The following lists events that happened during 2011 in Australia.

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

–

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

* Governor-General –

Quentin Bryce Dame Quentin Alice Louise Bryce, (née Strachan; born 23 December 1942) is an Australian academic who served as the 25th governor-general of Australia from 2008 to 2014. She is the first woman to have held the position, and was previously the ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

– Julia Gillard **

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

–

Wayne Swan Wayne Maxwell Swan (born 30 June 1954), often colloquially referred to as Swanny, is an Australian politician who is National President of the Labor Party. He was previously the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Deputy Leader of the Labor ...

Opposition Leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

–

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

* Chief Justice –

Robert French Robert Shenton French (born 19 March 1947) is an Australian lawyer and judge who served as the twelfth Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 2008 to 2017. He has been the chancellor of the University of Western Australia since 2017. Fren ...

State and Territory Leaders

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislatu ...

–

Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who was a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 until April 2022, when she resigned to unsuccessfully contest the House of Repres ...

(until 28 March), then

Barry O'Farrell Barry Robert O'Farrell (born 24 May 1959) is a former Australian politician who has been Australia's High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan since May 2020. O'Farrell was the 43rd Premier of New South Wales and Minis ...

–

(until 28 March), then John Robertson *

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

– Anna Bligh **

–

John-Paul Langbroek John-Paul Honoré Langbroek (born 31 January 1961) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland representing the centre-right Liberal Party and its successor, the centre-right Liberal National Part ...

(until 11 April), then

Jeff Seeney Jeffrey William Seeney (born 2 February 1957) is a former Australian politician and the former Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning of Queensland. He was a member of the Legislative Assembl ...

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...

–

Mike Rann Michael David Rann, , (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and Australian am ...

(until 21 October), then

Jay Weatherill Jay Wilson Weatherill (born 3 April 1964) is an Australian politician who was the 45th Premier of South Australia, serving from 21 October 2011 until 19 March 2018. Weatherill represented the House of Assembly seat of Cheltenham as a member of ...

–

Isobel Redmond Isobel Mary Redmond (born 8 April 1953) is a former Australian politician who was the member for the electoral district of Heysen in the House of Assembly from 2002 to 2018. She was the parliamentary leader of the South Australian Division of t ...

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly is invited by the governor of ...

–

David Bartlett David John Bartlett (born 19 January 1968) is an Australian former politician in the state of Tasmania, serving as the 43rd Premier of Tasmania from May 2008 until January 2011. He was a Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly s ...

(until 23 January), then

Lara Giddings Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings (born 14 November 1972) is a former Australian politician who was the 44th Premier of Tasmania from 24 January 2011 until 31 March 2014, the first woman to hold the position. Born in Goroka, Papua New Guinea, she ...

–

Will Hodgman William Edward Felix Hodgman (born 20 April 1969) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who has been the High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore since February 2021. He was the 45th Premier of Tasmania and a member for the Divisio ...

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assemb ...

–

Ted Baillieu Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, representing the electorate of ...

– Daniel Andrews *

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

–

Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is a former Australian politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other po ...

–

Eric Ripper Eric Stephen Ripper (born 13 September 1951) is a retired Australian politician. From 2008 to 2012 he was Leader of the Opposition and leader of the Labor Party in Western Australia. He grew up on a wheat/sheep farm near Nyabing. Ripper late ...

* Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory –

Jon Stanhope Jonathan Donald Stanhope (born 29 April 1951) is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assemb ...

(until 12 May), then

Katy Gallagher Katherine Ruth Gallagher (born 18 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Albanese Gove ...

–

Zed Seselja Zdenko Matthew "Zed" Seselja (born 27 March 1977) is an Australian politician who was a Senator for the Australian Capital Territory from 2013 to 2022, representing the Liberal Party. He was the Minister for International Development and the ...

Chief Minister of the Northern Territory The chief minister of the Northern Territory is the head of government of the Northern Territory. The office is the equivalent of a state premier. When the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was created in 1974, the head of government was ...

– Paul Henderson **

– Terry Mills * Chief Minister of Norfolk Island –

David Buffett David Ernest Buffett Order of Australia, AM (born 17 October 1942) is a political figure from the Australian territory of Norfolk Island. He served as List of heads of government of Norfolk Island, Chief Minister of Norfolk Island from March 201 ...

Governors and Administrators

* Governor of New South Wales –

Marie Bashir Dame Marie Roslyn Bashir (born 1 December 1930) is the former and second longest-serving Governor of New South Wales. Born in Narrandera, New South Wales, Bashir graduated from the University of Sydney in 1956 and held various medical positio ...

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...

–

Penelope Wensley Penelope Anne Wensley, (born 18 October 1946) is a former Australian public servant and diplomat who served as the 25th Governor of Queensland from 2008 to 2014. She was previously High Commissioner to India from 2001 to 2004 and Ambassador to ...

* Governor of South Australia –

Kevin Scarce Rear Admiral Kevin John Scarce, (born 4 May 1952) is a retired Royal Australian Navy officer who was the 34th Governor of South Australia, serving from August 2007 to August 2014. He was succeeded by Hieu Van Le, who had previously been his li ...

Governor of Tasmania The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the ...

–

Peter Underwood Peter George Underwood, (10 October 1937 – 7 July 2014) was an Australian jurist and the Governor of Tasmania from 2008 until his death in 2014. He was the Chief Justice of Tasmania from 2004 to 2008, having been a judge of the Supreme Cour ...

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and th ...

–

David de Kretser David Morritz de Kretser, (born 27 April 1939) is an Australian medical researcher who served as the 27th Governor of Victoria, from 2006 to 2011. Early life and medical career David de Kretser was born in British Ceylon (now known as Sri La ...

