1941 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1941 in Australia.
Incumbents
- Monarch – George VI
- Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
- Prime Minister – Robert Menzies, then Arthur Fadden, then John Curtin
- Chief Justice – Sir John Latham
State Premiers
- Premier of New South Wales – Alexander Mair, then William McKell
- Premier of Queensland – William Forgan Smith
- Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford
- Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
- Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan
- Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock
State Governors
- Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst
- Governor of Queensland – Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
- Governor of South Australia – Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey
- Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
- Governor of Victoria – Sir Winston Dugan
- Governor of Western Australia – ''none appointed''
Events
- 25 March – The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force is formed.
- 31 March – The Siege of Tobruk begins.
- 7 April – The Women's Royal Australian Naval Service is formed.
- 10 May – A general election is held in New South Wales. The ALP led by William McKell defeats the incumbent United Australia Party and Premier Alexander Mair.
- 12 May – The Daily Mirror newspaper is first published in Sydney.
- 30 June – HMAS Waterhen sinks off Libya – the first Australian naval vessel lost in the war.
- 3 October – Prime Minister Arthur Fadden resigns following the rejection of his budget by two independent MPs.
- 7 October – John Curtin is sworn in as Prime Minister after Arthur Fadden's government loses majority support in the House of Representatives.
- 11 November – The Australian War Memorial is opened in Canberra.
- 19 November – The light cruiser HMAS Sydney engages the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran in an hour-long battle off the coast of Western Australia. Both ships are sunk, the Sydney going down with 645 crew.
- 9 December – Australia declares war on Japan, and the Axis powers of Finland, Hungary and Romania.
- 13 December – A general election is held in Tasmania. The Labor Party led by Robert Cosgrove is returned to power.
Arts and literature
- William Dargie wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Sir James Elder, KBEThe Timeless Land by Eleanor Dark is published.
Sport
- 30 August – St. George win the 1941 NSWRFL season for their first premiership after the club's founding in 1920, defeating Eastern Suburbs 31–14. North Sydney finish in last place, claiming the wooden spoon.
- 27 September – Melbourne wins the 45th VFL Premiership, defeating Essendon 19.13 to 13.20.
- 4 November – Skipton wins the Melbourne Cup.Velocity wins the Caulfield CupBeau Vite wins the Cox Plate
- The Sheffield Shield is not contested due to war
Births
- 3 January – Roger Rogerson, detective and convicted murderer
- 14 January – Peter Ingham, Roman Catholic bishop
- 23 January – Jock R. Anderson, economist and academic
- 29 January – Maggie Kirkpatrick, actress
- 4 February – Russell Cooper, Premier of Queensland
- 24 February – Clive Doyle, Australian-born Branch Davidian
- 2 March – John Cornell, film producer
- 11 March – Kim Santow, NSW Supreme Court judge
- 29 March – Michael Thornhill, film producer, screenwriter and film director
- 31 March – Faith Leech, swimmer
- 10 April – Wendy Fatin, politician
- 13 April – Alan Jones, radio personality
- 17 April – Bill Landeryou, politician
- 24 April – John Williams, classical guitarist
- 6 May – Peter Corrigan, architect
- 11 May – Ian Redpath, cricketer
- 18 May – Lobby Loyde, rock music guitarist
- 30 May – Kevin Coombs, Paralympic athlete
- 31 May – Julian Croft, poet
- 4 June – Kenneth G. Ross, playwright
- 8 June – George Pell, cardinal
- 23 June – Margaret Hamilton, publisher and author
- 24 June – Graham McKenzie, cricketer
- 25 June – Kenneth Walker, cricketer
- 28 June – Harry Quick, politician
- 1 July
- * Alf Duval, rower
- * Denis Michael Rohan, Australian citizen who, on 21 August 1969, set fire to the pulpit of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem
- 3 July – Merv Cross, orthopaedic surgeon and rugby league player
- 9 July – Jan Lehane, tennis player
- 13 July – Grahame Corling, cricketer
- 21 July – Ron Corry, football player, coach
- 31 July – Heather McKay, squash player
- 28 August – Tony Barry, actor
- 1 September – Graeme Langlands, rugby league footballer and coach
- 22 September – Murray Bail, writer
- 27 September – Gay Kayler, country music singer
- 3 October – John Elliott, businessman
- 5 October – Earle Bailey, politician
- 14 October – David Kemp, politician
- 16 October – Genevieve Lloyd, philosopher and feminist
- 25 October – Helen Reddy, singer
- 28 October – Fred Chaney, WA politician
- 7 November – Willi Sawall, race walker
- 16 November – Max Gillies, actor
- 13 December – Dixie Willis, middle distance runner
- 15 December – Richard Neville, writer
Deaths
- 20 January – Raimund Pechotsch, musical composer
- 5 February – Banjo Paterson, bush poet, journalist and author
- 18 March – Harry Boan, Western Australian politician and businessman
- 1 April – Jack Chamberlain, cricketer
- 12 April – James Boyd, Victorian politician
- 15 April – Emily Pelloe, botanical illustrator
- 4 May – Chris McKivat, Olympic rugby union and league player
- 8 May – Alexander Hay, New South Wales politician
- 15 June – John Lynch, New South Wales politician
- 24 June – Sir Francis Anderson, philosopher
- 1 July – Francis Birtles, adventurer
- 7 July – Randolph Bedford, Queensland politician and writer
- 27 July – James Ronald, Victorian politician
- 31 July – Ron Barassi Sr., Australian rules footballer and soldier
- 1 August – James Drake, Queensland politician
- 23 August – Jack O'Connor, cricketer
- 30 August – Gregan McMahon, actor and theatrical producer
- 31 August – Sir Thomas Bavin, 24th Premier of New South Wales
- 1 September – Millice Culpin, Queensland politician
- 5 September – George Marchant, soft drink manufacturer and philanthropist
- 1 October – Sir John Longstaff, artist
- 18 November – Chris Watson, 3rd Prime Minister of Australia
- 19 November – Joseph Burnett, naval captain
- 28 November - Elwyn Roy King, fighter ace and military officer
- 22 December – Cyril Cameron, Tasmanian politician and soldier