2016 in Australia

← 2015 2014 2013 2016 in Australia → 2017 2018 2019
Decades:	1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2016 Federal election Timeline of Australian history

Incumbents

• Monarch – Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir Peter Cosgrove
• Prime Minister – Malcolm Turnbull

Premiers and Chief Ministers

• Premier of New South Wales – Mike Baird
• Premier of Queensland – Annastacia Palaszczuk
• Premier of South Australia – Jay Weatherill
• Premier of Tasmania – Will Hodgman
• Premier of Victoria – Daniel Andrews
• Premier of Western Australia – Colin Barnett
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Andrew Barr
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Adam Giles (until 31 August 2016), then Michael Gunner

Governors and Administrators

• Governor of New South Wales – David Hurley
• Governor of Queensland – Paul de Jersey
• Governor of South Australia – Hieu Van Le
• Governor of Tasmania – Kate Warner
• Governor of Victoria – Linda Dessau
• Governor of Western Australia – Kerry Sanderson
• Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories – Barry Haase
• Administrator of Norfolk Island – Gary Hardgrave
• Administrator of the Northern Territory – John Hardy

Events

January

• 4 January – Australia Post raises the basic postage rate from 70 cents to $1, in addition to instituting a priority delivery service for an extra 50 cents.^[1]
• 5 January – Electronics retailer Dick Smith goes into voluntary administration.^[2]
• 7 January – Bushfires in Western Australia destroy many homes and other buildings, especially in the town of Yarloop.^[3][4]

February

• Multiple days – A campaign of school bomb threats is carried out at several schools throughout Australia.

March

• 11 March – The Basslink data transmission cable between Victoria and Tasmania is cut for repairs, resulting in slow internet speeds for ISP customers in Tasmania, particularly those of the TPG Telecom group such as iiNet and Internode.^[5]
• 12 March – Members of rival street gangs rampage through the Melbourne CBD during the city's Moomba Festival.^[6]

April

• 7 April – Steelmaker and iron ore mining company Arrium goes into voluntary administration.^[7]

May

• 6 May – A leadership spill for the Liberal National Party of Queensland is held, with Tim Nicholls defeating incumbent Lawrence Springborg to become party leader and leader of the Opposition.^[8]

June

• June 29 – Karen Ristevski disappears from Avondale Heights after an argument with her husband.^[9]

July

• 1 July – New legal and governance arrangements commence for the previously self-governing territory of Norfolk Island.
• 2 July – A double dissolution federal election is held. On 10 July, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull claims victory for the Liberal–National Coalition which was returned with a reduced majority.^[10]
• 7 July – Premier Mike Baird announces that greyhound racing will be banned in New South Wales from 1 July 2017.^[11]
• 26 July – A royal commission into juvenile detention in the Northern Territory is announced, after the Four Corners program airs footage of abuse of detainees at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.
• 29 July – Malcolm Turnbull controversially rejects Kevin Rudd's nomination for Secretary-General of the United Nations.^[12]

August

• 9 August – The 2016 Census of Population and Housing is held. Intended to be conducted mostly online, the census website is unavailable for the entire night, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) blaming denial-of-service attacks for the outage.^[13] The outage follows significant public concern about privacy due to the Bureau's announcement that it would retain names and addresses for a four-year period, and link the data to other records and datasets.^[14]
• 27 August – A general election is held in the Northern Territory. The Country Liberal government of Adam Giles is defeated by the Australian Labor Party led by Michael Gunner.

September

• 28 September – The entire state of South Australia is left without electricity after a massive storm damages electrical transmission infrastructure.^[15]

October

• 3 October – The Redcliffe Peninsula railway line in Queensland opens 131 years after it was first proposed.^[16]
• 11 October – NSW Premier Mike Baird reverses the July 7 decision to ban greyhound racing in 2017.^[17]
• 15 October – A general election is held in the Australian Capital Territory. The Australian Labor Party, led by Chief Minister Andrew Barr, wins a fifth term.^[18]
• 25 October – Four people are killed at the Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland when the Thunder River Rapids Ride malfunctions.^[19]

