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Abel Tasman discovers Tasmania and New Zealand. -
Captain James Cook explores the east coast of Australia, which he calls New South Wales. -
Britain establishes a penal colony in Sydney Cove. -
The ‘Rum Rebellion’ overthrows Captain William Bligh. -
Gold is discovered in New South Wales. -
Battle of the Eureka Stockade, Ballarat -
South Australian women gain voting rights; by 1901 most Australian women can vote. -
Six colonies federated into the Commonwealth of Australia. -
World War I: 330,000 Australians serve; 60,000 are killed, 165,000 wounded.
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Opening of the Trans-Australian railway. -
Federal parliament moves from Melbourne to Canberra. -
World War II: Australian Air Force active in Britain; navy operates in Mediterranean; soldiers fight in North Africa and the Pacific.
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Olympic Games held in Melbourne. -
Australia grants citizenship to Aboriginal people. -
Aboriginal people can vote in federal elections. -
‘White Australia’ immigration policy is abandoned. -
Sydney Opera House is finally completed. -
Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) are returned to Aboriginal owners. -
Aboriginal people's land rights are recognized. -
Referendum rejects prototype republic. -
Olympic Games held in Sydney. -
Australian government supports US military action in Iraq. -
Prime Minister Rudd apologizes to the Stolen Generations -
173 people killed by bushfires in Victoria. -
Kevin Rudd ousts Julia Gillard as leader of the Labor Party and becomes prime minister. The Liberal Party wins the elections later that year and Tony Abbott becomes new prime minister. -
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Australia.