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See also: 1999 in Australia, other events of 2000, 2001 in Australia

Incumbents

• Monarch – Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir William Deane
• Prime Minister – John Howard

Premiers and Chief Ministers

• Premier of New South Wales – Bob Carr
• Premier of Queensland – Peter Beattie
• Premier of South Australia – John Olsen
• Premier of Tasmania – Jim Bacon
• Premier of Western Australia – Richard Court
• Premier of Victoria – Steve Bracks
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Kate Carnell (until 18 October), then Gary Humphries
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Denis Burke
• Chief Minister of Norfolk Island – George Charles Smith (until 28 February), then Ronald Coane Nobbs

Governors and Administrators

• Governor of New South Wales – Gordon Samuels
• Governor of Queensland – Peter Arnison
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Eric Neal
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Guy Green
• Governor of Western Australia – Michael Jeffery (until 11 May), then John Sanderson (from 18 August)
• Governor of Victoria – Sir James Gobbo
• Administrator of the Northern Territory – Neil Conn
• Administrator of Norfolk Island – Tony Messner

Events

• 14 January - CASA grounds 5000 light aircraft that had used contaminated Mobil fuel.
• February - A 15 year old Aboriginal boy dies in a Northern Territory gaol, sparking controversy about the Territory's mandatory sentencing laws & those of neighboring Western Australia.
• May - 250,000 people walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in support of reconciliation with Australia's Aboriginal people.
• 23 June - The Childers backpacker hostel fire kills 15 people.
• 1 July - Goods and Services Tax introduced.
• 11 September - 13 - The World Economic Forum is held in Melbourne. The S11 movement organises protests that overshadow the meeting.
• 15 September to 1 October - Sydney Olympics held & are a massive success. Outgoing International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch regards them as the 'best Olympic Games ever'.
• November - New South Wales suffers its worst floods in 40 years, with 240 cm of rain falling in one week.

Arts and literature

• ARIA Music Awards of 2000
• Thea Astley's novel Drylands and Kim Scott's novel Benang are co-winners of the Miles Franklin Award

Film

• 27 June - Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones begins principal photography at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney.
• 2 October - Queen of the Damned, based on the novel by Anne Rice, begins principal photography in a converted biscuit factory in St Albans, Melbourne.

Television

• 1 January - The Seven Network introduces a new logo to celebrate the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the first one not to have the 7 inside a circle.
• February - Popstars becomes the first Australian reality talent show, earns massive ratings for the Seven Network & leads to Bardot, the end product of the show, becoming the first Australian act to debut at no.1 on the ARIA charts,
• February - Australia's Funniest Home Video Show returns and starts in 2000 with a new look format, new theme song and a relocation from Sydney to Melbourne.
• September - The Sydney Olympics earn record ratings for Channel 7 with the Olympic Opening & Closing Ceremonies & its continuous coverage.
• 19 December - The Seven Network loses the TV rights to the AFL for the first time since televised football began in 1957. The rights are won by a Nine Network-Network Ten-Foxtel consortium.

Sport

• 24 February – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 1999-2000 season, which are held at the Stadium Australia in Sydney. The 10,000 metres was conducted at the Melbourne Grand Prix on 2 March 2000.
• 9 March – Colonial Stadium (now Telstra Dome) plays host to its first game of Australian rules football. Essendon defeats Port Adelaide (24.12.156) to (8.14.62)
• 3 May – Anthony Mundine, after going AWOL from the St George Illawarra Dragons for 10 days, announces his retirement from rugby league and switches to boxing.
• 5 June, Suncorp Stadium - The 2000 State of Origin is wrapped up by New South Wales in game two of the series against Queensland.
• 11 June – Wollongong Wolves come from 3-0 behind at half-time to defeat Perth Glory and win the NSL Grand Final on penalties after the game finished 3-3. The attendance at Subiaco Oval was 43,242, the record attendance in Australian domestic football history until broken in 2006.
• 11 August – The Melbourne Phoenix defeat the Adelaide Thunderbirds 52-51 in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy netball grand final.
• 27 August – The Brisbane Broncos defeat the Sydney Roosters 14-6 at Stadium Australia (now Telstra Stadium) to win the 93rd NSWRL/ARL/NRL premiership. It is the fifth premiership for the Broncos & the last grand final played during the day.
• 2 September – Essendon (19.21.135) defeats Melbourne (11.9.75) to win the 104th VFL/AFL premiership. It is the most recent occasion that the grand final has been an all Melbourne affair & the last occasion until 2008 that the grand final has been an all-Victorian affair.
• 7 November – Horse Brew wins the Melbourne Cup.
• 19 November – Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna win the FAI Bathurst 1000 for Garry Rogers Motorsport, a first for the team and both drivers.
• 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia result in a record 58 medals for Australia.

Deaths

• 5 March – Dame Roma Mitchell (b. 1913), Governor of South Australia (1991–1996)
• 30 March – Michael Pitman (b. 1933), biologist
• 2 April – Bunney Brooke (b. 1921), actor
• 19 June – Ron Casey (b. 1927), Australian rules footballer and television commentator
• 3 July – Vivian Bullwinkel (b. 1915), army nurse
• 14 July – Mark Oliphant (b. 1901), physicist
• 14 June – Greg Wilton (b. 1955), Labor politician
• 7 September – Bruce Gyngell (b. 1929), television personality
• 19 October – Charles Perkins (b. 1936), Aboriginal activist
• 1 December – Doug Waterhouse (b. 1916), entomologist