(until 7 April), then Alex Chernov *

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutiona ...

– Ken Michael (until 2 May), then Malcolm McCusker * Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories –

Brian Lacy Brian James Lacy (born 22 May 1943) is an Australian public servant. He was formerly the Administrator of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Lacy was the Senior Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission bef ...

Administrator of Norfolk Island The administrator of Norfolk Island acts as a representative both of The Crown and of the Government of Australia, as well as carrying out other duties according to the ''Norfolk Island Amendment Act 2015''.Owen Walsh Owen Edward John Walsh is a former Administrator of the Australian territory of Norfolk Island. Son of John ("Jack") Melvyn Walsh (1923-1972) and Beverley Dawn Essen (1928-2011). Walsh was educated at the Hutchins School, and then attended t ...

Administrator of the Northern Territory The Administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the Governor-General of Australia to represent the government of the Commonwealth in the Northern Territory, Australia. They perform functions similar to those of a state gov ...

– Tom Pauling (until 31 October), then Sally Thomas

Events

January

* December 2010 to January 2011 – Flooding across Queensland continues, the most widespread flooding disaster in Queensland history. The

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

and

Lockyer Valley The Lockyer Valley is an area of rich farmlands that lies to the west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and east of Toowoomba. The Lockyer Valley is rated among the top ten most fertile farming areas in the world, and the intensively cultiv ...

regions are severely affected by floodwaters on 10 January, which would later lead to flooding in the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

regions. * 10 January – A large

bushfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

threatens the area of

Lake Clifton, Western Australia Lake Clifton is a small town located on the east side of the lake of the same name in the Peel region of Western Australia just off the Old Coast Road, between Mandurah and Bunbury at the north end of the Yalgorup National Park. At the 2016 ...

, about 100 km south of Perth. * 13 January – of rain falls in 24 hours at

Scamander Scamander (; also Skamandros ( grc, Σκάμανδρος) or Xanthos () was a river god in Greek mythology. Etymology The meaning of this name is uncertain. The second element looks like it is derived from Greek () meaning 'of a man', but t ...

in north east Tasmania leads to flash flooding in the town, along with St Helens. * 14 January – Major floods occur across much of western and central Victoria totally inundating the town of

Carisbrook Carisbrook (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Carisbrook Stadium) was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it was also used for other sports such as cricket, football, r ...

and causing evacuations in many others. * 17 January – The Commission of Inquiry into the 2010–11 Queensland floods is established to investigate matters related to the Queensland floods. * 23 January – Corporal

Ben Roberts-Smith Benjamin Roberts-Smith (born 1 November 1978) is an Australian businessman and a former Australian Army soldier. The Victoria Cross (VC) in 2011 and the Medal for Gallantry (MG) in 2006 made Roberts-Smith the most highly decorated serving membe ...

of the

Special Air Service Regiment The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR though commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army. Formed in 1957, it was modelled on the British SAS sharing the motto, "Who Dares Wins". The re ...

is awarded the

Victoria Cross for Australia The Victoria Cross for Australia is the highest award in the Australian honours system, superseding the British Victoria Cross for issue to Australians. The Victoria Cross for Australia is the "decoration for according recognition to persons w ...

for his actions in the Shah Wali Kot Offensive in June 2010, part of the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

. * 23 January –

announces his resignation as

citing a desire to spend more time with his family. * 27 January – Prime Minister Julia Gillard announces that her government proposes to introduce a Flood levy to assist in funding reconstruction works required as a result of major floods in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. * 30 January – Tropical Cyclone Anthony makes landfall near Bowen in Queensland's north, bringing wind gusts of up to .

February

Downed power pole and lines on Hugh Street in Townsville

*3 February – Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi makes landfall at near Mission Beach, south of

Innisfail, Queensland Innisfail (from Irish: Inis Fáil) is a regional town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was originally called Geraldton until 1910. In the , the town of Innisfail had a population of 7,236 people, whil ...

. *4–5 February – Severe thunderstorms related to Tropical Cyclone Anthony affect much of Victoria.

Flash flooding A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing ov ...

affected many places across the state including

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

in the state's north west and the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The town of

Koo Wee Rup Koo Wee Rup is a town and satellite suburb in Victoria, Australia, 63 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Cardinia local government area. Built on former marshland now converted to market ...

was evacuated when the

Bunyip River The Bunyip River is a perennial river of the Western Port catchment, located in the West Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. Location and features The Bunyip River rises below Mount Beenak, part of the southern portion of the Y ...

reached a height of . *6–7 February – Bushfires in Perth destroy at least 50 houses. *17 February – REDGroup Retail (including the

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

and Angus & Robertson bookshop chains) is placed into voluntary administration with Ferrier Hodgson appointed as administrators. *24 February – Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that the Federal Government proposed to introduce a

carbon pricing Carbon pricing (or pricing), also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS), is a method for nations to reduce global warming. The cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions in order to encourage polluters to reduce the co ...

scheme by 1 July 2012. Federal Opposition Leader

claims that Gillard broke a promise made during the 2010 Federal election campaign not to introduce a

carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...

. *24 February – AFACT loses its appeal to the Federal Court of Australia affirming that

iiNet iiNet Limited is an Australian internet service provider that sells NBN plans and services on its ULTRA Broadband Cable, FTTB and VDSL2 networks. It was acquired by TPG Telecom in July 2020. iiNet was acquired by TPG in September 2015 for $ ...

was not liable for the illegal downloading and

peer-to-peer file sharing Peer-to-peer file sharing is the distribution and sharing of digital media using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking technology. P2P file sharing allows users to access media files such as books, music, movies, and games using a P2P software program th ...

of films and television programs by its users.

