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See also: 2000 in Australia, other events of 2001, 2002 in Australia

Incumbents

• Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor General - Sir William Deane, then Peter Hollingworth
• Prime Minister - John Howard
• Premier of New South Wales - Bob Carr
• Premier of South Australia - John Olsen, then Rob Kerin
• Premier of Queensland - Peter Beattie
• Premier of Tasmania - Jim Bacon
• Premier of Western Australia - Richard Court, then Geoffrey Gallop
• Premier of Victoria - Steve Bracks
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory - Gary Humphries, then Jon Stanhope
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory - Denis Burke, then Clare Martin
• Chief Minister of Norfolk Island - Ronald Coane Nobbs (until 5 December), Geoffrey Robert Gardner

Events

• 1 January - A ceremony at Uluru (Ayers Rock) and a parade in Sydney kick off a year of celebrations to mark the centenary of federation.
• 10 February - In Western Australia, the Liberal Party/National Party coalition government of Richard Court is voted out and replaced by the Australian Labor Party (ALP), led by Geoff Gallop
• 27 February - The Labor government of Peter Beattie is comfortably re-elected for a second term in Queensland, despite a scandal that broke out weeks before the election that involved breaches of the Electoral Act by several MPs, including the Deputy Premier.
• 29 June - Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Peter Hollingworth is sworn in as Governor-General of Australia. He would later resign amidst controversy over his handling of child sex cases during his time as Archbishop.
• 20 July - Australian citizen Vivian Solon is unlawfully deported to the Philippines by the Department of Immigration.
• 18 August - For the first time since self government was granted to the Northern Territory in 1978, the Country Liberal Party is voted out of office and replaced by the ALP
• 24 August - The Tampa affair begins when the MV Tampa tries to help a boatload of refugees, mainly from Afghanistan. The crisis is resolved when New Zealand aggress to take some of the refugees and countries such as Nauru and Papua New Guinea agree to take the rest. This was known as the Pacific Solution.
• September 14 - Ansett Australia, one of the oldest airlines in the world and the second-largest in Australia goes under administration with KordaMentha due to major financial struggles.
• 6 October - SIEV-4 reached Christmas Island with 223 passengers. It was alleged by several in the government that asylum seekers aboard this vessel threw their children overboard in order to attract the attention of Australian authorities. This later became known as the 'Children Overboard Affair'
• 12 October - SIEV-5 reached Ashmore Reef with 242 passengers.
• 18 October - SIEV-6 reached Christmas Island with 227 passengers.
• 19 October - SIEV-X, an Indonesian fishing boat en-route to Christmas Island, carrying over 400 asylum seekers, sank in international waters with the loss of 353 people.
• 20 October - The Legislative Assembly election in the Australian Capital Territory results in the Labor Party coming to power for the first time since 1995.
• 22 October - SIEV-7 reached Ashmore Reef with 233 passengers.
• October - Australia agrees to provide 1550 troops to the US operation in Afghanistan.
• 10 November - In the wake of the September 11 attacks and the Tampa crisis, the Liberal/National coalition government of John Howard is re-elected for a third term in office. Kim Beazley resigns as opposition leader and is replaced by Simon Crean.
• 25 December–6 January - Bushfires rage across New South Wales. No-one is killed.
• 26 December — the south coast tornado occurs during the 2001 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Arts and literature

• ARIA Music Awards of 2001
• Frank Moorhouse's novel Dark Palace wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

• 4 October - The Australian film Lantana debuts.
• The Hard Word

Television

• 1 January - Digital Television arrives in the major state capitals of Australia, with the ABC and SBS permitted to operate multi-channel services.
• 24 April - The Australian version of Big Brother premieres on Network Ten.
• 11 September - Television networks relay coverage from CNN, NBC, ABC America and the BBC for up to 48 hours in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
• November - After Prime Television axes Regional television news bulletins in Newcastle, Wollongong and Canberra, and Southern Cross Ten axes regional bulletins in Canberra and North Queensland, the ABA holds an inquiry into the adequacy of regional news services. Bulletins eventually return to those areas in 2004, albeit in the form of two minute updates during weekdays in the ratings season.
• December - After 21 years, Sale of the Century is "rested". It later returns to the Nine Network as Temptation in 2005.

Sport

• 23 March – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 2000-2001 season, which are held at the ANZ Stadium in Brisbane, Queensland. The 5,000 metres (men and women) were conducted at the Hobart Grand Prix, Tasmania on Sunday 11 March 2001. The 10,000 metres (men and women) were conducted at the Zatopek Classic, Melbourne on Monday 4 December 2000.
• 1 June – Australia shock reigning world champions France 1-0 in a group stage game in the Confederations Cup. The Socceroos later go on to claim 3rd place in the tournament, by beating superpower Brazil 1-0.
• 3 June – Wollongong Wolves defeat Minor Premiers South Melbourne 2-1 in the National Soccer League Grand Final at Parramatta Stadium, becoming Champions for the second season in succession.
• 1 July - Allan Langer makes a spectacular comeback to Australian rugby league to lead the Queensland State of Origin team to a 40-14 victory over their New South Wales counterparts at ANZ Stadium, in what was supposed to be Brad Fittler's last representative game.
• 31 August - The Sydney Swifts defeat the Adelaide Thunderbirds 57-32 in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy netball grand final.
• 29 September - The Brisbane Lions (15.18.108) defeat the Essendon (12.10.82) to win the 105th VFL/AFL premiership. It is the first of three consecutive premierships for Brisbane & until March 2007, the last ever game of Australian rules football broadcast on the Seven Network until 2008.
• 30 September - The Newcastle Knights defeat the Parramatta Eels 30-24 to win the 94th NSWRL/ARL/NRL premiership. It is the second premiership for the Knights & the first grand final played at night.
• 7 October - Mark Skaife and Tony Longhurst survive a late race challenge from Brad Jones and John Bowe to win the V8Supercar Bathurst 1000 for the Holden Racing Team.
• 28 October - Borislav Devic wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:29:11 in Sydney, while Krishna Wood claims the women's title in 2:38:11.
• 6 November - Sheila Laxon becomes the first female trainer to win the Melbourne Cup when Ethereal wins.
• 25 November - The Soccerooos lose 0-3 to Uruguay in the 2nd leg of the CONMEBOL-OFC playoff & fail to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup on aggregate.

Births

Deaths

• 25 February - Donald Bradman (b. 1908), cricketer and businessman
• 5 August - Christopher Skase (b. 1948), businessman and fugitive
• 29 August - Graham "Shirley" Strachan (b. 1952), singer & television presenter
• 1 September - Foster Neil Williams (b. 1922), Australian Rules footballer and coach