2023 in Australia

The following is a list of events including expected and scheduled events for the year 2023 in Australia.

2023 in Australia
MonarchCharles III
Governor-GeneralDavid Hurley
Prime ministerAnthony Albanese
Australian of the YearTaryn Brumfitt
ElectionsNew South Wales

2023
in
Australia

Decades:
See also:

Incumbents

Monarch

Governor-General

Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister

Opposition Leader

Chief Justice

State and territory leaders

Governors and administrators

Events

January

  • 1–10 January – The Kimberley and northern parts of Western Australia are severely affected by flooding caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie. The Fitzroy River at Fitzroy Crossing peaks at a record 15.81 metres on 4 January, with the bridge which carries the Great Northern Highway across the river damaged beyond repair. Over 200 people evacuated from several communities with authorities declaring it the worst flooding the state has ever seen prompting prime minister Anthony Albanese and state premier Mark McGowan to visit the flood affected areas to inspect the damage. The system eventually dissipates on 8 January and the Australian Defence Force is deployed to the area to help with the recovery efforts.
  • 1 January – Residents in Menindee, New South Wales are warned to prepare for the highest flood levels in fifty years with the Darling River expected to peak at 10.7 metres.
  • 2 January – A mid-air collision occurs between two helicopters on the Gold Coast near Sea World which kills four people and injures nine others.
  • 3 January – A Tasmanian prisoner who absconded from custody while receiving treatment at the Royal Hobart Hospital just before 11 pm the previous evening is found shot dead at Granton at approximately 1:30 am. Three men are subsequently charged with his murder and an investigation into how he escaped from custody is launched.
  • 10–16 January – An incident involving a radioactive capsule occurs in Western Australia when a tiny radioactive capsule goes missing along a 1,400-kilometre stretch of the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia.
  • 10 January – Residents across Northern Australia report shaking when the 7.6 magnitude undersea earthquake strikes near the Tanimbar Islands at 3:17 am ACST.
  • 12–17 January – Heavy rainfall causes widespread flooding across large parts of North Queensland.
  • 12 January –
  • 15 January – A 29-year-old Sydney teacher is one of 72 passengers and crew killed when Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashes near Pokhara International Airport just prior to its schedule landing after arriving from Kathmandu.
  • 18 January – An engine fails on a Qantas twin-jet Boeing 737 aircraft en route from New Zealand to Australia prompting the pilot of flight QF144 to declare a mayday before it arrives safely in Sydney.
  • 22 January – Two West Australian women are killed when a boat crashes into a channel marker in the Mandurah estuary including the mother of West Coast Eagles player Rhett Bazzo. The skipper of the boat is later charged with two counts of manslaughter.
  • 24 January – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits Alice Springs amid the town's youth crime crisis but is criticised for only spending four hours in the community. Restrictions on the sale of alcohol in Alice Springs are introduced by the Northern Territory government in an attempt to combat the amount of crime. The restrictions are put in place following calls from mayor Matt Paterson for the Australian Federal Police to be deployed to the town.
  • 25 January – An arrest warrant is issued for pro-Russian YouTuber Simeon Boikov after failing to appear in court accused of assaulting a 76-year-old man at a pro-Ukraine rally at Sydney Town Hall in December 2022, prompting Boikov to take refuge in the Russian consulate.
  • 26 January – A 10-year-old boy survives being struck by lightning while swimming at Warilla Beach in the Illawarra. He receives CPR and is then taken to the Children's Hospital at Westmead under police escort where he is admitted in a critical but stable condition prior to making a full recovery.
  • 30 January –
    • Victoria coroner Simon McGregor hands down his findings into the death in custody of Veronica Nelson at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre on 2 January 2020 four days after her arrest on suspicious of shoplifting on 30 December 2019. He criticises the state government for failing to implement recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and finds the state's bail act discriminatory towards First Nations people, incompatible with the Charter of Human Rights and that the changes to the act in 2018 were a "complete, unmitigated disaster".
    • Thousands of people at the Alice Springs Convention Centre for a "Save Alice Springs" town meeting organised by local business owner Garth Thompson to discuss the crime issues affecting the town. Residents discuss the possibility of launching a $1.5 billion compensation claim against the Northern Territory Government for negligence. The one-hour meeting ends after just 20 minutes after attendees shouted down Thompson for suggesting truant school children be reported to police for a welfare check.