March

*3 March – The temperature in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

reaches above 30 degrees for the 26th consecutive day, making it the longest recorded heatwave in the city, beating the previous record set in 1988. *26 March – A state election is held in New South Wales.

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

government is defeated by

Liberal-National Coalition The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as "the Coalition" or informally as the LNP, is an alliance of centre-right political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Australian federal politics. The two partners in ...

April

*19 April – Floodwaters inundate around 100 houses in the western Queensland town of

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. *20 April – Asylum seekers at Sydney's

Villawood Detention Centre Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, originally Villawood Migrant Hostel or Villawood Migrant Centre, split into a separate section named Westbridge Migrant Hostel from 1968 to 1984, is an Australian immigration detention facility located in ...

riot in protest over delays in processing their applications for asylum, burning down at least three buildings.

May

*4 May – Virgin Blue Airlines is renamed and rebranded as

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue'', with two ...

. *16 May – The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly elects

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

, following the resignation of

on 12 May. *29 May 2011: Detective Senior Constable Damien Leeding (CIB) was shot when he confronted an armed offender at the Pacific Pines Tavern on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. Leeding died in hospital on 1 June three days after being shot.

June

*5 June –

Say Yes demonstrations The "Say Yes" demonstrations were a series of simultaneous political demonstrations held in major cities across Australia on 5 June 2011 to coincide with World Environment Day. The gatherings were organised as demonstrations of some public sup ...

occur in numerous cities across Australia in support of political action on climate change. *11 June – Hundreds of flights are suspended following the

ash cloud Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to refer t ...

from an

eruption Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...

in the

Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Puyehue (; ) and Cordón Caulle are two coalesced volcanic edifices that form a major mountain massif in Puyehue National Park in the Andes of Ranco Province, in the South of Chile. In volcanology this group is known as the Puyehue-Cordón Cau ...

volcano complex in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

reaching southern Australia. *16 June – A report by the Victorian Ombudsman criticises the

Chief Commissioner A chief commissioner is a commissioner of a high rank, usually in chief of several commissioners or similarly styled officers. Colonial In British India the gubernatorial style was chief commissioner in various (not all) provinces (often after be ...

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victoria Police had over 22,300 staff, comprising over 16,700 ...

Simon Overland Simon James Overland (born 19 March 1962)
2 March 2009, www.premier.vic.gov.au is the for ...

's publication of "misleading" crime statistics in the lead-up to the 2010 State election. Overland subsequently resigns as Chief Commissioner.

July

*25 July – The Gillard Government signs off on an arrangement with Malaysia that will see Australia deport 800 asylum seekers to that country in return for resettling 4000 refugees verified by the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

August

*8 August – A High Court judge orders the government's "Malaysia Solution" to send asylum seekers to Malaysia be put on hold until the full bench of the High Court could assess the scheme's legality. *9 August – The 2011 Census of Population and Housing is held. *28 August –

Queensland Police The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto ...

confirm that bones found in bushland on the Sunshine Coast are those of missing teenager

Daniel Morcombe Daniel James Morcombe (19 December 1989 – 7 December 2003) was an Australian boy who was abducted from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland on 7 December 2003 when he was 13 years old. Eight years later, Brett Peter Cowan (born 18 September 1969), ...

. Morcombe had been missing since 2003 * 31 August – The High Court of Australia rules the Gillard Government's " Malaysia Solution" for the processing of asylum-seekers is unlawful.

September

*1 September – Forensic experts confirm that the remains of a person found on the grounds of the former

HM Prison Pentridge HM Prison Pentridge was an Australian prison that was first established in 1851 in Coburg, Victoria. The first prisoners arrived in 1851. The prison officially closed on 1 May 1997. Pentridge was often referred to as the "Bluestone College", ...

are those of bushranger

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

October

*19 to 29 October – Queen Elizabeth and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

visit Visit refer as go to see and spend time with socially. Visit may refer to: *State visit, a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country *Conjugal visit, in which a prisoner is permitted to spend several hours or days in private with a visit ...

Canberra, Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne. *21 October –

stands down as

after losing party support, and is replaced by

. *21 October –

officers forcibly remove

Occupy Melbourne Occupy Melbourne was a social movement which took place from late 2011 to mid 2012 in Melbourne, Australia as part of the global Occupy movementParticipants expressed grievances concerning economic inequality, social injustice, corruption in th ...

protesters from Melbourne's

City Square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

. *28 to 30 October – the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is held in Perth. *29 October – In response to industrial action by pilots, ground staff and engineers,

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...

grounds its entire international and domestic fleet. *31 October –

Fair Work Australia The Fair Work Commission (FWC), until 2013 known as Fair Work Australia (FWA), is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the ''Fair Work Act 2009'' as part of the Rudd Government's reforms to industrial relations in Australi ...

orders the termination of all industrial action taken by Qantas and the involved trade unions. Qantas flights resume on the afternoon of that day.

November

*16 November – The

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

visits Australia to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the

ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a 1951 non-binding collective security agreement between Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States, to co-operate on militar ...

alliance. *24 November –

Harry Jenkins Henry Alfred "Harry" Jenkins, (born 18 August 1952) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1986 to 2013, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Jenkins served as the 26th Speaker of ...

resigns as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Peter Slipper is elected in his place. *25 November – 34 homes are destroyed in

Margaret River, Western Australia Margaret River is a town in the South West of Western Australia, located in the valley of the eponymous Margaret River, south of Perth, the state capital. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River. Margaret River's co ...

when a

prescribed burn A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...

by the Department of Environment and Conservation had "gone wrong" and "escaped" into bushland. * 30 November –

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

passed a bill allowing civil partnerships for same-sex couples in Queensland; a similar legislation already exists in Tasmania, Victoria, the ACT and NSW.

