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See also: 1974 in Australia, other events of 1975, 1976 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

• Queen of Australia - HM Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor General - Sir John Kerr
• Prime Minister - Gough Whitlam (until November 11), then Malcolm Fraser
• Premier of New South Wales - Sir Robert Askin (until January 3), then Tom Lewis
• Premier of South Australia - Don Dunstan
• Premier of Queensland - Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen
• Premier of Tasmania - Eric Reece (until March 31), then Bill Neilson
• Premier of Western Australia - Charles Court
• Premier of Victoria - Rupert Hamer

Events

• January 5 - Tasman Bridge disaster: The Tasman Bridge in Hobart is struck by the ore carrier Lake Illawarra. The bridge partially collapses onto the vessel, which sinks. Seven crew and five motorists are killed
• January 19 - 2JJ, the predecessor of youth radio Triple J, commences broadcasting in Sydney
• March 21 - Malcolm Fraser replaces Billy Snedden as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia
• April 25 - The Australian Embassy in South Vietnam is closed and staff evacuated prior to the Fall of Saigon
• July 1 - Medibank is introduced, Australia Post and Telecom are formed from the Postmaster-General's Department (PMG)
• September 16 - Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia
• September 20 - Thirteen miners are killed in an underground coal mine explosion at the Kianga Mine at Moura, Queensland
• October 16 - The Balibo Five are killed by Indonesian troops in Portuguese Timor
• November 11 - The Governor General, John Kerr, dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam. Malcolm Fraser is installed as caretaker Prime Minister
• December 25 - Fifteen persons are killed in an arson attack at the Savoy Hotel in Kings Cross, New South Wales.
• Scientist John Cornforth is announced as Australian of the Year

Science and technology

• John Cornforth shares the Nobel Prize for Chemistry

Arts and literature

• Kevin Connor wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of The Hon Sir Frank Kitto, KBE
• Xavier Herbert's novel Poor Fellow My Country wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

• Picnic at Hanging Rock, directed by Peter Weir, is released

Television

• March 1 - "C-Day." Full-time colour broadcasting is launched.
• April - Graham Kennedy said the crow call "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" during a live ad on The Graham Kennedy Show. The studio operators complied, and the show immediately pulled the plug and went to a black screen saying the network had "technical difficulties". In Sydney, the show went to a commercial break and Kennedy never came back, with Bert Newton remaining during the air time. The same happened in Adelaide, with the exception that it was succeeded by Don Lane starting the host his variety show with Newton. Kennedy was immediately fired and banned for life from GTV-9.

Sport

• March 16 – Australia is represented by twelve long-distance runners (eight men, four women) at the third IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Rabat, Morocco. Bill Scott is Australia's best finisher, claiming the 22nd spot (36:28.0) in the race over 12 kilometres.
• August 9 – John Farrington wins his fourth men's national marathon title, clocking 2:17:20 in Point Cook.

• Think Big wins the Melbourne Cup
• Western Australia wins the Sheffield Shield
• Kialoa takes line honours in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Rampage is the handicap winner
• Czechoslovakia defeats Australia 3-0 in the Federation Cup

Births

• January 19 — Natalie Cook, beach volleyball player
• February 4 — Natalie Imbruglia, singer
• March 13 — Matt Sing, rugby league footballer
• April 19 — Jason Gillespie, cricketer
• May 21 — Anthony Mundine, rugby league footballer and boxer
• May 27 — Michael Hussey, cricketer
• June 9 — Andrew Symonds, cricketer
• July 2 — Daniel Kowalski, swimmer
• July 17 — Loretta Harrop, triathlete
• August 7 — David Matthew Hicks, prisoner at Guantánamo Bay, convicted of terrorism
• August 12 — Taryn Woods, water polo player
• August 21 — Simon Katich, cricketer
• August 25 — Petria Thomas, swimmer
• September 1 — Natalie Bassingthwaighte, singer and actress
• September 18 — Don Hany, actor
• September 28 — Stuart Clark, cricketer
• October 9 — Mark Viduka, football (soccer) player
• October 31 — Carla Boyd, basketball player
• October 31 — Jagan Hames, track and field athlete

Deaths

• September 27 - Jack Lang (b. 1876), Premier of New South Wales
• November 5 - Annette Kellerman (b. 1887), swimmer and film star