1944 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1944 in Australia.

Incumbents

Monarch – George VI
Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
Prime Minister – John Curtin
Chief Justice – Sir John Latham

State Premiers

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, then Sir Charles Norrie
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
Governor of Victoria – Sir Winston Dugan
Governor of Western Australia – ''none appointed''

Events

14 January – Meat rationing begins in Australia.
20 January – Seventeen people are killed at Brooklyn, New South Wales when a mail train and a bus collide at a level crossing. There is only one survivor, Gloria Iren Silvia.
15 February – Bushfires in the Western District, Gippsland and Yallourn regions of Victoria kill 51 people.
15 April – Fred Paterson is elected to the Parliament of Queensland, representing the seat of Bowen. He remains the only member of the Communist Party of Australia to ever be elected to an Australian Parliament.
30 June – Sydney waiter Antonio Agostini is sentenced to six years prison for the manslaughter of his wife, Linda Agostini, in what was known as the "Pyjama Girl" murder.
5 August – The Cowra breakout occurs, with 545 Japanese prisoners of war escaping from the camp.
19 August – A referendum is held, concerning Post-War Reconstruction and Democratic Rights. It proposes to grant the government power to legislate over 14 points of law for a five-year period. The referendum, asked in a single question, is not carried.
21 October – The heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, operating in the Philippines, is hit by a kamikaze aircraft, killing 20 and wounding 54, in what is believed to be the first attack of its kind.
25 November – Reg Saunders becomes the first Aboriginal commissioned officer in the Australian Army.
14 December – The Liberal Party of Australia is formed, replacing the United Australia Party.

Arts and literature

Ern Malley poems first published, revealing a major Australian literary hoax.
Joshua Smith wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Sol Rosevear

Film

The film of the story of The Rats of Tobruk is released, directed by Charles Chauvel

Sport

29 July - North Melbourne beat Richmond in the only VFL/AFL match where the winning team scored three fewer goals
26 August - Newtown beat St. George 55–7 in the most one-sided NSWRFL/NSWRL/ARL/NRL final in history.
16 September – Balmain win the 1944 NSWRFL season, defeating Newtown 12–8 in the grand final. Canterbury-Bankstown finish in last place, claiming the wooden spoon for the second year in a row.Sirius wins the Melbourne Cup

Births

1 January – Barry Beath, rugby league player
7 January – Tony Whitlam, lawyer, judge, and politician
14 January – Graham Marsh, golfer
18 January – Paul Keating, Prime Minister of Australia
19 January – Paul Gibson, NSW politician
3 February – Trisha Noble, singer and actress
9 February – Derryn Hinch, media personality
10 February – Peter Allen, entertainer
17 February – Robert Dessaix, writer
18 March – Dick Smith, businessman
21 April – Adrian Hurley, basketball player and coach
22 April – Damien Broderick, science fiction author (died 2025

Deaths

1 January – Charles Turner, cricketer
3 January – Tom Brennan, Victorian politician, journalist and lawyer
15 January – Patrick Lynch, Western Australian politician
31 March – Maurice Blackburn, Victorian politician
10 April – Constance Kent, convicted murderer
5 May – George John Bell, Tasmanian politician
10 May – Digby Denham, 18th Premier of Queensland
11 May – John Balmer, air force bomber pilot
24 May – William Butcher, Western Australian politician and pastoralist
9 June – William Angwin, Western Australian politician
28 June – Anton Breinl, medical scientist and practitioner
1 July – Zara Aronson, journalist and philanthropist
29 July – Walter Price, cricketer
5 August
* Ralph Jones, soldier and recipient of the George Cross
* Benjamin Gower Hardy, soldier and recipient of the George Cross
24 August – Alfred Carson, journalist and social worker
6 September – Evelyn Conyers, matron-in-chief of the Australian Army Nursing Service, awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal
21 October – Emile Dechaineux, naval officer
5 November – Grace Benny, South Australian politician
10 November – John Clemons, Tasmanian politician and lawyer
12 November – Roy Agnew, composer and pianist
18 November – Sir James Blair, 6th Chief Justice of Queensland
20 November – Charles Frederick Cox, New South Wales politician and military officer
12 December – Claude Corbett, sports journalist