February

March

  • 1–15 March – Major flooding in the upper Victoria River affects remote Northern Territory communities prompting the evacuation of residents to Darwin. The flooding also severs road and rail links between the Northern Territory and Western Australia impacting the supply of fresh food and essential supplies.
  • 5 March – 50,000 people march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for the Pride March on the final day of WorldPride.
  • 6 March – The historic Pride of the Murray paddle wheeler sinks in the Thomson River at Longreach in Central West Queensland with police treating the incident as suspicious. The vessel, which had been trucked to Longreach from Victoria in 2022, is raised from the riverbed in September 2023 with the owner hopeful of it being restored in time for its 100th anniversary in 2024.
  • 8 March – Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese commences a four-day bilateral visit to India at the invitation of Indian prime minister Shri Narendra Modi. During the visit, both prime ministers ride in a chariot in a lap of honour at the fourth cricket test at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
  • 15 March – Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating uses a National Press Club address to criticise the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine deal the federal Labor government had reached with the United Kingdom and the United States, describing it as the worst international decision made by an Australian government since conscription in World War I. Keating also criticises Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, Anthony Albanese, Richard Marles, Penny Wong, Peter Hartcher, Matthew Knott, Olivia Caisley and Australian security agencies. However, Keating defends China and claims the country doesn't pose a threat. Keating is criticised for his behaviour towards journalists at the press club.
  • 18 March – Approximately 30 members of the National Socialist Network, including Thomas Sewell, attended a rally in Melbourne in support of British anti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, who spoke at the rally while visiting the city on her Australian tour. Members of the NSN marched down Spring Street, displayed a banner that read "DESTROY PAEDO FREAKS", performed Nazi salutes on the stairs of Victorian Parliament House. A counterprotest in support of transgender rights, attended by many students, transgender activists, and socialists, clashed with the group. While the police, including several mounted officers, attempted to separate the two groups. The events were condemned by the Labor Party, the Liberal Party and the Greens.
  • 19 March – Victorian Liberal leader of the opposition, John Pesutto announced, that he would move to have Moira Deeming expelled from the parliamentary Liberal Party after she spoke at an anti-trans rally outside the Victorian Parliament. In the end, a compromise was made with Deeming accepting a nine-month suspension from the party instead of expulsion from the party.
  • 22 March – Ten Australian Defence Force personnel survive after the MRH-90 Taipan army helicopter they were on ditches into the sea at Jervis Bay during counterterrorism exercises.
  • 25 March – New South Wales State election elected the 58th Parliament. Chris Minns won after 12 years in opposition for Labor.
  • 26 March – Former US president Barack Obama arrives in Australia for several public speaking engagements. Controversy arises when organisers of the event in Melbourne prevent 78-year-old Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy from delivering the Welcome to Country and is allegedly told she was being "too difficult" for requesting a support person and the opportunity to present Obama with a gift as per cultural practice.
  • 30 March – Following the 2023 New South Wales state election, Mark Latham NSW One Nation leader published a tweet in response to comments by gay politician Alex Greenwich. Latham's tweet included an explicit and derogatory description of anal sex: "Disgusting? How does that compare with sticking your dick up a bloke's arse and covering it with shit?". The comments were deemed to be homophobic by Alex Greenwich and other politicians, Conservative commentator Andrew Bolt and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson criticised Latham and called for him to apologise.

April

May

  • 2 May – Vanessa Hudson is announced as the new chief executive officer of Qantas to succeed Alan Joyce when he officially retires in November.
  • 5 May – A penumbral lunar eclipse is visible in the evening and the following morning in Africa, Asia and Australia, and is the 24th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 141.
  • 6 May – Coronation of Charles III as King of Australia and the other Commonwealth realms. Governor-General David Hurley and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attend the ceremony in London. In Australia, a salvo of cannon fire also takes place.
  • 7 May – An anti-crime rally is held in the Queensland city of Rockhampton organised by former One Nation candidate and former head of the Patriots Defence League, Torin O'Brien. It descends into chaos when a large group of attendees march on the addresses of alleged offenders in the suburbs of Norman Gardens and Berserker requiring police officers to stand guard at the properties. It also prompts warnings from Queensland Police commissioner Katarina Carroll and Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk about the dangers of vigilantism. Facebook also blocks O'Brien.
  • 10 May – The ACT Government announces plans to force an acquisition on the Christian Calvary Hospital, Canberra hospital land and assets. Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher condemned the proposal as an abuse of property rights and religious freedom, acquiring the hospital to force an "anti-life agenda" by performing abortions and assisted suicide. The Opposition Canberra Liberals also oppose the acquisition.
  • 12 May – Lara Alexander, alongside fellow Tasmanian Liberal John Tucker state MP, quits the Liberal Party to sit as an independent, in part due to concerns related to the proposed Macquarie Point Stadium project. This leaves the Liberal Party in minority government and requiring seven seats to reach a majority in the next state election.
  • 16 May – A school bus crashes west of Melbourne with 45 children on board.
  • 17 May – A 95-year-old woman with dementia is tasered by a New South Wales police officer at an aged care facility in Cooma, New South Wales and sustains serious injuries after falling and fracturing her skull. The officer is charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault. The woman later dies in hospital from her injuries.
  • 21 May – Northern Territory chief minister Natasha Fyles is allegedly accosted and harassed by anti-fracking protestors while running the final five kilometres of the West Macs Monster – an annual 25 km running event along the Larapinta Trail.
  • 22 May – Indian prime minister Shri Narendra Modi arrives in Australia for a two-day visit to Australia during which he meets business and political leaders including prime minister Anthony Albanese.
  • 24 May –
  • 29 May –
    • Western Australia premier Mark McGowan announces his intention to resign, citing exhaustion as his reason for stepping down.
    • 22-year-old Queensland sailor Xavier Doerr departs the Gold Coast on his attempt to break the records for the fastest solo and fastest non-stop circumnavigation of Australia.
  • 31 May – The Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023 passes the House of Representatives, paving the way for the Indigenous Voice referendum to take place later in the year.

