1968 in Australia

The following lists events that happened during 1968 in Australia.

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Governor-General – Lord Casey
Prime Minister – John McEwen, then John Gorton
*Prime Minister of Australia|Deputy Prime Minister] – John McEwen
*Opposition Leader – Gough Whitlam
Chief Justice – Sir Garfield Barwick

State and territory leaders

Premier of New South Wales – Robert Askin
*Opposition Leader – Jack Renshaw, then Pat Hills
Premier of Queensland – Frank Nicklin, then Jack Pizzey, then Gordon Chalk, then Joh Bjelke-Petersen
*Opposition Leader – Jack Houston
Premier of South Australia – Don Dunstan, then Steele Hall
*Opposition Leader – Steele Hall, then Don Dunstan
Premier of Tasmania – Eric Reece
*Opposition Leader – Angus Bethune
Premier of Victoria – Sir Henry Bolte
*Opposition Leader – Clyde Holding
Premier of Western Australia – David Brand
*Opposition Leader – John Tonkin

Governors and administrators

Governor of New South Wales – Sir Roden Cutler
Governor of Queensland – Sir Alan Mansfield
Governor of South Australia – Lieutenant General Sir Edric Bastyan, then Major General Sir James Harrison
Governor of Tasmania – General Sir Charles Gairdner, then Lieutenant General Sir Edric Bastyan
Governor of Victoria – Major General Sir Rohan Delacombe
Governor of Western Australia – Major General Sir Douglas Kendrew
Administrator of Nauru – Leslie King
Administrator of Norfolk Island – Reginald Marsh, then Robert Dalkin
Administrator of the Northern Territory – Roger Dean
Administrator of Papua and New Guinea – David Hay

Events

4 January – The search for the body of Prime Minister Harold Holt, who disappeared whilst swimming near Portsea, Victoria, is called off.
10 January – John Gorton is sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia after the disappearance of Harold Holt.
28 January – Members of English rock groups The Who and Small Faces are escorted by police from a plane at Melbourne's Essendon Airport, after the pilot diverts the flight citing the bands' behaviour.
31 January – The Australian-administered United Nations trust territory of Nauru became independent, in accordance with the provisions of the Nauru Independence Act 1967.
1 April – American evangelist Billy Graham begins a tour of Australia.
8 April – Fluoridation of Sydney's water supply begins.
17 April – A state election is held in South Australia. Steele Hall defeats Don Dunstan, and becomes Premier of South Australia.
30 April – Jim Cairns unsuccessfully challenges Gough Whitlam for leadership of the Australian Labor Party.
1 May – The Duke of Edinburgh arrives in Australia for a ten-day visit.
5 May – Three Australian journalists are killed by the Viet Cong in Saigon.
19 May – The body of 3-year-old boy Simon Brook is found after he is murdered near his home in the Sydney suburb of Glebe. As of 2025, no person has ever been charged with Brook's murder but his parents allege convicted child killer Derek Percy, who died in 2013, was responsible.
21 May – Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visits Australia.
14 June – Journalist Simon Townsend, future host of Simon Townsend's Wonder World, is granted exemption from military service after lodging a fifth appeal against his imprisonment and court martial for conscientious objection.
18 June – The first stage of the Warringah Freeway opens in Sydney.
24 June – British comedian Tony Hancock commits suicide in his Sydney hotel room.
2 July – Fifty students are arrested during an anti-Vietnam War protest in Martin Place, Sydney.
4 July – Forty five people are arrested during an anti-war protest outside the U.S. consulate in St Kilda Road, Melbourne.
31 July – The Premier of Queensland, Jack Pizzey, dies in office.
1 August – Jack Pizzey's deputy, Gordon Chalk, is sworn in as his successor until the appointment of Joh Bjelke-Petersen as Premier a week later.
3 August – The standard gauge rail line between Perth and Kalgoorlie is completed.
20 August – The National Gallery of Victoria is opened in Melbourne.
14 October – The town of Meckering, Western Australia, is badly damaged by an earthquake.
28 October – The Postmaster-General's Department decreases the number of mail deliveries per day from two to one.
31 October – Minister for the Army Phillip Lynch admits that Australian Army troops may have breached the Geneva Convention by using water torture during the interrogation of a female Viet Cong suspect.
1 November – The airline Ansett-ANA is renamed Ansett.
14 December – A referendum is held in Tasmania to allow the granting of Australia's first casino license to the Wrest Point Hotel. The referendum is passed.
31 December – MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 crashes south of Port Hedland, Western Australia, killing all 26 people on board.