December

* 18 December – A boat sailing from Indonesia carrying over 200 asylum seekers sinks off the coast of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

while heading for

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

. At least 160 people are feared dead.

Arts and literature

*27 April – Andrew Ruhemann and

Shaun Tan Shaun Tan (born 1973) is an Australian artist, writer and film maker. He won an Academy Award for '' The Lost Thing'', a 2011 animated film adaptation of a 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. Other books he has written and illustrated inc ...

are awarded the

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year 1 ...

at the 83rd Academy Awards for their film ''

The Lost Thing ''The Lost Thing'' is a picture book written and illustrated by Shaun Tan that was also adapted into an Academy Award-winning animated short film. Plot Set in the near future, a dystopian Melbourne, Australia, ''The Lost Thing'' is a story abou ...

''. *15 April –

Ben Quilty Ben Quilty (born 1973) is an Australian artist and social commentator, who has won a series of painting prizes: the 2014 Prudential Eye Award, 2011 Archibald Prize, and 2009 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. He has been described as one of Au ...

is awarded the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor ...

for his portrait of

Margaret Olley Margaret Hannah Olley (24 June 192326 July 2011) was an Australian painter. She was the subject of more than ninety solo exhibitions. Early life Margaret Olley was born in Lismore, New South Wales. She was the eldest of three children of J ...

. The

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

was awarded to Richard Goodwin for ''Co-isolated slave'' and the

Sulman Prize The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936. It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Galler ...

was awarded to Peter Smeeth for ''The artist's fate''. *17 August – The

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

announces it has acquired ''Madonna and Child with the infant Saint John the Baptist'' by Italian

High Renaissance In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...

painter Antonio da Correggio. Purchased at auction for £3.2 million ($5.2 million), it is the most expensive acquisition in the 150-year history of the NGV.

Science and technology

*15 September – Researchers from

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

announce the identification of a new dolphin species, the

Burrunan dolphin The Burrunan dolphin (''Tursiops australis'') is a species of bottlenose dolphin found in parts of Victoria, Australia first described in 2011. Its exact taxonomy is debated: numerous studies support it as being a separate species within the genu ...

(''Tursiops australis''), in

Port Phillip Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is com ...

and

Gippsland Lakes The Gippsland Lakes are a network of coastal lakes, marshes and lagoons in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering an overall area of about between the rural towns of Lakes Entrance, Bairnsdale and Sale. The largest of the lakes are L ...

. *4 October – American-born astrophysicist

Brian Schmidt Brian Paul Schmidt (born 24 February 1967) is the Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU). He was previously a Distinguished Professor, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and astrophysicist at the University's M ...

was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery of the increasing acceleration of the expansion of the universe. A professor at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

, Schmidt shared the award with

Adam Riess Adam Guy Riess (born December 16, 1969) is an American astrophysicist and Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute. He is known for his research in using supernovae as cosmologic ...

and

Saul Perlmutter Saul Perlmutter (born September 22, 1959) is a U.S. astrophysicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of both the American Academy of Arts & Sciences ...

Sport

*7 January – Cricket:

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

wins

The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

series 3–1 over Australia. *29 January – Tennis:

Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Clijsters reached the world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, having held both rankings simultaneously in 2003. She won six major titles, ...

wins the women's singles title at the 2011 Australian Open, defeating

Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 2 on 17 February 2014. Over the course of her career, Li won nine WTA Tour singles titles including two Grand ...

. *29 January – Soccer: Australia is defeated 1–0 in extra time by Japan in the final of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. *30 January – Tennis:

Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...

wins the men's singles title at the 2011 Australian Open, defeating Andy Murray. *7 February – Cricket:

Shane Watson Shane Robert Watson (born 17 June 1981) is an Australian former cricketer, and occasional captain in all formats, who has played for Australia's national cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast-medium swing bowler w ...

wins the

Allan Border Medal Awarded during the Australian Cricket Awards, the Allan Border Medal is considered to be the most prestigious individual prize in Australian men's cricket. First awarded in 2000, the medal is named after former Australian men's captain Allan Bor ...

for the second year in a row. *12 February – Rugby League: The

2011 All Stars match The 2011 All Stars Match was the second of the annual representative exhibition match played between the Indigenous All Stars and the NRL All Stars which was held on the 12 of February 2011 at the Gold Coast's Skilled Park. The game was won by ...

is held at

Skilled Park A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of wo ...

, with the NRL All Stars defeating the Indigenous All Stars 28–12. NRL fullback

Josh Dugan Joshua Dugan (born 10 May 1990) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a and for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL and Australia at international level. He previously played for the Canberra R ...

of the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

wins the

Preston Campbell Preston Campbell, (born 7 June 1977) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Gold Coast Titans of the National Rugby League. A New South Wales Country and Indigenous Dreamtime team representative or , h ...

award for Man of the Match. Preceding the game was the inaugural Women's All Stars match, which the NRL team also won 22–6. *27 February – Rugby League: 2010 NRL premiers the St. George Illawarra Dragons defeat Super League XV champions the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Northern Rugby Football Union followin ...

21–15 in the

2011 World Club Challenge The 2011 World Club Challenge (known as the Probiz World Club Challenge due to sponsorship) was contested by Super League XV champions, Wigan Warriors, and 2010 NRL Premiers, the St. George Illawarra Dragons, at Wigan's home ground, DW Stadium. ...

, held in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

. *1 March – Soccer:

North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from ...

are dropped from the A-League, after being unable to meet the financial requirements of

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...