June

July

August

  • 1 August – A 45-year-old Gold Coast childcare worker is charged with 1,623 child abuse offences including 136 counts of rape and 604 counts of indecent treatment of a child. The offences were allegedly committed between 2007 and 2022.
  • 2 August –
  • 4 August –
    • After a long-running trade war, China announces it would be dropping the 80% tariffs on Australian barley which had been introduced in May 2020, widely considered as retaliation against Australia's calls for an enquiry into the origins of COVID-19.
    • The annual Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures begins in Arnhem Land with the theme of "Djambatj (Yolngu excellence)".
  • 6 August – A 34-year-old man and his five children, aged between 3 and 11, are killed in a house fire on Russell Island, near Brisbane.
  • 8 August –
  • 11 August –
  • 10 August – A Southern Cross Austereo television sales executive is charged with two counts of murder (domestic violence) after the bodies of his wife and 11-week old daughter are discovered at a property in the Rockhampton suburb of Park Avenue two days after their deaths.
  • 14 August – One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson intervenes in the New South Wales state branch of the party, and removes Mark Latham as leader of the party in New South Wales.
  • 15 August –
    • A grave is exhumed at the cemetery in Doomadgee, Queensland after the body of a respected Gangalidda elder who was thought to have been buried on 9 August was discovered to be still in the morgue at Doomadgee Hospital. It's discovered an empty coffin had been buried during the funeral instead, which leads to much criticism of the hospital.
    • Four Australian surfers and two Indonesian crew members are rescued after spending 36 hours at sea off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province after their boat sunk during bad weather.
  • 17 August –
  • 18 August –
    • Ceremonies are held throughout Australia to mark 50 years since the end of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War.
    • The 2023 Queensland Bush Summit is held in Rockhampton and is attended by Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and mining magnate Gina Rinehart. In her speech, Palaszczuk says her government would be introducing legislation to guarantee the future of Glenden, a town which was destined to be demolished. Local rural landholders also gather at the event, protesting the construction of a number of renewable energy projects.
  • 19 August – The Victorian Government agrees to pay $280 million in compensation to Commonwealth Games bodies after withdrawing from hosting the games in 2026.
  • 22 August –
  • 23 August –
    • The Australasian Fire Authorities Council releases its seasonal outlook which identifies large parts of Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory as well as parts of South Australia and Victoria as being at an increased risk of a "significant bushfire".
    • The 2023 NAPLAN results are released. Assessed under a stricter criteria, the results indicate 10% of Australian school students aren't meeting minimum numeracy and literacy expectations.
    • Gold Coast City Council councillor Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden is charged with the murder of his step-father, LNP identity Robert Lumsden whose body was discovered at a property in Arundel. Bayldon-Lumsden is released on bail on 31 August with a $250,000 surety.
  • 24 August –
    • Former school principal Malka Leifer is sentenced in Melbourne to 15 years in prison with a non-parole period of 11 years and six months for sexually abusing two sisters at the Adass Israel School from 2004 to 2007, after having been found guilty in the County Court in April 2023 of 18 charges of sexual assault.
    • 21 people are arrested when Victoria Police raid an illegal casino operating out of a factory in the Melbourne suburb of Truganina.
  • 25 August – A 44-year-old surfer suffers serious injuries after being attacked by a shark at Port Macquarie on the Mid North Coast.
  • 26 August – Nicole Werner wins the 2023 Warrandyte state by-election increasing the Liberals' primary vote by 10%, while runner-up Tomas Lightbody increases the Greens' primary vote by 6.8%. With the Labor choosing not to field a candidate, Werner picks up a +16.8 swing on a two-candidate preferred vote with 71.1% of the vote, while Lightbody picks up a +28.9 swing for the Greens with 28.9% of the vote.
  • 27 August –
  • 28 August –
    • Assistant federal treasurer Stephen Jones claims Catherine King's decision to block an application by Qatar Airways for additional flights to Australia was to protect the sustainability of Qantas. However, King insists that no individual factor that influenced her decision.
    • Outgoing Qantas CEO Alan Joyce faces a senate select committee where he faces hostile questioning relating to the airline's credibility.
  • 30 August – Prime minister Anthony Albanese officially announces 14 October 2023 as the date of the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum at a Yes rally in the Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth where he appeared alongside South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas.
  • 31 August – The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission launches legal action against Qantas for allegedly selling airline tickets for thousands of cancelled flights within a three-month period in 2022.

September

  • 3 September – In an interview on Sky News Australia, federal opposition leader Peter Dutton vows that if elected at the next election he would seek to hold a second referendum if the Yes campaign loses the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum – but it would be a vote on constitutional rights rather than a voice to parliament. His comments prompt much criticism.
  • 4 September – After a two-day trial in the ACT Supreme Court, two men are found guilty by a jury of deliberately lighting the fire which caused extensive damage to the front of Old Parliament House on 30 December 2021.
  • 6 September –
    • An emergency signal is detected off the Far North Queensland coast, originating from an inflatable 9-metre catamaran which had sustained damage from attacks by cookiecutter sharks. The vessel belonging to the Russian Geographical Society was carrying two Russians and a Frenchman attempting to circumnavigate the world. They were rescued by a nearby cargo ship.
    • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta.
    • Alan Joyce steps down from his role as chief executive officer of Qantas two months early, citing recent controversies surrounding the airline, stating: "The best thing I can do under these circumstances is to bring forward my retirement and hand over to Vanessa and the new management team now, knowing they will do an excellent job."
  • 7 September – After being continually pressed on her decision to reject an application by Qatar Airways to add additional flights to Australia, federal transport minister Catherine King admits the invasive searches of Australian women in Doha in 2020 was "a factor" in her decision, but insists it wasn't the only factor.
  • 8 September –
    • Australia's longest serving female senator Marise Payne announces her retirement from politics after being in the Australian Senate since replacing Bob Woods in 1997.
    • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with Philippines president Bongbong Marcos in Manila during the first bilateral visit by an Australian prime minister in two decades.
    • One person is killed and five are injured when a car ploughs through pedestrians and two other vehicles in Melbourne. The driver is arrested at the scene.
  • 13 September – Qantas loses its challenge to a court ruling that it had illegally outsourced 1,700 jobs at ten Australian airports during the COVID-19 pandemic, with seven High Court judges rejecting the company's appeal against a Federal Court ruling in 2021.
  • 14 September – Macquarie Bank announces it will commence phasing out over-the-counter cash and cheque transactions as well as its telephone banking service in 2024.
  • 18 September – Three people are taken to hospital after a mass stabbing at Australian National University in Canberra. The attacker has been detained.
  • 21 September – Anthony Albanese announces an independent inquiry into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, led by former public servant Robyn Kruk, infectious diseases expert Catherine Bennett and economist Angela Jackson. However, the exclusion of state and territory governments from the scope of the inquiry draws much criticism.
  • 24 September – Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Natasha Fyles was allegedly assaulted with a cream-covered pancake by a member of the public at the Sunday markets at Nightcliff.
  • 27 September – Jacinta Allan becomes the Premier of Victoria after Daniel Andrews retires.
  • 28 September –
    • Federal defence minister Richard Marles announces that 500 Australian troops would be relocated to Townsville over the course of six years from 2025 to ensure the Australian Army is more focused on conducting missions in the Pacific. However, the move is criticised by the city's mayor Jenny Hill who claims her council was not consulted about where the soldiers would be housed.
    • The Queensland Police Service indicates that inquiries will be made into whether a serving police officer breached social media guidelines after he posted a photo to Instagram of himself, Ben Roberts-Smith and Zachary Rolfe spending time together in Bali.
  • 29 September –
  • 30 September – A man is killed when the boat he was in collided with a whale near Cape Banks at La Perouse.

