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See also: 1917 in Australia, other events of 1918, 1919 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

1918 in Australia was dominated by national participation in World War I. The Australian Corps was formed at the beginning of the year from the five divisions of the First Australian Imperial Force played a significant role in the Allied victory in the war.

Incumbents

• Monarch – King George V
• Governor-General – Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson
• Prime Minister – Billy Hughes

State premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – William Holman
• Premier of Queensland – T.J. Ryan
• Premier of South Australia – Archibald Peake
• Premier of Tasmania – Walter Lee
• Premier of Victoria – John Bowser (until March 21), then Harry Lawson
• Premier of Western Australia – Sir Henry Lefroy

State governors

• Governor of New South Wales – Walter Edward Davidson (from February 18)
• Governor of Queensland – Hamilton Goold-Adams
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Henry Galway
• Governor of Tasmania – Francis Newdegate
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Arthur Stanley
• Governor of Western Australia – William Ellison-Macartney

Events

• January 8 – Billy Hughes resigns as Prime Minister of Australia as promised following the defeat of the 1917 plebiscite on conscription. He is immediately sworn in again by the Governor-General as there are no alternative candidates.
• January 21 – Thirty people are killed when the Mackay cyclone strikes the town of Mackay in Queensland.
• February 2 – The Brighton tornado, the strongest storms ever recorded in Melbourne, strike the suburb of Brighton, killing two people.
• March 21 – John Bowser resigns as Premier of Victoria after his railway estimates bill is defeated in parliament. Harry Lawson forms a composite ministry of Liberal factions, including Bowser as Chief Secretary and Minister for Public Health.
• 3 August – Australia House, Australia's high commission to the United Kingdom, opens in London.
• September 22 – The Prime Minister Billy Hughes makes the first direct radio telephone call between England and Australia, calling Sydney from London.
• October 6 – Australia's first electric train service begins, between Newmarket and Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.
• October 26 – A by-election is held in the Division of Swan following the death of the sitting member, Sir John Forrest. The youngest ever MP, Edwin Corboy, is elected to parliament.
• December 17 – The Darwin Rebellion takes place, with 1,000 demonstrators demanding the resignation of the Administrator of the Northern Territory, John A. Gilruth.

World War I events

• January 1 – The Australian Corps is formed from the five AIF divisions on the Western Front.
• March 21 – The Australian Corps commences fighting to stop the German offensive Operation Michael, the German advance near Amiens.
• 25 April – Australian forces recapture Villers-Bretonneux from the German army helping to stop Operation Georgette.
• May 31 – John Monash takes command of the Australia Corps.
• July 4 - John Monash leads an attack on Hamel, regarded as one of the most prepared battles of the entire war.
• August 8 – The Battle of Amiens begins with British, Australian and Canadian troops participating in a successful offensive – General Erich Ludendorff described it as "the black day of the German Army".
• August 12 – King George V knights John Monash on the battlefield, the first British commander to be knighted in that way for 200 years.
• September 18 – Forces led by John Monash attack the Hindenburg Line in the Battle of the Hindenburg Line capturing 4,300 German troops.
• October 1 – Australian troops capture Damascus.
• October 5 – The last Australian operation in the Battle of the Hindenburg Line taking the village of Montbrehain with the line cleared by October 10.
• November 11 – Germany signs an Armistice to end World War I.
• December 10 – Royal Australian Navy ships sail to the Black Sea to assist the White Army in the Russian Civil War.

Arts and literature

• May Gibbs publishes Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.

• Norman Lindsay publishes The Magic Pudding.

Sport

• August 3 – The South Sydney Rabbitohs win the New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1918.
• September 7 – The South Melbourne Swans defeat the Collingwood Magpies 9.8 (62) to 7.15 (57), becoming premiers of the 1918 VFL season.
• November 12 – Night Watch wins the Melbourne Cup.

Births

• January 16 – Clem Jones, Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2007)
• January 26 – Amy Witting, novelist (d. 2001)
• February 8 – Charles Birch, geneticist
• March 5 – John Billings, doctor who developed the Billings Method (d. 2007)
• March 18 – David Zeidler, chemist and industrialist (d. 1998)
• March 19 – Jim Brown, NSW politician (d. 1999)
• April 11 – Francis Hassett, Australian Army general
• April 18 – Harry Firth, race car driver
• April 21 – Francis James, publisher
• July 26 – Richard Arthur Blackburn, Chief Justice of the ACT (d. 1987)
• August 24 – Sandy Pearson, soldier
• September 4 – John Carrick, politician
• September 5 – Bob Katter, Sr., Country Party politician (d. 1990)
• October 14 – Thelma Coyne Long, tennis player
• October 14 – Doug Ring, cricketer (d. 2003)
• December 15 – Pauline Neura Reilly, ornithologist

Deaths

• July 14 – James White (b. 1861), sculptor
• September 12 – Sir George Reid (b. 1845), Premier of NSW (1894–1899) and Prime Minister (1904–1905)
• October 10 – Henry Dobson (b. 1841), Premier of Tasmania (1892–1894)
• October 12 – Mary Hannay Foott (b. 1846), poet
• December 7 – Frank Wilson (b. 1859), Premier of Western Australia (1910–1911)

References