licences and mining tenements on reserves | ||
| The first Labor government since 1949 is elected under the leadership of Gough Whitlam | ||
| Australia recognizes the People's Republic of China | ||
| Queensland abandons Daylight Saving. | ||
| 1973 | The Sydney Opera House is opened | |
| The White Australian Policy (established 1901) is officially dismantled | ||
| Vietnam War ends | ||
| The federal voting age is dropped from 21 to 18 | ||
| Unionists save the historic "The Rocks" area of Sydney from demolition by introducing "Green Bans" | ||
| Patrick White becomes the first Australian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature | ||
| 1974 | Darwin is devastated by Cyclone Tracy. Advance Australia Fair recognised as Australia's national song, but not as national anthem. | |
| 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 on 11 November 1975. Fraser wins elections and becomes Prime Minister | |
| 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. | ||
| South Australia becomes the first state in Australia to legalise homosexuality between consenting adults in private. | ||
| 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 | Granville rail disaster killed eighty-three people | |
| 1978 | First Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras | |
| 1979 | Australian women win the right to maternity leave | |
| Kakadu National Park and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park are both proclaimed. | ||
| 1980 | Baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite at Uluru (Ayers Rock), reportedly taken by a dingo. The Coalition wins the 1980 Australian federal election. | |
| 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 official 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. | |
| Queensland commences three-year trial of Daylight Saving. | ||
| Rosemary Follett (Australian Labor Party) becomes the first Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory and the first woman to become head of government in an Australian state or territory. | ||
| 1990 | Royal Australian Navy deployed in preparation for the First Gulf War. Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female premier of an Australian state. Labor 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. | |
| Queensland holds a Referendum on Daylight Saving, which is defeated with a 54.5% 'no' vote. | ||
| 1993 | Keating defeats John Hewson in the 1993 federal election; the Australian Greens 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. | |
| Liberal John Howard becomes Prime Minister, defeating Paul Keating after a record 13 years of Labor government | ||
| Howard Government leads 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 | |
| On 1 May 1997 Tasmania legalises homosexuality. | ||
| 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 | |
| The Australian Stock Exchange is demutualized 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 of Reconciliation signifying both recognition of and regret at past mistreatment of indigenous Australians. | |
| A referendum on changing to a republic is unsuccessful | ||
| Howard Government deploys Australian forces to East Timor to lead the INTERFET mission, following violence in wake of East Timorese vote for independence. | ||
| 2000 | 27th Olympic Games held in Sydney. | |
| Howard Government introduces a Goods and Services Tax. |
Read more about this topic: Timeline Of Australian History
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