October

  • 2 October –
  • 3 October –
    • New laws come into effect in Queensland allowing the media to name and publicly identify accused rapists and those charged with sexual offences prior to trial. This leads to the eventual naming of former Liberal Party senior adviser Bruce Lehrmann as the "high profile man" accused of raping a woman in Toowoomba in October 2021. A former Gold Coast childcare worker charged on 1 August 2023 with more than 1,600 child sex offences is also named and identified as Ashley Paul Griffith.
    • At least three homes are destroyed when a bushfire burns more than 5,000 hectares of land at Coolagolite in the Bega Valley.
  • 4 October – Flood warnings are issues for several communities in Victoria's Gippsland region after heavy rain causes major flooding in the Macalister River.
  • 5 October – The Royal Australian Mint officially unveils new $1 coins featuring an effigy of Charles III, to replace those with the effigy of Elizabeth II.
  • 6 October – A 65-year-old pilot and his three grandchildren, aged between 6 and 11, are killed when their light plane crashes near Gundaroo in New South Wales' Southern Tablelands en route from Canberra to Armidale.
  • 7 October – A week before the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum is held, prime minister Anthony Albanese casts his vote early at a pre-poll booth at Marrickville Town Hall.
  • 8 October – Following the Re'im music festival massacre by Hamas in Israel as part of the October 2023 Gaza–Israel conflict, a pro-Palestinian rally takes place in Lakemba in south-west Sydney during which Sheikh Ibrahim Dadoun described attacks on Israel by Hamas as an act of resistance. The comments earn a rebuke from prime minister Anthony Albanese, foreign minister Penny Wong, opposition leader Peter Dutton and co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alexander Ryvchin who all condemned the rally and the comments made.
  • 9 October –
  • 11 October –
    • Journalist Cheng Lei returns to Australia after being detained in China for three years since being arrested in August 2020 while working for CGTN, accused of supplying state secrets.
    • A 66-year-old Sydney-born grandmother is confirmed as the first known Australian to be killed in the attacks in Israel by terrorist group Hamas.
  • 13 October –
    • 238 Australians are successfully evacuated from Israel on a Qantas mercy flight from Tel Aviv to London after the attacks by Hamas in Israel.
    • The New South Wales government announces it will implement all five recommendations made in the Bus Industry Taskforce's initial safety report following the Hunter Valley bus crash in June, which killed ten people.
  • 14 October – Australians vote in the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, where the majority voted against establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the constitution, with the proposal failing to garner sufficient support to pass.
  • 18 October – Glencore announces it will close all copper mining at Mount Isa in 2025.
  • 19 October –
  • 21 October –
    • Thousands of pro-Palestine protestors attend rallies throughout Australia to show their support for Palestinians in Gaza.
    • Wollongong mayor Gordon Bradbery is condemned by Jewish groups for comments he made at a local pro-Palestine rally. The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies accuse Bradbery of seeking to justify the October 7 attack and describe his comments as "reprehensible and irresponsible in the extreme" which caused some local residents to be "disturbed and appalled".
    • Western Australia local government elections are held with Basil Zempilas re-elected as Lord Mayor of Perth.
    • Local government elections are held in the Shire of Christmas Island and the Shire of Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
  • 22 October – An open letter purportedly written by Indigenous leaders, describes the result of 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum as "appalling and mean-spirited" and attributes the loss to a lack of bipartisanship, racism and lies in political advertising.
  • 23 October – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrives in Washington, D.C. for a four-day visit and prepares to meet with members of congress and president of the United States Joe Biden.
  • 25 October – Two people were killed, and more than five buildings were destroyed in more than forty out-of-control bushfires across the Darling Downs, Queensland.
  • 28 October – Emergency evacuation orders for the towns of Tara, Wieambilla and The Gums are in place as more than 32 buildings have been destroyed due to the ongoing Darling Downs bushfires.
  • 31 October – Football Australia formally end their bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, leaving Saudi Arabia as the only confirmed bid before FIFA's deadline for declarations of interest expires.

