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- 75,000 BC: The first 10000 inhabitants are thought to have arrived in Australia.
- 42,000 BC: Aboriginal engravings dating back to this time have been found in South Australia .
- are thought to have reached the southernmost part of the continent—what is now Tasmania .
- '', under Captain Willem Janszoon , explores the western coast of Cape York Peninsula . The first recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil.
- 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.
- 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 .
- navigates the Gulf Of Carpentaria aboard the ''Pera'' and ''Arnhem'' . The ''Arnhem'' crosses the Gulf to reach and name Groote Eylandt .
- explores the west coast of Tasmania , lands on its east coast and names the island Anthoonij Van Diemenslandt .
- explores the west coast of Australia.
- charts the southwestern coast of Australia, making landfall at Rottnest Island and the site of the present-day city of Perth .
- 's expedition in HM Bark ''Endeavour'' charts the eastern coast.
- 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. These islands included the current islands of New Zealand , which was administered as part of New South Wales .
- .
- at a time when England and France were vying to be the first to discover and colonise Australia.
- completes the first Circumnavigation of the continent.
- 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 .
- cross the Blue Mountains .
- Matthew Flinders calls New South Wales(Australia's old name) Australia
- charts the Lachlan River .
- 1817: Australia's first bank the Bank of New South Wales opens in Macquarie Place, Sydney. (Became Westpac in 1982)
- .
- , now the city of Brisbane .
- 1824: Bathurst and Melville Island s are annexed.
- 1825 New South Wales western border is extended to 129° E. Van Diemen's Land is proclaimed.
- charts the Darling River .
- is founded. Swan River Colony is declared by Charles Fremantle for Britain .
- , 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 .
- is founded in Van Dieman's Land.
- and John Pascoe Fawkner establish a settlement at Port Phillip , now the city of Melbourne .
- Proclaimed with its western border at 132° E.
- 1841 New Zealand is proclaimed and is no longer under New South Wales .
- is discovered at Kapunda in South Australia .
- is discovered at Burra in South Australia .
- becomes a penal colony.
- 1850: Australia's first university, the University Of Sydney , is founded.
- .
- 1851: The Victorian Gold Rush starts when gold is found at Summerhill Creek and Ballarat .
- of miners at Chewton near Castlemaine
- and Red Ribbon Rebellion at Bendigo
- ceases.
- 1856 Van Diemen's Land name changed to Tasmania .
- 1857 :Victorian Committee reported that a 'federal union' would be in the interests of all the growing colonies. However, there was not enough interest in or enthusiasm for taking positive steps towards bringing the colonies together.
- .
- 1858 : Australian football rules codified, Melbourne Football Club founded
- separates from New South Wales with its western border at 141° E.
- reaches the centre of the continent. South Australian border changed from 132° E to 129° E.
- expedition occurs.
- , founding a settlement there. Queensland 's western border is moved to 139° E.
- takes control of the Northern Territory which was part of the colony of New South Wales .
- 1867: Gold is discovered at Gympie, Queensland .
- ceases.
- 1872: Overland Telegraph Line linking Darwin and Adelaide opens.
- is first sighted by Europeans, and named Ayers Rock.
- 1879 : The first congress of trade unions is held.
- Ned Kelly is hung.
- 1880: Parliamentarians in Victoria become the first in Australia to be paid for their work.
- - Melbourne railway
- 1883: Silver is discovered at Broken Hill
- team is established, defeating Britain in the first Ashes Series .
- , Brisbane , Melbourne and Sydney .
- 1889: Sir Henry Parkes delivers the Tenterfield Oration .
- 1890 : The Australian Federation Conference calls a constitutional convention.
- .
- 1891: The first attempt at a federal constitution is drafted.
- 1891: The Convention adopts the constitution, although it has no legal status
- 1891: A severe depression hits Australia
- .
- (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.
- 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 ''
- (the second "people's convention") meets to discuss the 1891 draft constitution
- 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.
- 1910 - LG1991 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 for Australia, as opposed to Britain.
- 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
- 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 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
- 1918 - First World War ends
- 1940 - A team of scientists, under Howard Florey , develops Penicillin
- 1941 - Labor comes to power under John Curtin
- )
- 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 - The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is introduced, providing subsidised medicine to all Australians
- 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
- 1962 - Indigenous Australians gain the right to vote in all states except Queensland; Australia enters the 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 ; Decimal Currency introduced.
- 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 ; Aboriginal Australians gain the right to citizenship after a referendum to allow the federal government to legislate for them is supported by over 90% of the population; 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;
- 1981 - Victoria legalises homosexuality between consenting adults in private and also is the first State in Australia to have a uniform age of consent for everyone in Australia.
- 1982 - Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane. New South Wales Bbecomes the first state in Australia to outlaw discrimination in the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 on the basis of actual or perceived homosexuality.
- 1983 - Australia wins the America's Cup ; Bob Hawke defeats Fraser and leads Labor back to government
- 1984 - New South Wales and the Northern Territory legalises homosexuality between consenting adults {over 18 only} in private.
- 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
- 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.
- 1987 - Hoddle Street Massacre kills 7 victims and injures 19, Queen Street Massacre kills 8 victims and injures 5.
- 1988 - Australia celebrates its bicentenary, with large celebrations and major funding for capital works projects The new Parliament House opens.
- 1989 - Western Australia legalises homosexuality between consenting adults {over 21 only} in private. Newcastle Earthquake kills 13 people. ACT gains Self-Government. Fast Forward debuts on T.V
- 1991 - Queensland legalises homosexuality between consenting adults in private and also maintains a Sodomy Law for people under 18.
- 1991 - Prime Minister Bob Hawke is replaced by Paul Keating
- 1991 - Seven people die in the Strathfield Massacre
- 1991 - Prominent heart surgeon Victor Chang is gunned down
- 1991 - The Coode Island chemical storage facility in Melbourne explodes, leaving a toxic cloud hanging over the city for days
- 1992 - New South Wales Premier Nick Greiner resigns after a corruption inquiry finds against him
- 1992 - The High Court delivers the Mabo Decision , which rules that indigenous native title does exist. This effectively extinguishes the concept of '' Terra Nullius ''.
- 1993 - Keating defeats John Hewson in an election that had been widely described as being "unwinnable" for him; the Australian Greens stand candidates for the first time and Norfolk Island decrimilizes homosexuality
- 1994 - All sexualities are legal between two adults consenting in Private - because of the Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994. {Link without Title}
- 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 the 1 May 1997 Tasmania finally legalises homosexuality between consenting adults in private after a nine-year battle, the last Australian state to do so, also maintaining a law so there is 'constituting no defence' for any person who practices anal sex with another person under 17 (12 with a two year gap and 15 with a three year gap).
- 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 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 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
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