1872 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1872 in Australia.
Incumbents
Governors
Governors of the Australian colonies:- Governor of New South Wales – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore, then Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead
- Governor of Queensland – George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby
- Governor of South Australia – Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet
- Governor of Tasmania – Charles Du Cane
- Governor of Victoria – John Manners-Sutton, 3rd Viscount Canterbury
- Governor of Western Australia - The Hon. Sir Frederick Weld GCMG.
Premiers
Premiers of the Australian colonies:- Premier of New South Wales – Sir James Martin, until 14 May then Henry Parkes
- Premier of Queensland – Arthur Hunter Palmer
- Premier of South Australia – Arthur Blyth, until 22 January then Henry Ayers
- Premier of Tasmania – James Milne Wilson, until 4 November then Frederick Innes
- Premier of Victoria – Charles Gavan Duffy, until 10 June then James Francis
Events
- 13 February to 28 March – An election is held in New South Wales.
- 19 February – The Municipal District of Dubbo is established, following the approval of the Colonial Secretary.
- 26 February – The brig Maria is wrecked when it strikes a reef near Cardwell off the coast of Queensland, killing 39 people.
- 12 June – A Victorian branch of the Royal Australian Mint opens in Melbourne.
- 24 June – Failure of the Java telegraph cable, linking Australia via Darwin, to the global telegraphy network.
- 22 August – The Australian Overland Telegraph Line is completed when two telegraph lines are joined at Frew's Ponds in the Northern Territory.
- 24 September – The General Post Office opens in Brisbane, Queensland.
- 21 October – With the restoration of the Java telegraph cable, first direct receipt via Adelaide of telegraphs from the UK in the eastern states.
- Sidney Cooke Limited founded.
Sport
The Quack wins the Melbourne CupBirths
- 1 January – Arthur Manning, New South Wales politician
- 22 February – Shaw Neilson, poet
- 26 February – John Holman, Western Australian politician
- 13 June – Lydia Abell, military nurse, recipient of Royal Red Cross
- 20 June – George Carpenter, 5th General of The Salvation Army
- 28 June – John Keating, Tasmanian politician
- 28 September – David Unaipon, inventor and author
- 14 October – John Leckie, Victorian politician
- Full date unknown:
- Possibly September – Douglas Fry, artist
- Bertha Schroeder, New Zealand Salvation Army officer, social worker, and probation officer
- Joe Slater, composer and publisher
Deaths
- 4 January – Sir Edward Macarthur, Administrator of Victoria
- 15 January – John King, explorer
- 12 February – George Herbert Rogers, actor
- 20 February – Andrew Petrie, architect
- 20 March – William Wentworth, New South Wales politician and explorer
- 28 April – Louisa Atkinson, writer and botanist
- 19 May – John Baker, 2nd Premier of South Australia
- 11 June – John Davies, newspaper proprietor
- 31 December – John McKinlay, explorer and grazier
- Unknown – John Dibbs, mariner