1984 in Australia

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir Ninian Stephen
• Prime Minister – Bob Hawke
• *Opposition Leader – Andrew Peacock
• Chief Justice – Sir Harry Gibbs

  State and Territory Leaders

• Premier of New South Wales – Neville Wran
• *Opposition Leader – Nick Greiner
• Premier of Queensland – Joh Bjelke-Petersen
• *Opposition Leader – Keith Wright, then Nev Warburton
• Premier of South Australia – John Bannon
• *Opposition Leader – John Olsen
• Premier of Tasmania – Robin Gray
• *Opposition Leader – Ken Wriedt
• Premier of Victoria – John Cain Jr.
• *Opposition Leader – Jeff Kennett
• Premier of Western Australia – Brian Burke
• *Opposition Leader – Ray O'Connor, then Bill Hassell
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Paul Everingham, then Ian Tuxworth
• *Opposition Leader – Bob Collins
• Chief Minister of Norfolk Island – David Buffett

  Governors and Administrators

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir James Rowland
• Governor of Queensland – Sir James Ramsay
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Donald Dunstan
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir James Plimsoll
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Brian Murray
• Governor of Western Australia – Gordon Reid
• Administrator of Norfolk Island – Raymond Trebilco
• Administrator of the Northern Territory – Eric Johnston

  Events

January

• 17 January – Ian Sinclair is elected leader of the National Party of Australia following Doug Anthony's retirement.
• 26 January – Aboriginal leader Lowitja O'Donoghue becomes Australian of the Year.
• 27 to 30 January – The final Narara Music Festival at Central Coast, New South Wales features INXS, Simple Minds, Pretenders, Talking Heads, Eurythmics and Def Leppard.

  February

• 1 February – Medicare comes into effect in Australia.
• 2 February – Melbourne newspaper The Age publishes phone taps incriminating an unknown judge.
• 6 February – High Court Judge, Justice Lionel Murphy is named in Parliament as the judge referred to in The Age tapes published on 2 February.
• 14 February – Elton John marries Renate Blauel in Sydney.

  March

• 6 March – A bomb blast wrecks the home of Judge Richard Gee in the Sydney suburb of Belrose.
• 24 March – Wran Government re-elected in NSW for a 4th term.
• 26 March – The $100 note is introduced.

  April

• April – A 915g jar of Vegemite is the first product in Austria to be electronically scanned at a checkout.
• 19 April – Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours.

  May

• 14 May – The one dollar coin is introduced in Australia.
• 18 May – In New South Wales gay sex between consenting adult males is decriminalised.

  July

• 4 July – Pearl, wife of Justice Ray Watson killed when their home is bombed. It is believed Judge Watson was the target.
• 18 July – National Crime Authority is established.

  August

• August – Brenda Hodge becomes the last person to be sentenced to death by Western Australia, and in the country as a whole, before the complete abolition of capital punishment. Her sentence is later commuted to life imprisonment.
• 1 August – Australian banks are deregulated.
• 7 August – Margaret, 35, and Seana Tapp, 9 are attacked and murdered by an unknown man in their suburban Melbourne home. Seana is also sexually assaulted.
• 21 August – The Federal budget is televised for the first time.

  September

• 2 September – 7 people shot dead and 12 wounded in a bikie shootout between rival bikie gangs the Bandidos and Comancheros in the Sydney suburb of Milperra.
• 5 September – Western Australia becomes the last Australian state to abolish capital punishment for ordinary crimes. New South Wales maintained it as a punishment for treason and piracy with violence until 1985†, when capital punishment was finally abolished in Australia.

  November

• 1 November – National Film and Sound Archive opens in Canberra.
• 6 November – In a crime that shocks the city, Melbourne schoolgirl Kylie Maybury is kidnapped, raped and murdered after being sent on an errand to buy a bag of sugar.
• 26 November –
• *Former NSW Corrective Services Minister Rex Jackson appears in Court on conspiracy charges for the early release of prisoners.
• *A good performance by Andrew Peacock in the leaders' televised debate boosts his poll ratings.

  2 December

• 2 December – Hawke Government re-elected with a reduced majority.
• 7 December – Andrew Peacock and John Howard retain their respective positions in the Opposition.

  Arts and literature

• Tim Winton's novel Shallows wins the Miles Franklin Award

  Film

• Annie's Coming Out
• Razorback

  Television

• 30 January – Perfect Match is launched in the 5:30 pm timeslot, bringing in record ratings for that timeslot & ensuring Ten's Eyewitness News won the 6–7 p.m. timeslot.
• 3 February – Australia's first nationally televised telethon screens on Network Ten. It is a 26-hour effort to raise money for Australia's Olympic athletes.
• 11 February – The Nine Network's Hey Hey It's Saturday moves from Saturday mornings to the 9:30 pm timeslot and renamed Hey Hey It's Saturday Night.
• 26 July – French-American-Canadian animated television series Inspector Gadget begins on ABC.
• Christopher Skase purchases TVQ-0.
• Network Ten televises the 1984 Summer Olympics from Los Angeles. Also, all stations adopt a uniform on-air look for the first time.
• The first televised federal election debate takes place.

  Sport

VFL

• 29 September – Essendon defeat Hawthorn to win the 88th VFL premiership
• Brownlow Medal awarded to Peter Moore

  Rugby League

• 23 September – Canterbury Bulldogs defeat Parramatta Eels 6–4 to win the 77th NSWRL premiership.

  Other

• 25 March – Robert de Castella is Australia's only competitor at the twelfth IAAF World Cross Country Championships, staged in New York, USA. He finishes in 21st place in the race over 12,086 metres.
• 10 June – Andrew Lloyd wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:14:36 in Sydney, while Moira Main claims the women's title in 2:46:00.
• 6 November – Black Knight wins the Melbourne Cup.

  Births

• 1 January – Michael Witt, rugby league player
• 10 January – Trent Cutler, rugby league player
• 26 January – Ryan Hoffman, rugby league player
• 7 March – Jacob Lillyman, rugby league player
• 22 March – Tara Simmons, musician
• 30 March – Samantha Stosur, tennis player
• 3 April – Allana Slater, gymnast
• 13 April – Kris Britt, cricketer
• 26 April – Petrina Price, high jumper
• 4 May – Kiel Brown, field hockey midfielder
• 10 May – Alana Boyd, pole vaulter
• 15 May – Beau Scott, Australian rugby league player
• 31 May – Jason Smith, actor
• 9 July – Alexandra Croak, gymnast & diver
• 24 July – Patrick Harvey, actor
• 30 July – Trudy McIntosh, artistic gymnast
• 4 September – Adam Marshall, politician
• 17 October – Michelle Ang, actress
• 30 October – Cameron Ciraldo, rugby league player and coach
• 9 November – Delta Goodrem, singer and actress
• 13 November – Jamie Soward, rugby league player
• 14 November – Courtney Johns, Australian footballer
• 25 November – Peter Siddle, cricketer
• 28 November – Andrew Bogut, basketball player
• 8 December – Tim Paine, cricketer
• 12 December
• *Sophie Edington, swimmer
• *Daniel Merrett, Australian footballer
• 25 December – Lisa and Jessica Origliasso, singer/songwriters

  Deaths

• 9 January – Bob Dyer, television host
• 21 January – Alan Marshall, writer
• 19 June – Phillip Lynch, Liberal politician
• 21 June – Denis Murphy, politician
• 6 November – Kylie Maybury, murder victim
• 20 December – Grace Cossington Smith, artist