1992 in Australia

The following is a list of events that happened during the year 1992 in Australia.

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Governor-General – Bill Hayden
Prime Minister – Paul Keating
*[Deputy Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister of Australia|Deputy Prime Minister] – Brian Howe
*Opposition Leader – John Hewson
Chief Justice – Sir Anthony Mason

State and territory leaders

Premier of New South Wales – Nick Greiner, then John Fahey
*Opposition Leader – Bob Carr
Premier of Queensland – Wayne Goss
*Opposition Leader – Rob Borbidge
Premier of South Australia – John Bannon, then Lynn Arnold
*Opposition Leader – Dale Baker, then Dean Brown
Premier of Tasmania – Michael Field, then Ray Groom
*Opposition Leader – Ray Groom, then Michael Field
Premier of Victoria – Joan Kirner, then Jeff Kennett
*Opposition Leader – Jeff Kennett, then Joan Kirner
Premier of Western Australia – Carmen Lawrence
*Opposition Leader – Barry MacKinnon, then Richard Court
Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Rosemary Follett
*Opposition Leader – Trevor Kaine
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Marshall Perron
*Opposition Leader – Brian Ede
President of the Legislative Assembly/Head of Government of Norfolk Island – David Buffett, then John Brown

Governors and administrators

Governor of New South Wales – Peter Sinclair
Governor of Queensland – Sir Walter Campbell, then Leneen Forde
Governor of South Australia – Dame Roma Mitchell
Governor of Tasmania – Sir Phillip Bennett
Governor of Victoria – Davis McCaughey, then Richard McGarvie
Governor of Western Australia – Sir Francis Burt
Administrator of Norfolk Island – Herbert MacDonald, then Alan Kerr
Administrator of the Northern Territory – James Muirhead

Events

January

2 January – George H. W. Bush becomes the first President of the United States to address the Australian Parliament.
18 January – The Labor Party wins a by-election in the central coast seat of The Entrance.
22 January – The Queensland Criminal Justice Commission announces that it won't release names of MPs who rort travel expenses.
26 January – Prime Minister Paul Keating gives his Australia Day address in Canberra, saying that Australia must adapt to a changing world and look to Asia if it was to survive economically.
28 January – Colin White and David Trimmer are charged over their alleged involvement in a multimillion-dollar tobacco scam in Brisbane.
29 January – New South Wales Premier Nick Greiner calls for a controversial sex education book, funded by the Federal Government, to be destroyed.

February

1 February –
*A general election is held in Tasmania.
*One and two-cent coins begin to be withdrawn from circulation.
6 February – Ruby Jubilee of Elizabeth II's accession as Queen of Australia
9 February – Flooding occurs in Sydney and other areas of New South Wales. Torrential rain also floods the Sydney Harbour Tunnel with 500,000 litres of water.
11 February – The inaugural meeting of the Grayndler Young Labor meeting in Alfred Frede Hall in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville is disrupted by 20 youths. During an incident involving the attempted theft of the official ticket book, Assistant State Secretary Anthony Albanese is allegedly threatened with a knife attack.
15 February – The second ACT Legislative Assembly election is held, re-electing the Labor minority government of Rosemary Follett.
20 February – Scores of people flee their homes as several coastal towns north of Brisbane are hit by flash floods.
21 February – A State of Emergency is declared in Maryborough and Gympie due to major flooding.
22 February –
*After trialling Daylight Saving in Queensland for a total of three years, a referendum is held, with 54.5% of Queenslanders voting against daylight saving. Regional and rural areas strongly oppose daylight saving, while those in the metropolitan south-east vote in favour of it.
*A state of emergency is declared in the whole of Noosa Shire, Queensland due to major flooding – the worst since 1968.
24 February – Queen Elizabeth II visits Australia. Prime Minister Paul Keating breaks royal protocol by placing his hand on the Queen's back, causing an outraged British tabloid newspaper to dub him the "Lizard of Oz". In his speech welcoming the Queen, Paul Keating contrasts the current state of Australia with that of her first visit in 1954.
26 February – Prime Minister Paul Keating's long-awaited economic statement One Nation is delivered. Federal Opposition Leader John Hewson describes it as porkbarrelling.