. *13 March – Basketball: Bulleen Boomers defeat

Canberra Capitals The University of Canberra Capitals are an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The team is based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. In 2014 the University of Canberr ...

103–78 to win the 2010–11 Women's National Basketball League championship. *13 March – Soccer: Brisbane Roar FC defeat Central Coast Mariners FC 4–2 on penalties (2–2 after extra time) to win the 2010–11 A-League Championship. Brisbane win the Premiership/Championship double. *21 March – Cricket:

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

win their second

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

, beating

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

by seven wickets at

Bellerive Oval Bellerive Oval, known commercially as Blundstone Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a cricket and Australian rules football ground located in Bellerive, a suburb on the eastern shore of Hobart, Australia, holding 20,000 people it is the largest ...

. *27 March – Motor racing: German driver Sebastian Vettel win the 2011 Australian Grand Prix for

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...

, finishing 22 seconds ahead of British driver

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...

. *29 April – Basketball:

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

defeat

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The ...

71–53 in the deciding game of the 2010–11 NBL Grand Final series. The Breakers become the first New Zealand team to win an NBL championship. *22 May – Netball: The

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played in the ...

win the 2011 ANZ Championship defeating the

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body t ...

57–44 in the Grand Final at Brisbane. *6 July – Rugby league:

win a record sixth consecutive

Rugby League State of Origin The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...

title, defeating

34–24 in front of 52,498 fans at Lang Park to win the series by two matches to one. *9 July – Rugby union:

win the 2011 Super Rugby championship, defeating the

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

-based

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

18–13 in front of 52,116 fans at Lang Park; a record crowd for Australian provincial rugby. *10 July – Netball: Australia win the

2011 Netball World Championships The 2011 World Netball Championships was the 13th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Singapore from 3–10 July. All 48 matches were played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Si ...

held in Singapore, defeating

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

58–57 after extra time. *10 July – Soccer: The Matildas—the

Australian women's football team The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) s ...

—is knocked out of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup at the quarter-final stage, defeated by Sweden 3–1 in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

. *24 July – Cycling:

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along wi ...

wins the

2011 Tour de France The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 21 stages over 23 days, covering a distance of . The route e ...

. Evans is the first Australian to win the Tour de France. *30 July – Australian rules football: hands the second worst marginal defeat in

AFL/VFL The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...

history, winning by 186 points. Twenty-four hours after the siren blew at

Kardinia Park Kardinia Park is a major public park located in South Geelong, Victoria. A number of public and sporting facilities are located in the park: a major AFL stadium, a secondary football oval, a cricket field, an open air swimming pool, a numb ...

Dean Bailey Dean Bailey (18 January 1967 – 11 March 2014) was an Australian rules football player and coach. He played for the Essendon Football Club and was the senior coach of the Melbourne Football Club, as well as an assistant coach at Essendon an ...

was sacked as Demons coach after three and a half seasons at the helm. *3 September – Athletics:

Sally Pearson Sally Pearson, OAM (née McLellan; born 19 September 1986) is an Australian former athlete. She is the 2011 and 2017 World champion and 2012 Olympic champion in the 100 metres hurdles. She also won a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles at t ...

wins the Women's 100 metres hurdles at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

at Daegu, South Korea. *4 September – Rugby League: The

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

win their first legitimate minor premiership following the final main round of the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The N ...

. The

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

finish in last position, claiming the

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

. *12 September – Tennis:

Samantha Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten s ...

wins the 2011 US Open, her first Grand Slam singles title. *26 September – Australian rules football:

Dane Swan Dane Swan (born 25 February 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

( Collingwood) wins the

2011 Brownlow Medal The 2011 Brownlow Medal was the 84th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Dane Swan of the Collingwood Football Club won the medal by p ...

. *1 October – Australian rules football: Geelong wins the

2011 AFL Grand Final The 2011 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and the Geelong Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 October 2011. It was the 116th annual grand final of the Au ...

, defeating Collingwood 18.11 (119) to 12.9 (81). *2 October – Rugby league: The

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

win the

2011 NRL Grand Final The 2011 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the NRL's 2011 Telstra Premiership season. It was played between the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the New Zealand Warriors on the afternoon of Sunday, 2 October, and i ...

, defeating the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

24–10. It is the Sea Eagles' most recent premiership win. *9 October – Motor racing:

Garth Tander Garth Tander (born 31 March 1977) is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship's Enduro Cup, co-driving the No. 97 Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineer ...

and

Nick Percat Nick Percat (born 14 September 1988) is an Australian racing driver who currently races in the Repco Supercars Championship, driving for Walkinshaw Andretti United in the No. 2 Holden ZB Commodore. He won the Bathurst 1000 at his first attemp ...

, driving for the

Holden Racing Team Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team currently fields two Holden ZB Commodores in the Supercars Championship for Nick Percat and Chaz Mostert, along with a Porsche 91 ...

, win the

2011 Bathurst 1000 The 2011 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was an Australian touring car motor race for V8 Supercars. The race was on Sunday, 9 October 2011 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia and was Race 20 of the ...

. *22 October – Horse racing: Pinker Pinker wins the

Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by the Moonee Valley Racing Club at Moo ...

at Moonee Valley. *1 November – Horse racing:

Dunaden Dunaden (26 February 2006 – 30 April 2019) was a French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the 2011 Melbourne Cup, ridden by Christophe Lemaire, trained by Mikel Delzangles. The horse was owned by Sheikh Fahad al Thani and managed by Davi ...

