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See also: 1956 in Australia, other events of 1957, 1958 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir William Slim
• Prime Minister – Robert Menzies

State Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales – Joseph Cahill
• Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV
• Premier of Queensland – Vince Gair (until 12 August), then Frank Nicklin
• Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
• Premier of Western Australia – Albert Hawke
• Premier of Victoria – Henry Bolte

State Governors

• Governor of New South Wales – Sir John Northcott (until 3 July), then Sir Eric Woodward (from 1 August)
• Governor of Queensland – Sir John Lavarack (until 4 December)
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Robert George
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet
• Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas Brooks
• Governor of Western Australia – Sir Charles Gairdner

Events

• January 19 - The Argus newspaper appears for the last time
• October 3 - Australian National Airways (ANA) is merged with Ansett to form Ansett-ANA
• Slim Dusty wins his first gold record for A Pub With No Beer

Science and technology

Arts and literature

• Architect Jørn Utzon wins the design competition for the Sydney Opera House
• Ivor Hele wins the Archibald Prize with his Self Portrait
• Elwynn Lynn wins the Blake Prize for Religious Art with his work Betrayal
• Voss by Patrick White wins the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award

Film

• Robbery Under Arms, film adaptation of the novel of the same name (see Robbery Under Arms at the Internet Movie Database).
• Three in One, a film of three short stories about life in Australia in the 1950s (see Three in One at the Internet Movie Database).

Television

• January 19 - GTV-9 television station is officially opened in Melbourne.
• May 7 - In Melbourne Tonight, TV-Series 1957-1970 (GTV-9's first major production).
• Pick-A-Box, TV-Series 1957-1971 (first broadcast as a radio program in 1948)
• The Tarax Show, TV-Series 1957-1970 (sponsored by Tarax, a soft drink bottling company from Melbourne.

Sport

• Cricket
  • New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield

• Football
  • South Australian National Football League premiership: won by Port Adelaide
  • Victorian Football League premiership: Melbourne defeated Essendon 116-55

• Rugby
  • Bledisloe Cup: won by the All Blacks
  • Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Valleys defeated Brothers 18-17
  • New South Wales Rugby League premiership: St. George defeated Manly-Warringah 31-9
  • Australia defeats Great Britain in the 1957 Rugby League World Cup

• Golf
  • Australian Open: won by Frank Phillips
  • Australian PGA Championship: won by Gary Player

• Horse Racing
  • Tulloch wins the Caulfield Cup
  • Red Craze wins the Cox Plate
  • Todman wins the inaugural Golden Slipper
  • Straight Draw wins the Melbourne Cup

• Motor Racing
  • The Australian Grand Prix was held at Caversham and won by Lex Davison and Bill Patterson driving a Ferrari

• Tennis
  • Australian Open men's singles: Ashley Cooper defeats Neale Fraser 6-3 9-11 6-4 6-2
  • Australian Open women's singles: Shirley Fry defeats Althea Gibson 6-3 6-4
  • Davis Cup: Australia defeats the United States 3-2 in the 1957 Davis Cup final
  • Wimbledon: Lew Hoad wins the Men's Singles

• Yachting
  • Kurrewa IV takes line honours and Anitra V wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Births

• February 27 — Robert de Castella, marathon runner
• March 20 — David Foster, axeman
• March 30 — Debra Byrne, entertainer
• March 30 — Alan Fletcher, Australian actor
• April 9 — Jamie Redfern, singer
• April 13 — Mark Tonelli, swimmer
• April 18 — Ian Campbell, long and triple jumper
• May 22 — Gary Sweet, actor
• July 13 — Penny Cook, actress
• July 26 — Wayne Grady, golfer
• August 14 — Peter Costello, politician
• August 16 — Peter Van Miltenburg, track and field sprinter
• September 21 — Kevin Rudd, politician
• September 22 — Nick Cave, musician
• November 4 — Tony Abbott, politician
• December 30 — Simon Madden, Australian Rules footballer

Deaths

• January 11 - Sir Robert Garran (b. 1867), Solicitor-General of Australia
• January 31 - John Marshall (b. 1930), freestyle swimmer
• August 4 - John Cain I (b. 1882), Premier of Victoria
• October 27 - James McGirr (b. 1890), Premier of New South Wales

See also

• 1957
• 1950s