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See also: 2002 in Australia, other events of 2003, 2004 in Australia.

Incumbents

• Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor General - Peter Hollingworth, then Administrator of Australia - Sir Guy Green , then Michael Jeffery
• Prime Minister - John Howard
• Premier of New South Wales - Bob Carr
• Premier of South Australia - Mike Rann
• Premier of Queensland - Peter Beattie
• Premier of Tasmania - Jim Bacon
• Premier of Western Australia - Geoffrey Gallop
• Premier of Victoria - Steve Bracks
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory - Jon Stanhope
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory - Clare Martin
• Chief Minister of Norfolk Island - Geoffrey Robert Gardner

Events

• January 18 - Four people die in the Canberra bushfires of 2003.
• January 31 - Seven people die in the Waterfall train disaster, which happened due to the driver having a heart attack at the controls of the train & losing control of the train.
• February 17 - Hundreds of thousands of Australian protestors join millions more in other cities around the world in protesting the Iraq War. These are the biggest street protests seen since the Vietnam War.
• March 20 - The Iraq war begins. Australia sends 2000 military personnel to the conflict.
• March 22 - Bob Carr's ALP government is re-elected for a third term in New South Wales
• April - The North Korean freighter Pong Su is stormed by Special Operations Command troops carrying almost 125 kg (300 lb) of heroin.
• April 28 - All Pan Pharmaceuticals products are recalled by the Therapeutic Goods Administration after a number of safety problems were found at its manufacturing plant, in what was one of Australia's biggest ever recalls.
• May 29 - An attempted hijacking of Qantas Flight 1737 between Melbourne and Launceston is thwarted when a flight attendant and passengers subdue and disarm the culprit.
• June - Major-General Michael Jeffrey becomes Australia's Governor-General after the resignation of Dr Peter Hollingworth due to his handling of a child sex case while he was Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.
• October 22 - US President George W. Bush & President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao visit Australia simultaneously. President Bush gives his address to Parliament on October 22, while the PRC leader gives his address on October 23.
• November 28 - Simon Crean resigns as Opposition Leader. Mark Latham defeats Kim Beazley by two votes in a party room ballot on December 2.

Arts and literature

• ARIA Music Awards of 2003
• Alex Miller's novel Journey to the Stone Country wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

• June 30 - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith begins principal photography at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney.

Television

• October - After protests from the Vietnamese community, SBS decides to cancel its broadcasts of the state-run news service from Vietnam.
• December 31 - Southern Cross Ten goes on air as a supplementary broadcaster to existing solus broadcaster Central GTS/BKN in the Spencer Gulf region of South Australia and the Broken Hill area of New South Wales.

Sport

• February 12 – Australia beat England 3-1 in a friendly upset at Boleyn Ground, London.
• April 3 – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 2002-2003 season, which are held at the ANZ Stadium in Brisbane, Queensland. The 5,000 metres were conducted at the Melbourne Track Classic, Victoria on Saturday March 1, 2003. The 10,000 metres (men and women) were conducted at the Runaway Bay Grand Prix in Queensland on Saturday April 12, 2003.
• April 6 – Sydney Kings win their first championship by defeating Perth Wildcats 117-101 in Game 2 of the last best-of-three NBL Grand Final series.
• April 7 – The Crawford Report delivers recommendations to the Federal Government regarding the Structure, Governance and Management of Soccer in Australia.
• June 1 – Perth Glory avenge their defeat in the 2001-2002 NSL Grand Final by beating Olympic Sharks 2-0 in the Final at Subiaco Oval to become Champions for the first time in their history.
• September 12 – The Melbourne Phoenix defeat the Sydney Swifts 47-44 in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy netball grand final.
• September 14 – Paul Arthur wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:31:28 in Sydney, while Helen Tolhurst claims the women's title in 2:58:58.
• September 27 – The Brisbane Lions (20.14.134) defeat the Collingwood Magpies (12.12.84) to win the 107th VFL/AFL premiership. It is the third consecutive grand final win for Brisbane and the second consecutive year that they and Collingwood have met in the grand final.
• October 5 - The Penrith Panthers defeat the Sydney Roosters 18-6 to win the 96th NSWRL/ARL/NRL premiership. It is the second premiership for Penrith.
• October 10-November 22 - Australia hosts the 2003 Rugby World Cup. In the final held at Telstra Stadium in Sydney, England defeats Australia 20-17 after a last-minute field goal from Jonny Wilkinson in extra time.
• October 12 - New Zealander Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly dominate the Bob Jane T-marts Bathurst 1000 for the K-mart Racing Team. It was Murphy's third win, each for different teams, while at just 20 years of age, Kelly becomes the youngest winner in the races history. It was the fifth consecutive win for Holden, a new record.
• November 4 - Makybe Diva wins the Melbourne Cup horse racing event. It is the first of three Melbourne Cup wins for the mare.

Births

Deaths

• January 11 - Maurice Gibb, 53, Bee Gee
• January 17 - Ed Devereaux, 78, actor
• January 20 - John Halfpenny, 68, trade union leader
• March 2 - Malcolm Williamson, 71, composer, Master of the Queen's Music
• March 3 - Dick Garrard, 92, Olympic wrestler
• August 23 - Jack Dyer, 89, Australian rules football legend
• August 24 - Mal Colston, 65, politician
• September 29 - Slim Dusty, 76, country music singer
• October 12 - Jim Cairns, 89, politician