, ridden by

Christophe Lemaire Christophe Patrice Lemaire (Japanese:, born 20 May 1979) is a French-born jockey. He has enjoyed much of his success on the Japanese flat racing circuit, with the most wins at Japan Racing Association racetracks for five consecutive years sinc ...

and trained by Mikel Delzangles, wins the

2011 Melbourne Cup The 2011 Emirates Melbourne Cup, the 151st running of Australia's most prestigious Thoroughbred horse race, was held on Tuesday, 1 November 2011 at 3:00 pm (AEDT), at Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse. Dunaden won in a photo finish over ...

. The French-trained horse won in a photo finish over Red Cadeaux—the narrowest victory in the history of the race. *12 November – Commonwealth Games: The

is announced as the host of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. *12 November – Athletics:

was named as the woman

IAAF World Athlete of the Year The World Athlete of the Year award is a prize that can be won by athletes participating in events within the sport of athletics organised by World Athletics (formerly named IAAF), including track and field, cross country running, road running, and ...

for 2011.

Deaths

*1 January –

Sonia Humphrey Sonia Denise Humphrey (10 November 1947 – 1 January 2011) was an Australian television presenter, newsreader and journalist. Humphrey was a talented ballerina as a child and studied television production before working as an archaeologist for f ...

, 63, television presenter and journalist *2 January – Robert Trumble, 91, writer and musician *9 January – Ernest Henry Lee-Steere, 98, businessman *9 January –

Makinti Napanangka Makinti Napanangka ( 1930 – 9 January 2011) was a Pintupi language, Pintupi-speaking Indigenous Australians, Indigenous Australian artist from Australia's Western Desert cultural bloc, Western Desert region. She was referred to posthumously ...

, late 1980s, Australian

Papunya Tula Papunya Tula, registered as Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 in Papunya, Northern Territory, owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative ...

artist *13 January – Mick Cremin, 87, rugby union player *15 January –

Harvey James Harvey James born Harvey William James Harrop (20 September 195215 January 2011) was an English-Australian rock guitarist. He was a member of the bands Mississippi (1973–74), Ariel (1974–75), Sherbet (1976–80, 1980–81) and the Party Bo ...

, 58, guitarist with Sherbet *17 January –

Steve Prestwich Steven William Prestwich (5 March 195416 January 2011) was an English-born Australian drummer, guitarist, singer and songwriter. After relocating from Liverpool, Prestwich was the founding and long-term drummer for the band Cold Chisel, which for ...

, 56, drummer with

Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at the ...

*18 January –

Duncan Hall Duncan Hall (24 August 192518 January 2011) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, singled out as having been amongst the greatest of the 20th century. He played in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership f ...

, 85, rugby league footballer *24 January –

Peter Gibb Peter Robert Gibb (30 June 1954 – 23 January 2011) was an Australian criminal, known for his escape from the Melbourne Remand Centre in 1993. Escape from Melbourne Remand Centre Gibb had several prior convictions for manslaughter, armed robbe ...

, 56, criminal, prison escapee *2 February –

Darrel Baldock Darrel John Baldock AM (29 September 1938 – 2 February 2011) was an Australian sportsman and state politician. He played Australian rules football for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), East Devonport Footba ...

, 72, Australian rules footballer, politician *7 February – Frank Roberts, 65, boxer, first Indigenous Olympian *12 February – James Elliott, 82, actor (''

Number 96 96 (ninety-six) is the natural number following 95 and preceding 97. It is a number that appears the same when turned upside down. In mathematics 96 is: * an octagonal number. * a refactorable number. * an untouchable number. * a semiperfe ...

'') *21 February – Dick Klugman, 87, politician *6 March – Patricia Brennan, 66, advocate for the ordination of women *9 March – Des Meagher, 67, Australian rules footballer *13 March –

Owsley Stanley Augustus Owsley Stanley III (January 19, 1935 – March 12, 2011) was an American-Australian audio engineer and clandestine chemist. He was a key figure in the San Francisco Bay Area hippie movement during the 1960s and played a pivotal role ...

, 76, counter-cultural figure *19 March –

Kym Bonython Kym may refer to: * River Kym, in Cambridgeshire, England *Kym (singer) (born 1983), or Jin Sha, Chinese singer and actress *Know Your Meme, an internet meme documentation blog * Kpatili language's ISO 639 code People with the given name * Kym Bony ...

, 90, arts identity *20 March –

Bob Christo Robert John Christo, was an Australian-Indian civil engineer and actor in Hindi films. Starting with Sanjay Khan's ''Abdullah'' (1980), he went on to act in over 200 Hindi films in the 1980s and 1990s, including '' Qurbani'' (1980), '' Kaalia'' ...

, 72, Bollywood actor *28 March –

Esben Storm Esben Storm (26 May 1950 – 28 March 2011) was a Danish Australian actor, screenwriter, television producer, television director, voice artist and songwriter. He was well known for his work with the Australian Children's Television Foundation, ...

, 60, actor, producer and director *31 March – Tony Barrell, 70, broadcaster *31 March –

Alan Fitzgerald Francis Alan Fitzgerald (born July 16, 1949) is an American musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known as the second bassist of Montrose and as keyboardist for Night Ranger. He has also performed with Gamma, and former Montrose bandmat ...

, 75, journalist and satirist *8 April –

David S. Clarke David Stuart Clarke AO (3 January 1942 – 8 April 2011) was an Australian businessman. He attended Knox Grammar School on Sydney's North Shore, the University of Sydney (BEc), and Harvard Business School (MBA). In 1971, Clarke became joint ma ...

, 69, businessman and winemaker *8 April – Donald Shanks, 70, bass-baritone opera singer *11 April –

John D'Orazio John Biase D'Orazio (5 September 1955 – 11 April 2011) was an Australian politician who served as the member for Ballajura in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 10 February 2001 to 6 September 2008. He was a minister in the go ...