April

11 April – Independent candidate Phil Cleary wins the 1992 Wills by-election which was brought about by the resignation of Bob Hawke. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser attributes the result in part to revulsion against the "alien creed" of economic rationalism.
25 April – Prime Minister Paul Keating kisses the ground at Kokoda, Papua New Guinea, declaring that it, not Gallipoli, is the birthplace of Australian nationalism.
28 April – National Party frontbencher Ray Braithwaite resigns over Fightback!'s zero tariff policy on sugar.

May

2 May – New South Wales Liberal MP Andrew Humpherson wins the 1992 Davidson state by-election.
18 May – Social Security Minister Graham Richardson resigns after a month of disclosures on his interventions on a friend's behalf in the "Marshall Islands affair".
25 May – Lindy Chamberlain receives compensation for wrongful conviction on murder charges.

June

3 June – The High Court of Australia decides the case of Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a landmark decision recognising native title in Australia. The decision overturns the concept of Australia as an unoccupied land at the time of British settlement.
24 June – Nick Greiner resigns as Premier of New South Wales in the wake of a corruption scandal, and is replaced by John Fahey.

July

1 July - Compulsory superannuation comes into effect.
7 July - The paper $5 note issued from 1967 was replaced by a polymer note.
31 July – Janet Powell resigns from the Australian Democrats, sitting henceforth as an Independent Senator. The Victorian branch of the Democrats fractures acrimoniously, damaging the party nationally.

August

11 August – A meeting with Prime Minister Paul Keating fails to secure for the Greens commitments on global warming, endangered species protection and biodiversity.
18 August – Budget expenditure promises on labour market and training programmes and reducing the sizeable deficit fail to halt the Keating Government's sliding popularity.
30 August – Representatives from the Tasmanian, Queensland and New South Wales Greens, with observers from other states, form the Australian Greens Party at a Sydney meeting.

September

4 September – Lynn Arnold becomes Premier of South Australia after the resignation of John Bannon after the near-collapse of the State Bank.
7 September – The National Party of Queensland launches its state election campaign in Brisbane with strong support for law and order issues.
8 September–
*Prime Minister Paul Keating warns President George Bush that wheat subsidies are corroding public support in Australia for the United States.
*The Afghan Foreign Minister arrives in Sydney to appeal for urgent assistance.
19 September – A state election is held in Queensland. The Labor government of Wayne Goss is returned to power.
30 September – The High Court of Australia invalidates legislation passed in December 1991 banning political advertising on the electronic media in the run-up to state and federal elections.

October

3 October – A state election is held in Victoria. Joan Kirner's Labor government is defeated by Jeff Kennett's Liberal party.
6 October – Rose Hancock – Porteous is fined $1,000 in Perth for forging prescriptions for drugs.
19 October – One of the two men charged with the murder of Dr. Victor Chang pleads guilty.
20 October –
*The trial of the second man accused of murdering Dr. Victor Chang begins.
*The Federal Opposition unveils Jobsback, its industrial relations policy designed to move from centralised wage-fixing to individual employment contracts negotiated at the enterprise level.
27 October – Senator Bronwyn Bishop attacks the Tax Commissioner over alleged special treatment to the Labor Party.
30 October – The second man charged with the murder of Dr. Victor Chang, Phillip Lim, is found guilty.

November

5 November – Prime Minister Paul Keating announces that the coming election would be a poll on the Goods and Services Tax and pledged that if the Coalition won, Labor would allow the GST through the Senate.
19 November – With the implications of Fightback! increasingly scrutinised and condemned, and elements in the Coalition "panicking", Federal Opposition Leader John Hewson declares that he would resign rather than abandon the GST.
23 November – Prime Minister Paul Keating announces the end of the ban preventing homosexual men and women from serving in the Australian Defence Force
25 November – The High Court of Australia rules that Independent Phil Cleary had been ineligible to stand for Wills as he was an Education Department employee on unpaid leave. His Labor and Liberal opponents were also declared ineligible, as they both held dual citizenship.