November

  • 1 November –
    • Islamic terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika won his High Court (In a 6–1 decision) bid to restore his Australian citizenship, which was cancelled in 2020.
    • A 10-year-old boy is killed after becoming trapped under an elevator at St Lucy's School – a Catholic school for students with disabilities in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga.
  • 3 November –
    • A 49-year-old woman faces court in Morwell, Victoria after having been charged the previous day with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder in a suspected case of mushroom poisoning during a family lunch she allegedly hosted at her home in Leongatha. The case is adjourned until May 2024.
    • A state funeral is held at St Mary's Church in Ipswich, Queensland for former governor-general and Labor Party leader Bill Hayden.
    • Qantas shareholders vote against an executive pay deal at the company's annual general meeting in Melbourne, with chairman Richard Goyder heckled by company shareholders.
  • 4 November –
    • Three members of an aerial firefighting crew are killed when their firefighting aircraft crashes near Cloncurry, Queensland while en route from Toowoomba to Mount Isa to map areas of recent bushfires.
    • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrives in China for a three-day visit in which he will meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping and premier Li Qiang.
  • 5 November – A car ploughs through a beer garden in Daylesford, Victoria, killing five people and injuring four others.
  • 6 November —
  • 7 November —
  • 8 November —
    • The Optus telecommunications network experiences a widespread national outage which affects customers, businesses, hospitals, emergency services and rail networks.
    • The High Court of Australia rules that the practice of detaining asylum seekers and refugees in Australia is illegal, with 80 people released immediately into the community including several sex offenders and at least three murderers, including Sirul Azhar Umar who was convicted of the murder of Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa.
  • 10 November —
    • Violent clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups occur in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield South prompting the evacuation of a synagogue and a Shabbat service to be abandoned. Free Palestine Melbourne apologised for protesting in such close proximity to a synagogue but said it was not their intention to intimidate Jewish worshippers. Victorian premier Jacinta Allan said it was unacceptable for people to feel unsafe to go to their places of worship, while state opposition leader John Pesutto called the behaviour of protestors "absolutely disgusting".
    • The bodies of two boys, aged two and three, are discovered hours apart in the same disused car in Woorabinda, Queensland with early investigations suggesting they may have died from suspected heat-related stress.
  • 11 November — Australians observe the 105th Remembrance Day. A war memorial in the Melbourne suburb of Montrose needed to be cleaned before the local Remembrance Day service after it is vandalised with pro-Palestine graffiti the night before.
  • 12 November — For the fifth consecutive week, large crowds gather in Australian capital cities for pro-Palestinian rallies including in Sydney's Hyde Park, with protestors calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
  • 14 November — Divers from HMAS Toowoomba operating in international waters off Japan sustain minor injuries from sonar pulses emanating from a Chinese warship.
  • 16 November — A 67-year-old Scenic Rim man dies in a ramped ambulance after waiting three hours to be admitted to Ipswich Hospital. His death prompts the man's family to call for urgent reforms to Queensland's health system.
  • 17 November — Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin fronts a Senate inquiry into the company's national network outage on 8 November, where she admitted 228 Triple Zero calls were unable to be answered during the outage.
  • 18 November —
    • A 52-year-old Brisbane woman dies after she had waited more than 90 minutes for an ambulance. Calling Triple Zero after experiencing chest pains just before 10:30pm the night before, she gets tired of waiting and cancels the ambulance just before midnight. She is found dead by her son the following morning, prompting her sister to call on the state government to invest more money into the state's health system.
    • The 18-year-old son of South Australian police commissioner Grant Stevens dies at the Flinders Medical Centre after sustaining an irreversible brain injury in an alleged hit and run at Goolwa Beach the previous evening. The car was allegedly driven by an 18-year-old Encounter Bay who was subsequently charged with causing death by dangerous driving, aggravated driving without due care, leaving the scene of a crash after causing death and failing to truly answer questions.
  • 19 November — Two Viper S-211 Marchetti planes conducting a formation flight collide in mid-air. One plane manages to make it back to Essendon Airport, but the other plunges into Port Phillip Bay killing the two people on board - the pilot and a television camera operator. The plane's wreckage is found by emergency services on 21 November.
  • 20 November — Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigns as Optus CEO following the 2023 Optus outage on 8 November, and following the 2022 Optus data breach following a cyberattack in 2022.
  • 22 November —
  • 23 November — The remains of the baby at the centre of the notorious "baby in the post" cold case from 1965 are exhumed at a cemetery in Darwin in the hope of investigators finding a DNA match with the 53-year-old daughter of NTFL player Jimmy Anderson, who some investigators suspected was the intended recipient of the parcel sent from Melbourne.
  • 25 November — Hundreds of protesters commence a 30-hour blockade, blocking the shipping channel leading into the Port of Newcastle in a protest organised by climate group Rising Tide, objecting to the Federal Government approving new fossil fuel projects.
  • 26 November —
  • 27 November — Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo is sacked by the governor-general, after an independent inquiry finds Pezzullo breached the government's code of conduct at least 14 times.
  • 28 November — Labor senator for Western Australia Pat Dodson announces he plans to retire from federal politics on Australia Day, citing his treatment for cancer.
  • 29 November — A state funeral is held for former federal Labor minister Gerry Hand at St Ignatius' Church, Richmond.

