1968 in Australia

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Lord Casey
• Prime Minister – John McEwen, then John Gorton
• *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