December

18 December – Federal Opposition Leader John Hewson unveils Fightback Mark II which includes abandoning the GST on basic food items and childcare and the threat to cut off the dole after 9 months.
22 December – The men who murdered heart surgeon Dr. Victor Chang are each sentenced to 20 years jail.
Adelaide receives it highest annual rainfall on record, totalling.

Full date unknown

Norgate Data, a data service business, is founded.

Arts and literature

26 January – The first Big Day Out music festival is held at the Sydney Showground, headlined by Violent Femmes and Nirvana.
Tim Winton's novel Cloudstreet wins the Miles Franklin Award
The first WOMADelaide is held at Botanic Park as part of the Adelaide Festival of Arts. It featured Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou N'Dour, Trio Bulgarka and Martenitsa, Archie Roach, Crowded House & Penguin Café Orchestra

Film

23 January – Spotswood
20 August – Strictly Ballroom
12 November – ''Romper Stomper''

Television

1 January – The Victorian television market is aggregated, with VIC TV becoming the Nine Network affiliate, Prime Television taking a Seven Network affiliation & Southern Cross Network taking the Network Ten affiliation.
4 September – Kerry Packer pulls the plug on Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos mid-air.
20 July – ABC debuts children's TV series Bananas in Pyjamas.
Ending this year were:
*November – Fast Forward
*November – Acropolis Now
*The Big Gig on ABC

Sport

22 February – 25 March – The 1992 Cricket World Cup is held in Australia and New Zealand. Pakistan defeats England in the final at the MCG by 22 runs.
5 March – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 1991–1992 season, which are held at the Olympic Sports Field in Adelaide, South Australia.
25 March – Great Southern Stand opened at the MCG by Donald Cordner, then-President of the Melbourne Cricket Club.
6 April – Peter Sterling announces his retirement from rugby league due to injury
3 May
*Adelaide City win the NSL Grand Final on Penalties after a scoreless draw with Melbourne Croatia at Olympic Park
*Geelong kick the highest VFL/AFL score against the Brisbane Bears of 37.17.239
7 May – Exactly 100 years to the day of their first senior-level match, Collingwood meets Carlton in a rematch of that game at the MCG. Carlton wins by 33 points.
18 May – Auckland Warriors admitted to 1995 ARL premiership. North Queensland, South Queensland & Perth all admitted later, forming 20-team comp.
12 July – Gerard Barrett wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:16:46 in Brisbane, while Jennifer Dowie claims the women's title in 2:40:40.
26 September – West Coast Eagles defeat Geelong in the first non-Melbourne –only Grand Final, to win the 96th AFL premiership. It is the first time that the VFL/AFL premiership has left Victoria.
27 September – Brisbane Broncos defeat St. George Dragons to win the 85th NSWRL premiership. It is the first time that the NSWRL premiership has gone to Queensland. Broncos halfback Allan Langer is awarded the Clive Churchill medal for man of the match. Gold Coast Seagulls finish in last position, claiming the wooden spoon for the second year in a row.
30 October – NSWRL premiers Brisbane Broncos defeat RFL champions Wigan 22–8 in the 1992 World Club Challenge, held in Wigan, England. It is the first Australian victory on British soil since Eastern Suburbs Roosters' win in the inaugural 1976 match.
Brownlow Medal awarded to Scott Wynd