December

  • 1 December —
    • The FBI arrest a 58-year-old man in Arizona as part of the investigation into the Wieambilla shootings on 12 December 2022.
    • A 20-year-old man who lost control of the vehicle he was driving and crashed, killing his five teenage passengers in Buxton on 6 September 2022 is sentenced to the maximum 12 years jail with a non-parole period of seven years.
    • A 41-year-old convicted drug trafficker is sentenced to ten years in prison and declared a serious violent offender after the car she was driving crashed head-on into an Australia Post truck at 164 km/h on the Bruce Highway between Mackay and Rockhampton on 21 June 2022, killing the 62-year-old truck driver.
  • 2 December —
    • Two former detainees released into the community following the High Court of Australia's ruling that indefinite immigration detention in Australia was unlawful are arrested in separate incidents - a 65-year-old man is arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman in Adelaide while a 45-year-old man is arrested for allegedly being in possession of drugs in Sydney.
  • 3 December — Approximately thirty people in masks use Eureka Day to hold a white supremacist march in the Victorian city of Ballarat, prompting outrage from the local community.
  • 4 December —
    • A severe hail storm causes damage to property and farming crops in the Fraser Coast, Sunshine Coast and Gympie regions of Queensland, with Gympie affected the worst.
    • Approximately $40,000 in cash is discovered scattered along the Mitchell Freeway in Perth. Police attending the incident conducted a search of a vehicle where they seized 51 grams of cocaine as well as $8,000 in cash. They arrested a 34-year-old man was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell or supply, possession of stolen or unlawfully obtained property and having no authority to drive.
  • 5 December —
    • A third former immigration detainee who was released into the community after the High Court's ruling that indefinite immigration in Australia was unlawful is arrested in Melbourne. The 33-year-old registered sex offender is charged with nine counts of breaching his reporting obligations, which includes allegedly creating social media accounts and contacting children.
    • The Federal Government begins to rush preventative detention laws through Federal Parliament to give judges the power to cancel the Australian citizenship of serious offenders and to preventively detain some non-citizens released after the High Court's ruling that indefinite detention in Australia is unlawful.
    • Cyclone Jasper becomes the first cyclone of the 2023–24 Australian region cyclone season.
    • Strathbogie Shire Council in Victoria is suspended by local government minister Melissa Horne, with municipal monitor Peter Stephensen appointed as the council's interim administrator. The suspension will apply until the 2024 Victorian local elections.
  • 6 December —
    • A fourth former immigration detainee released following the High Court ruling that indefinite immigration in Australia was unlawful is arrested - a 45-year-old man is arrested in Melbourne and charged with one count of theft and one count of failing to comply with a curfew with the Australian Federal Police alleging he breached the conditions of his visa.
    • Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Immigration minister Andrew Giles and home affairs minister Clare O'Neil hold a joint press conference to discuss Labor's proposed preventative detention laws. Responding to a question by Sky News journalist Olivia Caisley, Dreyfus rejects the notion the government owes the Australian community an apology for not being prepared for the High Court's decision. Dreyfus, who described Caisley's question as "absurd", is criticised for the way he spoke to Caisley, prompting him to apologise to her in private.
  • 7 December — A fifth former immigration detainee released into the community following the High Court ruling that indefinite immigration in Australia was unlawful is arrested by police in Queensland after it was discovered that was an outstanding warrant for allegedly breaching parole conditions prior to entering immigration detention in 2012, after having been jailed for assault.
  • 10 December —
  • 11 December — The Federal Government unveils its 10-year migration strategy which includes increasing minimum English language requirements for international students and tightening visa processes for migrant workers.
  • 12 December —
  • 13 December —
    • It's announced that Australia will ban the use, supply and manufacturing of engineered stone from 1 July 2024 following a Safe Work Australia report which found the rates of silicosis and silica-related diseases had risen substantially particularly among engineered stone workers.
    • Cyclone Jasper makes landfall as a Category 2 cyclone near Wujal Wujal in Far North Queensland bringing strong winds, heavy rain, flooding and power outages to the region. The subsequent widespread flooding throughout Far North Queensland over the ensuing days force some residents onto rooftops, including patients at the Wujal Wujal Hospital, awaiting rescue. The entire town of Wujal Wujal is evacuated and Cairns becomes completely isolated due to the closures of highways into the city and the inundation of the Cairns Airport.
  • 14 December —
  • 15 December —
  • 18 December — A woman is found dead with apparent stab wounds in the commercial kitchen area at the National Zoo & Aquarium in Canberra. A 29-year-old co-worker is subsequently charged with her murder during a bedside hearing the following day at Canberra Hospital to which he pleads not guilty. The man is refused bail and is expected to appear in court again in April 2024.
  • 19 December —
  • 20 December —
    • Charles Vincent Read, the 24-year-old son of Chopper Read is sentenced to 15 months jail in the Hobart Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to several charges including burglary, stealing and driving while disqualified.
    • The Labor caucus in the Northern Territory unanimously decide that Eva Lawler will be the next chief minister with Chansey Paech becoming the new deputy chief minister following the resignation of Natasha Fyles.
    • A federal court ruling sees Airbnb fined $15 million and ordered to pay up to $15 million in compensation for misleading to around 70,000 Australian customers between January 2018 and August 2021 by failing to make clear prices on the website were in USD and not AUD.
  • 21 December —
  • 22—28 December — Sealed bricks of cocaine wash up on beaches in New South Wales prompting the state's crime command to commence an investigation.
  • 24 December —
  • 25 December — Severe storms sweep across South East Queensland bringing heavy rain, large hail, strong winds and causing power outages. One woman is killed by a falling tree. The severe weather prompts the Boxing Day closure of some of the Gold Coast's theme parks including Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet 'n' Wild, Dreamworld and WhiteWater World.
  • 27 December — At least 10 people are killed during severe weather which brings thunderstorms and strong winds to the eastern states of Queensland and Victoria.
  • 28 December —
    • Acting foreign affairs minister Mark Dreyfus confirms two Australian brothers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, after terrorist group Hezbollah claims one of the brothers had been fighting for them.
    • Yakult Australia confirms it has been the target of a cyberattack.
    • A 15-year-old Adelaide boy is killed in a shark attack while surfing on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia.
  • 29 December — The United Workers Union sends a report to Worksafe SA claiming workers at the Smith's factory in Adelaide have been experiencing adverse reactions from the seasoning used to flavour Doritos 'Flamin' Hot' corn chips. In response, PepsiCo say they consider the safety of its employees as a "top priority" and they have mandated mask wearing during the production process and will install additional extraction fans.
  • 31 December — Two Port Augusta train drivers are killed when the Pacific National freight train they were driving collides with a truck on a level crossing on the Barrier Highway at Bindarrah near the South Australian border with New South Wales which results in a major derailment.