, 55, politician *11 April – Peter Ruehl, 64, columnist *13 April – Alan Noonan, 63, Australian rules footballer *17 April – Eric Gross, 84, composer *17 April – Blair Milan, 29, actor and television presenter *23 April –

Dutch Tilders Dutch Tilders (29 August 194123 April 2011), born Mattheus Frederikus Wilhelmus Tilders, anglicised as Matthew Tilders, was a Netherlands-born Australian blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He performed and released material as a solo artist ...

, 69, musician *5 May –

Claude Choules Claude Stanley Choules (; 3 March 1901 – 5 May 2011) was an English-born military serviceman from Pershore, Worcestershire, who at the time of his death was the oldest combat veteran of the First World War from England, having served wit ...

, 110, last surviving combat World War I veteran *6 May – Barry Connolly, 72, Australian rules footballer *8 May –

Lionel Rose Lionel Edmund Rose MBE (21 June 1948 – 8 May 2011) was an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 1964 to 1976. He held the undisputed WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' bantamweight titles from 1968 to 1969, becoming the first In ...

, 62, boxer *16 May – Bob Davis, 82, Australian rules footballer *20 May –

Ivan Gibbs Ivan James Gibbs (22 November 1927 – 19 May 2011) was an Australian politician. Politics Gibbs was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, representing the seat of electoral district of Albert for the National Party from 1974 ...

, 83, Queensland politician *21 May – Bill Hunter, 71, actor *22 May – Ralph Hunt, 83, politician *23 May – Sam Faust, 26, rugby league player *25 May –

Terry Jenner Terrence James Jenner (8 September 1944 – 25 May 2011) was an Australian cricketer who played nine Tests and one ODI from 1970 to 1975. He was primarily a leg-spin bowler and was known for his attacking, loopy style of bowling, but he was als ...

, 66, cricketer *29 May – Jon Blake, 52, actor *29 May –

Bill Roycroft James William George Roycroft, OBE (17 March 1915 – 29 May 2011) was an Australian Olympic equestrian champion. He grew up on a dairy farm and learnt to ride horses there. After serving in the army in World War II, he moved with his family t ...

, 96, equestrian *1 June –

Frank Ponta Francis Ettore Ponta (8 November 1935 – 1 June 2011) was an Australian Paralympic competitor and coach. He competed in several sports including basketball, pentathlon, swimming and fencing. A paraplegic, he lost the use of both his legs aft ...

, 75, paralympian *17 June – David Brockhoff, 83, rugby union player and coach *17 June –

Rex Mossop Rex Peers "Moose" Mossop (18 February 1928 – 17 June 2011) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s – a dual-code international, and an Australian television personality from 1964 un ...

, 83, rugby league and rugby union player and television personality *19 June –

Tom Hungerford Thomas Arthur Guy Hungerford, AM (5 May 191519 June 2011) was an Australian writer, noted for his World War II novel '' The Ridge and the River'', and his short stories that chronicle growing up in South Perth, Western Australia during the Gr ...

, 96, author and playwright *23 June – Len King, 88, politician and judge *30 June – Tom Kruse, 96, Outback mailman and documentary subject *30 June –

Sean Wight John Phillip "Sean" Wight (15 March 1964 – 30 June 2011) was an Irish-Australian Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL. He is a member of the Melbourne Football Club Hall of Fame and was named as one of the 150 Heroes of the club duri ...

, 47, Australian rules footballer (

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

) *6 July –

Carly Hibberd Carly Hibberd (11 May 1985 – 6 July 2011) was an Australian professional road racing cyclist who competed in Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)-sanctioned races. She won the 2008 Australian National Criterium Championships and was second in t ...

, 26, Australian road racing cyclist *12 July –

Allan Jeans Allan Lindsay Jeans (21 September 1933 – 13 July 2011) was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame at its inception in 1996. Jeans was known for his oratory and motivation skills as ...

, 77, Australian rules footballer and coach *15 July – Googie Withers, 94, actress *17 July –

David Ngoombujarra David Ngoombujarra (27 June 1967 – 17 July 2011) was an Indigenous Australian actor of the Yamatji people. Born David Bernard Starr in Meekatharra, Western Australia, his acting career spanned over two decades from the 1980s to 2010; he won ...

, 44, actor *21 July –

Ashleigh Connor Ashleigh Connor (3 September 1989 – 21 July 2011) was an Australian soccer player, who played for the Central Coast Mariners in the Australian W-League. Connor made her debut for the Mariners in 2009. She was signed by the Mariners prior t ...

, 21, soccer player *24 July – Ron Davies, 85, Western Australian politician *26 July –

, 88, artist *31 July –

Clyde Holding Allan Clyde Holding (27 April 193131 July 2011) was an Australian politician who served as Leader of the Opposition in Victoria for ten years, and went on to become a federal minister in the Hawke Government. Early life and education Holdin ...

, 80, politician *5 August –

Aziz Shavershian Aziz Sergeyevich Shavershian (russian: link=no, Ази́з Серге́евич Шавершя́н; 24 March 1989 – 5 August 2011), better known as Zyzz, was a Russian-born Australian bodybuilder, personal trainer and model. He established a ...

, 22, bodybuilder *7 August –

Nancy Wake Nancy Grace Augusta Wake, (30 August 1912 – 7 August 2011), also known as Madame Fiocca and Nancy Fiocca, was a nurse and journalist who joined the French Resistance and later the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II, and ...

, 98, World War II resistance fighter (died in England) *11 August – Karen Overington, 59, politician *18 August – Paul Lockyer, 61, journalist *18 August –

John Abley John Abley (18 October 1930 – 19 August 2011) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) between 1950 and 1961. Hawthorn reserves (1949) John Abley grew up in ...