Births

2 January – Isabella Holland, tennis player
18 January – Cheyse Blair, rugby league player
20 January
*Ben Kantarovski, footballer player
*Alex Keath, cricketer
24 January – Luke Russell, footballer
25 January – Casey Dumont, footballer player
28 January – Jennifer Bisset, footballer player
30 January – Matthew Werkmeister, stage and television actor
31 January – Tahnee Atkinson, model
3 February – Luke Keary, rugby league player
8 February – Lee Cormie, actor
9 February
*Valentina Barron, actress
*Kyle Feldt, rugby league player
*Mitchell Frei, rugby league player
12 February – James Jeggo, footballer player
13 February –
*Chris Bush, footballer
*Jake Batchelor, footballer
*Nick Fitzgerald, footballer
16 February – Danielle Catanzariti, actress
20 February – Kyle Turner, rugby league player
21 February – Eli Babalj, footballer
23 February
* Corey Adamson, baseball player
* Samara Weaving, actress
29 February – Sean Abbott, cricketer
2 March – Kerem Bulut, footballer
3 March – Jordy Lucas, actress
13 March – Lucy Fry, actress
16 March – Sam Gallaway, footballer player
22 March – Mitchell Mallia, footballer player
23 March – Kyrie Irving, basketball player
24 March – Jenna Kingsley, footballer player
2 April – Kurt Aylett, footballer
7 April – Petar Franjic, footballer player
8 April – Mathew Ryan, footballer
10 April – Chaz Mostert, racing driver
18 April - Adam Cooper, footballer.
18 April – Alexandra Adornetto, author of three children's books in a trilogy, The Strangest Adventures, and one young adult book, Halo.
22 April – Angela Fimmano, footballer
27 April – Mitch Creek, basketballer
3 May – Melissa Wu, diver
4 May – Shannon Lively, actor
9 May – Will Hopoate, rugby league player
11 May – Lawrence Thomas, footballer
14 May – Dyson Heppell, footballer
16 May – Tom Liberatore, footballer
19 May – Cassi Van Den Dungen, model
20 May – Cate Campbell, swimmer
27 May – Ruth Blackburn, footballer
1 June
*Jenna McDougall, singer-songwriter
*Amanda Ware, model
3 June – Matt Acton, footballer
4 June – Morgan Griffin, actress
5 June
*Sam Rainbird, cricketer
*Emily Seebohm, swimmer
8 June – Alex Fasolo, footballer
9 June – Boyd Cordner, rugby league player
13 June
*Jack Darling, footballer
*Joey Gibbs, footballer player
14 June – Ben Halloran, footballer
16 June – Andrew Gaff, footballer
29 June – Ryan Battaglia, baseball player
7 July – Jack Le Brocq, racing driver
12 July – Larrissa Miller, gymnast
14 July – Chris Harold, football striker
16 July – Sam Naismith, Australian rules footballer
17 July
* Joe Costa, footballer player
* Tom Eisenhuth, rugby league footballer
20 July – Jordan Rodrigues, actor
21 July – Marcus Harris, cricketer
26 July – Kamal Ibrahim, footballer
27 July – Alex Apollonov, YouTube personality
28 July – Bailey Wright, footballer
13 August –
*Jenny-Lyn Anderson, South Africa-born swimmer
*Katrina Gorry, footballer player
19 August – Cameron Guthrie, footballer
1 September – Ben Jacobs, footballer
2 September – Valentina Barron, actress
7 September – Martin Hinteregger, footballer
12 September – Bernie Ibini-Isei, Nigeria-born footballer
13 September – Shaun Atley, footballer
18 September
*Brendan Hamill, footballer
*Edrick Lee, rugby league player
28 September – Josh Caddy, footballer
30 September – Elyse Knowles, model
2 October – Harley Bennell, footballer
7 October – Grace Bawden, opera singer
27 October – Charles Cottier, actor
2 November – Katie Daly, footballer player
12 November – Giulietta, singer-songwriter and dancer
19 November – Cameron Bancroft, cricketer
29 November – Sophie Letcher, tennis player
12 December – Marco Djuricin, footballer
17 December – Jordan Coulter, model
22 December
* George Horlin-Smith, footballer
* Shiori Kutsuna, Australian-Japanese actress

Deaths

3 January – Dame Judith Anderson, actress
27 March – Lang Hancock, iron ore magnate
14 April – Irene Greenwood, radio broadcaster, feminist and peace activist
7 June – Georges Mora, entrepreneur and arts patron
15 June – Brett Whiteley, artist
18 June – Peter Allen, musician
21 June – Arthur Gorrie, hobby shop owner
27 July – Max Dupain, photographer
28 August – Sir Tom Drake-Brockman, Western Australian politician
6 October – Bill O'Reilly, cricketer
28 November – Sidney Nolan, artist