Music, film, arts and literature

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

September

October

November

December

  • 6 December – Guy Sebastian's former manager Titus Day who was found guilty by a jury in November 2022 of 34 fraud-related charges after allegedly embezzling $600,000 from Sebastian, has his conviction quashed and will be re-tried after winning an appeal in the Court of Criminal Appeal.
  • 20 December – Leanne Benjamin is named as the new artistic director of Queensland Ballet, succeeding Li Cunxin who is retiring from the company.

Television

January

February

March

April

May

  • 1 May – The premiere of the fifteenth series of MasterChef Australia is pulled from the schedule by Network 10 just hours before it is due to air due to the sudden death of judge Jock Zonfrillo. After consultation with Zonfrillo's family, the series commences on 7 May 2023.
  • 6 May – The ABC is heavily criticised for their coverage of the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla on ABC TV, during which they held a panel discussion featuring three anti-monarchists including Q+A host Stan Grant, Australian Republican Movement chair Craig Foster and Indigenous writer and lawyer Teela Reid, and one monarchist Julian Leeser. The panel discussion prompted more than 1,800 complaints from viewers and an ombudsman's investigation, which found no breach of impartiality standards during the coverage. Grant also received racial abuse after his appearance on the panel which prompted him to step back from hosting Q+A.

June

  • 2 June – After losing his civil defamation trial, Ben Roberts-Smith resigns from Seven West Media. He had been the general manager of regional network Seven Queensland since July 2015 before also being appointed as general manager of Seven Brisbane in 2016.
  • 9 June – After 21 years, David Koch co-hosts Seven Network breakfast program Sunrise for the final time. Koch is succeeded by Matt Shirvington.
  • 17 June – The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's managing director David Anderson announces a major restructure of the organisation in the new financial year, resulting in the loss of 120 jobs, the Sunday evening state-based ABC News bulletins on ABC TV being replaced with a single national bulletin and the abolition of the ABC's arts team. Among those to lose their jobs was national political editor Andrew Probyn whose position is made redundant. The ABC is widely condemned for the decisions.
  • 25 June – ABC TV's Sunday morning public affairs show Insiders signs off from the ABC's Melbourne studio for the final time, ahead of its relocation to the ABC's studio in Canberra.

July

August

September

  • 6 September – Nine Entertainment holds their Upfronts in Sydney where they officially reveal the commentary teams for their Olympics and Paralympics coverage. The network also confirms a local version of Tipping Point hosted by Todd Woodbridge will air on Nine in 2024 as will a reboot of an Australian version of Jeopardy! Nine also confirms the return of former A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw in an undisclosed project.
  • 7 September – The Australian Broadcasting Corporation admits it breached its own policies pertaining to the licensing of its archival television footage for political purposes after it's discovered the ABC's commercial arm licensed footage from the 1967 referendum to be used in Uluru Dialogue's advertisement for the 2023 referendum featuring John Farnham's hit song You're the Voice. That same footage was also inexplicably watermarked with a logo belonging to private company Australian Television Archive despite owner James Paterson stating that he had "nothing to do with the campaign, the agency or have any connection whatsoever to the footage our logo was placed on".
  • 10 September – Juanita Phillips reads her final ABC News New South Wales bulletin on ABC TV in Sydney after 21 years. She is succeeded by Jeremy Fernandez.
  • 18 September – Neighbours returns after more than a year off the air.

October

November

December

  • 4 December – The International Cricket Council announce that Amazon Prime Video had secured the exclusive broadcast rights for all ICC tournament matches, commencing in 2024. The announcement comes after federal communications minister Michelle Rowland introduces proposed new anti-siphoning laws to parliament, requiring free to air networks to be offered first refusal for major sporting events. The decision to award the rights to the ICC tournament cricket matches to a streaming service is criticised by lobby group FreeTV Australia, who call for the changes to the anti-siphoning rules laws to be fast-tracked.
  • 7 December –
    • It's announced that Seven West Media CEO James Warburton will step down from the role at the end of the financial year and will be succeeded by Jeff Howard.
    • After appearing in Darwin Local Court for a brief committal hearing, the star of Outback Wrangler and Wild Croc Territory Matt Wright is committed to stand trial in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, which is related to the fatal helicopter crash in 2022 in which his co-star Chris "Willow" Wilson was killed. Wright strenuously denies all charges.
  • 12 December –
  • 15 December –
  • 17 December – It's reported that after 17 years ABC News presenter Karina Carvalho would be leaving the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  • 21 December – Warren Mundine receives a formal apology from SBS after its ombudsman Amy Stockwell found NITV's The Point: Australia Decides program hosted by Narelda Jacobs on the night of the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum twice breached the broadcaster's Code of Conduct. During the program which featured Mundine and Marcia Langton as panelists, Jacobs was found to have given the impression that one perspective had been unduly favoured when she criticised Mundine and described Langton as a "national treasure". Stockwell also finds the program failed to provide an opportunity for Mundine to respond to a significant claim by Langton about Mundine's business when his microphone was muted.
  • 22 December – The final edition of Network 10's morning program Studio 10 goes to air.

