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See also: 1996 in Australia, other events of 1997, 1998 in Australia

Incumbents

• Queen of Australia - HM Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor General - Sir William Deane
• Prime Minister - John Howard
• Premier of New South Wales - Bob Carr
• Premier of South Australia - John Olsen
• Premier of Queensland - Rob Borbidge
• Premier of Tasmania - Tony Rundle
• Premier of Western Australia - Richard Court
• Premier of Victoria - Jeff Kennett
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory - Kate Carnell
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory - Shane Stone
• Chief Minister of Norfolk Island - George Charles Smith from 5 May

Events

• January 9 - Yachtsman Tony Bullimore is found alive five days after his boat capsized in the Southern Ocean.^[1]
• May 1 - Tasmania becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalise homosexuality. On the same day, Melbourne's HM Prison Pentridge is closed.
• May 5 - The position of Chief Minister of Norfolk Island is restored.
• May 20 - A Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission report calls for an apology for an early government policy of removing Aboriginal children from their parents & placing them in institutions.
• July 1 - Deregulation of the Telecommunications market, allowing the entry of competitors other than Telstra and Optus
• July 13 - A crowd of over 100,000 people watch the Royal Canberra Hospital implosion. A 12 year old girl, Katie Bender, is killed instantly & nine others are injured when debris from the site travels across Lake Burley Griffin.
• July 30 - The Thredbo landslide occurs, killing 17 people.
• August 2 - Stuart Diver, a ski instructor, is rescued as the sole survivor of the Thredbo Landslide.
• August 30 - Elections in the Northern Territory re-elect the Country Liberal Party government of Shane Stone.
• September - The head of Yagan is repatriated to Australia 164 years after being taken to the United Kingdom.^[2]
• October 11 - The Liberal/National coalition government of John Olsen is re-elected in South Australia for another term, albeit with a substantially reduced minority.
• October 15 - Cheryl Kernot, leader of the Australian Democrats defected to the Australian Labor Party.

Arts and literature

• Mark Raphael Baker's novel The Fiftieth Gate wins the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award
• David Foster's novel The Glade within the Grove wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

The Castle

Television

• July 1 - Prime Television comes to Mildura, ending a monopoly on commercial television held by STV-8 since 1965.
• November 1 - TCN-9 stages the first trial of digital television in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sport

• February 27 – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 1996-1997 season, which are held at the Olympic Park in Melbourne, Victoria. The 5,000 metres was conducted at the Nike Classic, Melbourne on February 20. The men's decathlon event was conducted at the Hobart Grand Prix on February 15-16 1997.
• March 1 – The Super League competition commences with 2 matches, with the Brisbane Broncos defeating the Auckland (now New Zealand) Warriors 14-2 in Brisbane & the North Queensland Cowboys defeating the Adelaide Rams 24-16 in Townsville.
• March 2 – Greg Blewett and Steve Waugh bat the whole day during the first test match at Johannesburg against South Africa.
• March 7 – The ARL competition kicks off with the Parramatta Eels defeating the North Sydney Bears 10-8 at Parramatta Stadium.
• May 19 – New South Wales defeat Queensland 23-22 in the longest (104 minutes) & one of the most exciting games of representative rugby league ever played.
• May 25 – Brisbane Strikers create history by winning the NSL Grand Final, a 2-0 victory over Sydney United. The achievement was the first NSL title in their history, the first time a Queensland side had won the title, and all in front of a record crowd of 40,446 at Suncorp Stadium.
• July 13 – Patrick Carroll wins his second men's national marathon title, clocking 2:11:21 in Brisbane, while Susan Hobson claims her second women's title in 2:32:43.
• August 22 - The Melbourne Phoenix defeat the Adelaide Thunderbirds 58-48 in the inaugural Commonwealth Bank Trophy netball grand final
• September 17 – The Melbourne Storm rugby league team is founded.
• September 20 – The Brisbane Broncos defeat the Cronulla Sharks 26-8 at ANZ Stadium (now Queen Elizabeth II stadium) to become premiers of the Super League (Australia) season 1997. It is the first ever night grand final played in rugby league.
• September 27 – The Adelaide Crows (19.11.125) defeat the St Kilda Saints (13.16.94) to win the 101st VFL/AFL. It is the first premiership for Adelaide & the first time the AFL flag has left Victoria since 1994.
• September 28 – In one of, if not the most exciting grand final ever played, the Newcastle Knights defeat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 22-16 to win the 90th NSWRL/ARL premiership. It is the first premiership for Newcastle & it was the third consecutive grand final appearance for Manly.
• November 29 – In what has come to be known as The Iran Game, the Socceroos draw 2-2 with Iran at the MCG after leading 2-0. The game is interrupted when serial pest Peter Hore cut up Iran's goal net. Iran qualifies for the 1998 FIFA World Cup on the away goals rule.
• December 19 – After a series of meetings at the Sydney Football Stadium (now Aussie Stadium), the Super League war is declared over. The ARL & Super League agree to form the National Rugby League, and the Perth Reds, Hunter Mariners & South Queensland Crushers are shut down to give a 20-team competition for 1998. The NRL is to be reduced to 14 teams for 2000 after reform.

Births

Deaths

• July 14 - Garfield Barwick, Chief Justice of the High Court (b. 1903)
• August 6 - Lance Barnard, Federal politician (b. 1919)
• November 5 - Peter Jackson, rugby league footballer (b. 1964)
• November 22 - Michael Hutchence, musician, (b. 1960)

Unknown Dates

• Laurence Henry Hicks, composer (b. 1912)

References