See also: 1994 in Australia, other events of 1995, 1996 in Australia
Incumbents
Events
- January 30 - John Howard becomes federal Liberal Party leader and thus federal leader of the opposition after the resignation of Alexander Downer.
- February 18 - Elections in the Australian Capital Territory replace the minority Australian Labor Party government of Rosemary Follett and elect a minority Liberal Party government of Kate Carnell.
- March 25 - Bob Carr leads the Labor Party to victory in the New South Wales state election, deposing the Liberal/National coalition government of John Fahey that had been in power since 1988.
- May - The Australian Grand Prix is moved from Adelaide to Melbourne after the Premier of Victoria spends what is reported to be quite a large amount on securing the rights to the race from 1996 onwards. Protests ensue about what many saw as the turning of public parkland into a private racetrack.
- June-July - Qantas is privatised.
- July 1 - Telecom Australia changes its domestic trading name to Telstra.
- July 15 - The Queensland state election produces a hung Parliament, with Labor holding a one seat majority over the Liberal/National coalition. However, irregularities are reported in the seat of Mundingburra, which was won by the Labor Party. After a recount, the seat goes to the coalition. This, combined with the decision of Gladstone-based independent Liz Cunningham to support the coalition, ensures that the coalition form the government in Queensland.
- November - The rabbit calicivirus disease (RCD) escapes from an island testing station in South Australia & quickly spreads into Victoria. It is estimated that the feral rabbit population would be permanently reduced by 60%.
- November 3- After a six month trial, David Harold Eastman is convicted by a jury of the assassination of AFP Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester. He is sentenced to life imprisonment and can only be released by approval of the ACT parliament, Federal Parliament and the Governor-General.
- December 4 - A gas explosion at Kogarah railway station, Sydney kills two people.
Arts and literature
Film
Television
Sport
Deaths
- January 13 – Max Harris, 74, poet and author
- March 5 – Gregg Hansford, 42, motorcycle and touring car racer
- March 6 – Olive Zakharov, 75, ALP senator
- March 11 – Isabel Letham, 95, Australia's first surfer
- March 29 – Antony Hamilton, 42, actor, model and dancer (died in Los Angeles)
- April 2 – Trevor Ashmore Pyman, diplomat
- April 24 – Stanley Burbury, 85, 21st Governor of Tasmania
- April 27 – Peter Wright, 78, British MI5 officer and author of Spycatcher
- May 12 – Len Beadell, 72, explorer and roadbuilder
- May 17 – Frank Knopfelmacher, 72, philosopher
- June 26 – John Jefferson Bray, 82, SA Supreme Court judge
- July 22 – Harold Larwood, 90, English cricketer
- August 2 – Fred Daly, 82, ALP politician
- August 8 – Harold Stewart, 78, poet and author
- August 17 – Ted Whitten, 62, AFL player
- August 18 – Philip Hodgins, 36, poet
- August 27 – Dick Bentley, 88, comedian and actor
- August 30 – Dame Pattie Menzies, 94, wife of Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies
- October 24 – Anna Wood, 15, victim of water intoxication after taking ecstasy
- October 26 – John Sangster, 66, jazz musician
- November 1 – Sir James Ralph Darling, 96, headmaster of Geelong Grammar School and chairman of the ABC
- November 10 – Jim Willis, 85, botanist
- December 5 – Gwen Harwood, 75, poet
- December 8 – Arthur John Birch, 80, organic chemist
- December 12 – Andrew Olle, 48, ABC TV journalist
Unknown
- Warringah Council becomes the first council in Australia to use dung beetles to pick up dog droppings.
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