Radio

January

February

  • 9 February – Nine Entertainment is awarded the non-exclusive audio rights for all Summer and Winter Olympic Games held between 2024 and 2032, enabling Nine Radio to cover the Olympics on 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR.
  • 14 February –
    • The ABC Ombudsman Fiona Cameron finds ABC News breached the ABC's editorial guidelines of accuracy and impartiality when a radio report about a public meeting in Alice Springs was broadcast on current affairs program AM on 31 January 2023, finding that it had unduly favoured one perspective above all others.
    • ABC managing director David Anderson tells a Senate Estimates hearing that the AM report on 31 January 2023 by reporter Carly Williams which claimed there were elements of white supremacy at a public meeting in Alice Springs, should not have gone to air. Anderson claims systems and processes which should have prevented the broadcast of the report had failed.

March

April

May

  • 8 May – Triple M Townsville's Steve Price announces his retirement after hosting the station's breakfast program for the past 32 years, with his final program scheduled for 25 December.

June

July

August

September

October

November

  • 3 November – Southern Cross Austereo reveals there will be only three east coast breakfast shows on its regional Hit Network in 2024, with 90.9 Sea FM's breakfast show hosted by Bonte Langbroek and Danny Lakey set to be heard across regional Queensland from the Gold Coast. The Hit 106.9 Jess & Ducko breakfast show, hosted by Jess Farchione and Nick Ducat will also be networked across New South Wales from Newcastle, while Hit 100.9's Dan & Christie breakfast show, hosted by Dan Taylor and Christie Hayes, will be broadcast across Tasmania and regional Victoria from Hobart.
  • 15 November – ABC Radio Sydney's Afternoons presenter Josh Szeps announces on air that he has decided to leave the station at the end of the year, with his final program scheduled for 22 December. Szeps cited "penalties" for speaking bluntly and bemoaned the risk involved in having conversations about controversial issues for his decision to resign from the ABC.
  • 17 November –
  • 22 November – Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O sign Australia's longest ever radio deal with the Australian Radio Network, vowing to host The Kyle and Jackie O Show for the next ten years, which will also see them broadcast live into the Melbourne market for the first time in 2024.
  • 23 November –
    • Australia's first radio station, ABC Radio Sydney (originally 2SB) celebrates 100 years on air. To commemorate the anniversary, the station ceases its use of the time signal "pips".
    • Tom Switzer announces he is resigning from the ABC after nine years of hosting Radio National's Between the Lines program.
  • 29 November – Craig Reucassel is announced as the new host of ABC Radio Sydney's Breakfast program in 2024, while it's also announced James Valentine is returning to the station's Afternoons program.
  • 30 November – Peter Goers signs off for the last time from ABC Radio Adelaide's Evenings program, after having hosted the show since 2003.

December

  • 1 December –
  • 5 December – ABC Radio National celebrates the 100th anniversary of the first test broadcasts of its original station 2FC.
  • 7 December – Former 2GB Breakfast host Alan Jones is accused of indecently assaulting four young men during his time at the station, with the allegations published in The Sydney Morning Herald by investigative journalist Kate McClymont. Jones' lawyers respond to the allegations by describing them as "demonstrably false" and indicate they had commenced defamation proceedings against McClymont and Nine Newspapers.
  • 11 December – It's announced that Richard Kingsmill would be leaving the Australian Broadcasting Corporation after 35 years, after first joining the ABC's youth network Triple J as a producer in 1988, ultimately becoming group music director in 2017 overseeing music content for Triple J and ABC Local Radio as well as Triple J Unearthed, Double J and ABC Country.
  • 13 December – ABC Ombudsman Fiona Cameron finds the 24 November 2023 edition of Triple J's Hip Hop Show breached the ABC's standards for due impartiality and for the responsible management of controversial program material after guest presenter Miss Kaninna delivered pro-Palestine comments during the show, prompting complaints.
  • 20 December – Journalist Antoinette Lattouf who is filling in for Sarah Macdonald on ABC Radio Sydney's Mornings program is sacked by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation after posting about the Israel-Hamas conflict on social media. Lattouf responds by saying she believes she was terminated unlawfully and that it was "not a win for journalism or critical, fair thinking."
  • 25 December – Long serving Townsville radio presenter and ACRA Hall of Fame inductee Steve Price hosts his final radio program on Triple M Townsville, formerly known as 4TO FM.

Sport

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

January

Alan Mackay-Sim
George Pell
Renée Geyer

February

Syd Fischer

March

John Kerin

April

John Olsen
Barry Humphries

May

Rolf Harris
Ella Stack

June

Simon Crean

July

Michael Baden-Powell

August

Kyle Turner

September

October

Eric Tweedale
Bill Hayden

November

Johnny Ruffo

December

Carl Webb
Bill Granger

See also

Country overviews


This page was last updated at 2024-03-27 14:10 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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