Non-specific dates

Australia's population is estimated to have reached 12 million in 1968.

Arts and literature

17 January – The Seekers are named Australians of the Year for 1967.
19 January – William Pidgeon wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Lloyd Rees.
1 July – The Copyright Act 1968 replaces the existing 1911 copyright legislation.
Thomas Keneally's novel Three Cheers for the Paraclete wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

2 December – At the Australian Film Institute Awards ceremony, Prime Minister John Gorton announces the creation of the Australian Film Development Corporation.

Television

25 May – An episode of the ABC series Bellbird stops the nation when the character of Charlie Cousins dies in a fall from a silo.

Sport

26 February – Boxer Lionel Rose beats Japan's Fighting Harada in Tokyo to become world bantamweight champion.
25 May – Derek Clayton wins his second men's national marathon title, clocking 2:14:47.8 in Hobart.
26 May – Australia wins the 1968 Federation Cup in women's tennis, defeating the Netherlands.
10 June – Australia wins the 1968 Rugby League World Cup when it beats France in the final at the SCG.
21 September – South Sydney defeated Manly-Warringah 13–9 in the NSWRL Grand Final at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Newtown finish in last position, claiming the wooden spoon.
28 September – The Carlton Blues narrowly beat Essendon Bombers by 3 points in the grand final of the 1968 VFL season, winning their first flag in 21 years.
12 – 27 October – Australia participates in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, coming ninth in the medal tally with 5 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze medals.
15 October – Ralph Doubell equals Peter Snell's world record in the men's 800 metres, clocking 1:44.3 at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
5 November – Rain Lover wins the Melbourne Cup.
26 December – Ondine II takes line honours in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Koomooloo is the handicap winner

Unknown dates

Western Australia wins the Sheffield Shield.

Births

9 January – Mardi Lunn, golfer
7 February – Phillip Tahmindjis, ice speed skater
12 February – Nathan Rees, 41st Premier of New South Wales
1 April – Mike Baird, 44th Premier of New South Wales
7 April – Duncan Armstrong, swimmer
20 April – Julia Morris, actress, comedian, television presenter and producer
13 May – Scott Morrison, 30th Prime Minister of Australia
26 May – Rachael Sporn, basketball player
28 May – Kylie Minogue, entertainer
1 June – Jason Donovan, entertainer
4 June – Rachel Griffiths, actress
15 June – Hugh McDermott, politician
27 July – Julian McMahon, actor
3 August – Tom Long, actor
8 August – Craig Ruddy, artist
9 August – Eric Bana, actor
10 August – Cate Shortland, film and television writer and director
20 August – Sandy Brondello, basketball player and coach
13 September – Andrew Gee, politician
17 September – Peter Anderson, cricketer
18 September – Brad Beven, triathlete
30 September – Sharon Jaklofsky, track and field athlete
8 October – Garry Hocking, footballer
12 October – Hugh Jackman, actor
15 October – Trent Zimmerman, politician
5 November – Penny Wong, politician, Minister for Foreign Affairs
13 November – Cherie Burton, politician
10 December – Barry Urban, politician
19 December – Kristina Keneally, 42nd Premier of New South Wales

Deaths

14 January – Dorothea Mackellar, poet
21 February – Howard Florey, Nobel Prize-winning pharmacologist
22 May – Arthur Bridges, New South Wales Minister for Child and Social Welfare
24 June – Tony Hancock, British comedian
31 July – Jack Pizzey, Premier of Queensland
19 August – William McCall, politician
25 August – Stan McCabe, cricketer
28 September – Sir Norman Brookes, tennis player
10 October – Gavin Long, journalist and military historian
13 October – Dame Jean Macnamara, medical scientist
27 October – James Hunter, politician
14 December – Margaret Theadora Allan, community worker
20 December – John Jennings, politician