November

• 4–6 November – Homes are damaged, and residents are evacuated in Sydney, the Hunter Valley and the Central Coast as bushfires flare up across NSW.^[20][21]
• 21 November – A storm in Melbourne triggers thousands of incidents of thunderstorm asthma, resulting in at least eight deaths.^[22]

Arts and literature

• 19 April – Charlotte Wood wins the 2016 Stella Prize for her novel The Natural Way of Things.^[23]
• 15 July – Louise Hearman wins the 2016 Archibald Prize for her portrait of Barry Humphries.^[24]
• 26 August – A. S. Patrić wins the 2016 Miles Franklin Award for his debut novel Black Rock White City.^[25]

Sport

• 24 January – Cycling: Simon Gerrans wins his fourth Tour Down Under from Richie Porte by 9 seconds.
• 30 January – Tennis: Angelique Kerber wins the 2016 Australian Open – Women's Singles, defeating defending champion Serena Williams 6-4, 3–6, 6–4.
• 31 January – Tennis: Novak Djokovic wins the 2016 Australian Open – Men's Singles, defeating Andy Murray 6–1, 7–5, 7–6.
• 20 March – Motorsport: Nico Rosberg wins the 2016 Australian Grand Prix from team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
• 1 June – Rugby League: Queensland defeats New South Wales 6-4 in the first game of the 2016 State of Origin series. 23 June – Qld. clinches the series, winning 26–16 in the second match. 13 July – NSW wins third match 18–14.
• 1 October – Australian rules football: Western Bulldogs defeat Sydney Swans 89-67 to win the 2016 AFL Grand Final.
• 2 October – Rugby League: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks defeat Melbourne Storm 14-12 to win the 2016 NRL Grand Final.
• 1 November – Horse racing: Almandin, ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, wins the 2016 Melbourne Cup.

Deaths

January

• 1 January – Brian Johns, 79, ABC managing director (1995–2000)
• 2 January – John Reid, 87, Anglican bishop
• 4 January – Robert Stigwood, 81, band manager (Bee Gees, Cream) and film producer (Grease, Saturday Night Fever) (died in London)
• 5 January – Michael Purcell, 70, rugby union player
• 9 January – Peter Gavin Hall, 64, statistician
• 10 January – Bob Oatley, 87, yachtsman and winemaker
• 11 January – Brian Johnson, 59, rugby league player and coach
• 15 January – Ken Judge, 57, Australian rules footballer (Hawthorn, Brisbane Bears) and coach (Hawthorn, West Coast Eagles)
• 19 January – Robert M. Carter, 73, scientist
• 22 January – Lois Ramsey, 93, actress
• 23 January – Antony Emerson, 52, tennis player (died in Newport Beach, California)
• 24 January – Christine Jackson, 53, cellist
• 26 January – Bryce Rohde, 92, jazz pianist and composer (died in San Francisco)
• 31 January – Lance Cox, 82, Australian rules footballer

February

• 1 February – Paul Pholeros, 62, architect
• 4 February – Sonia Borg, 85, screenwriter
• 5 February – John Hirst, 73, historian
• 9 February –
  • Bob Halverson, 78, politician, Speaker of the House of Representatives (1996–1998)
  • Alethea McGrath, 96, actress
• 11 February – Arthur Tunstall, 93, sport administrator
• 26 February – John Kidd, 68, Paralympic athlete

March

• 2 March – Roger Hickman, 61, yachtsman
• 3 March – Sarah Tait, 33, Olympic rower
• 5 March – Paul Couch, 51, Australian rules footballer (Geelong).
• 7 March –
  • Gary Braasch, 70, American photojournalist
  • Des O'Reilly, 61, rugby league player
• 8 March – Ross Hannaford, 65, musician (Daddy Cool)
• 9 March – Jon English, 66, musician and actor
• 12 March – John Caldwell, 87, demographer
• 15 March – Better Loosen Up, 30, racehorse

