1887 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1887 in Australia.
Incumbents
- Premier of New South Wales – Patrick Jenning, then Henry Parkes
- Premier of South Australia – John Downer, then Thomas Playford II
- Premier of Queensland – Samuel Griffith
- Premier of Tasmania – James Agnew, then Philip Fysh
- Premier of Victoria – Duncan Gillies
- Governor of the Crown Colony of Western Australia – Sir Frederick Broome
Events
- 1 January – Clement Wragge is appointed Government Meteorologist for Queensland
- 21 January – Brisbane receives a daily rainfall of 465 millimetres, a record for any Australian capital city.
- 23 March – 81 miners are killed during a coal gas explosion at Bulli, New South Wales
- 22 April – A cyclone hits a pearling fleet off Eighty Mile Beach, 120 men drown.
- 11 May – Ship Darling Downs with 7725 bales of Australian wool sinks at Nore after collision with Britannia
- 22 June – The Fremantle Town Hall is opened.
- 26 Sept – The Celtic Club Melbourne is formed and remains today as Australia's oldest Irish Club
- 19 October – The Sydney-bound steamer SS Cheviot is wrecked near Point Nepean, Victoria, claiming 35 lives.
Science and technology
- Construction of Goulburn Weir commenced, one of Australia's earliest irrigation schemes.
Sport
Dunlop wins the Melbourne CupBirths
- 2 February – Pat Sullivan, film director
- 16 April – Henry Gordon Bennett, soldier
- 6 July – Annette Kellerman, swimming celebrity
- 28 October – Herb Byrne, Australian rules footballer
- 30 November – Beatrice Kerr, swimmer, diver, and aquatic performer