April

• 3 April –
  • Bob Ellis, 73, writer
  • Ronald Mulkearns, 85, bishop
• 5 April – Kerrie Lester, 62, painter
• 7 April – Freda Briggs, 85, child protection expert
• 13 April – Rex Patterson, 89, politician
• 16/17 April – Ken Aldred, 70, politician
• 17 April –
  • Tiga Bayles, 62, broadcaster and indigenous rights activist
  • Bruce Mansfield, 71, broadcaster
• 20 April – Dame Leonie Kramer, 91, academic
• 23 April – Inge King, 100, sculptor
• 25 April – Tom Lewis, 94, Premier of New South Wales (1975–1976)
• 30 April – Merv Lincoln, 82, middle-distance runner

May

• 2 May –
  • John Kaye, 60, New South Wales politician
  • Myles McKeon, 97, Roman Catholic bishop
• 6 May – Reg Grundy, 92, media executive (died in Bermuda)
• 15 May – Oscar Whitbread, 86, television producer
• 16 May –
  • Romaldo Giurgola, 95, architect (Parliament House, Canberra)
  • Gillian Mears, 51, writer
• 17 May – Benjamin de Roo, 76, Olympic gymnast
• 18 May – Ian Watkin, 76, New Zealand actor
• 24 May – Lewis Fiander, 78, actor

June

• 2 June – Sir John Pidgeon, 89, property developer
• 3 June –
  • Mac Cocker, radio presenter
  • Murray Murrell, 93, Australian rules footballer
• 18 June – Paul Cox, 76, film director
• 23 June – Eoin Cameron, 65, radio announcer and politician
• 24 June – Greg Pierce, 66, rugby league player (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks)
• 29 June – John Farquharson, 86, journalist

July

• 5 July – Cory Taylor, 61, writer
• 9 July –
  • Judy Canty, 84, Olympic long jumper
  • Frank Johnson, 84, Australian rules footballer
• 10 July – Adrian Monger, 83, Olympic rower
• 12 July – Peter Johnson, 78, rugby union player
• 15 July –
  • Susan Renouf, 74, socialite
  • Billy Marshall Stoneking, 68, poet and playwright
• 21 July – Jen Jacobs, 60, cricketer
• 23 July – Alan Goldberg, 75, Federal Court judge
• 28 July – Vivean Gray, 92, actress (Ida Jessup in The Sullivans and Mrs Mangel in Neighbours)

August

• 2 August – Forbes Carlile, 95, Olympian and head Australian swimming coach
• 4 August – Bruce Burrell, 63, convicted double murderer
• 6 August – Midget Farrelly, 71, first World Surfing Champion
• 16 August –
  • Andrew Florent, 45, tennis player
  • Ken Thornett, 78, international rugby league player

September

• 1 September – Len Maddocks, 90, cricketer
• 2 September – Neville Crowe, 70, Australian rules footballer (Richmond)
• 4 September – Richard Neville, 74, writer and editor
• 8 September – Inga Clendinnen, 82, historian
• 11 September –
  • Norman May, 88, sports broadcaster
  • Ken Sparkes, 76, radio and television personality
• 21 September – John Mulvaney, 90, archaeologist
• 22 September – John Siddons, 88, politician
• 24 September –
  • Klaus Moje, 79, glass artist
  • Bill Mollison, 88, permaculturist
• 28 September – Max Walker, 68, Australian rules footballer, cricketer and media commentator

October

• 4 October – Terry Butler, 58, rugby league player
• 7 October –
  • Rebecca Wilson, 54, sports journalist
  • Ross Higgins, 85, actor (Kingswood Country)
• 8 October – John Gleeson, 78, Test cricketer
• 9 October – Bored Nothing, 26, musician
• 12 October – Des Ball, 69, defence and security expert
• 13 October – Donald M. Phillips, 87, Canadian politician
• 17 October – Laurie Dwyer, 77, Australian rules footballer (North Melbourne)
• 21 October – Richard Nicoll, 39, fashion designer

November

• 12 November – Bob Francis, 77, radio broadcaster
• 18 November – Hugh McDonald, 62, musician (Redgum)
• 22 November – Peter Sumner, 74, actor
• 29 November –
  • Bill Barrot, 72, Australian rules footballer (Richmond)
  • Allan Zavod, 71, musician and composer

See also

• 2016 in Australian television
• List of Australian films of 2016

References