, 80, Australian rules footballer *18 August – Brian Harrison, 79, politician *19 August – Merv Brooks, 92, Australian rules footballer *25 August –

Elliott Johnston Elliott Frank Johnston (26 February 1918 – 25 August 2011) was an Australian jurist and communist activist. As a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia (1983–1988), he was the only communist to serve as an Australian judge. He ...

, 93, judge *31 August – Denis Collins, 58, Australian rules footballer *7 September –

Harold Mair Harold David Mair, OAM (2 June 1919 – 7 September 2011) was an Australian politician. Mair was mayor of Albury from 1976 until 1977. In 1978, he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Albury, representing the ...

, 92, politician *11 September –

Andy Whitfield Andrew Whitfield (17 October 1971 – 11 September 2011) was a Welsh actor. He was best known for his leading role in the Starz television series '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand''. Early life and career Whitfield and his family came to live in B ...

, 39, actor ('' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'') *13 September –

David Jull David Francis Jull (4 October 1944 – 13 September 2011) was an Australian politician. He was a long-serving Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Bowman, Queensland, from 1975 to 1983 and F ...

, 66, politician *16 September – Ted Mullighan, 72, South Australian Supreme Court judge *17 September –

Colin Madigan Colin Frederick Madigan AO (22 July 192117 September 2011) was an Australian architect. He is best known for designing the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. Biography Born in Glen Innes, New South Wales, Madigan studied architecture ...

, 90, architect *29 September – Miriam Schmierer, 112, Australia's oldest living person and last known surviving Australian born in the 19th Century *1 October –

Ruby Langford Ginibi Ruby Langford Ginibi (26 January 1934 – 1 October 2011) was an acclaimed Bundjalung author, historian and lecturer on Aboriginal history, culture and politics. Names According to Langford's memoir, ''Don't Take Your Love to Town'', her paren ...

, 77, author and Aboriginal historian *7 October –

Diane Cilento Diane Cilento (2 April 1932 – 6 October 2011) was an Australian actress. She is best known for her film roles in ''Tom Jones'' (1963), which earned her an Academy Award nomination, '' Hombre'' (1967) and '' The Wicker Man'' (1973). She also r ...

, 78, actor *12 October –

Dick Thornett Richard Norman Thornett (23 September 1940 – 12 October 2011) was one of five Australians to have represented their country in three sports. He was an Olympic water polo player before becoming a rugby league and rugby union player – a dual ...

, 71, water polo, rugby league and rugby union player *15 October – Sir Donald Dunstan, 88, military officer, Governor of South Australia (1982–1991) *17 October –

Elaine Nile Elaine Blanche Nile (20 March 1936 – 17 October 2011) was an Australian politician who represented the Christian Democratic Party in the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1988 and 2002. Nile was married to Fred Nile from 1958 u ...

, 75, politician *18 October –

George Chaloupka George Jiří Chaloupka OAM, FAHA (6 September 1932 – 18 October 2011) was an expert on Indigenous Australian rock art. He identified and documented thousands of rock art sites, and was a passionate advocate for Aboriginal Australian art ...

, 79, Aboriginal rock art expert *19 October – Keith Williams, 82, tourism property developer *20 October – Hunter, 36, rapper *24 October –

Robert Bropho Robert Charles Bropho (9 February 1930 – 24 October 2011) was a Ballardong Noongar Australian Aboriginal, rights activist and convicted serial child sex offender from Perth, Western Australia. Bropho was leader of the Swan Valley Nyung ...

, 81, Aboriginal rights activist *4 November –

Sarah Watt Sarah Ann Watt (30 August 19584 November 2011) was an Australian film director, writer and animator. Biography Born in Sydney, Watt completed a Graduate Diploma of Film and Television (Animation) at the Swinburne Film and Television School ( ...

, 53, film director *10 November – David Boyd, 87, artist *13 November –

Peter Roebuck Peter Michael Roebuck (6 March 195612 November 2011) was an English cricketer who later became an Australian newspaper columnist and radio commentator. A consistent county performer with over 25,000 runs, and "one of the better English openers ...

, 55, cricketer and journalist (died in South Africa) *25 November –

John Blades John Thomas Blades (8 December 1959 – 25 November 2011) was an Australian experimental music artist and member of The Loop Orchestra; he also worked as a radio broadcaster and documentary maker, and as a civil engineer. In 1982 he was diagnose ...

, 51, experimental musician *25 November –

Dane Searls Dane Searls (22 February 1988 – 25 November 2011) was an Australian BMX rider. He created Giants of Dirt . He died 25 November 2011 after an unsuccessful attempt to jump into a swimming pool from a balcony in Queensland, Australia ) ...

, 23, BMX rider *1 December – Arthur Beetson, 66, Rugby League footballer, first

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

to captain a national team in any sport *3 December –

Sam Loxton Samuel John Everett Loxton (29 March 19213 December 2011) was an Australian cricketer, footballer and politician. Among these three pursuits, his greatest achievements were attained on the cricket field; he played in 12 Tests for Australia ...

, 90, cricketer, footballer and politician *4 December – RJ Rosales, 37, actor *8 December – Sir Zelman Cowen, 92, 19th Governor-General of Australia *11 December – Harold Hopkins, 67, actor *15 December –

Jason Richards Jason John Richards (10 April 1976 – 15 December 2011) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. A multiple championship winning driver in his homeland in the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, he moved to Australia to pursue a career in the ...

, 35, motor racing driver *18 December – Jeremy Doyle, 28, wheelchair basketballer * 22 December – Bruce Ruxton, 85, former President of the Victorian

Returned and Services League The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) is a support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. Mission The RSL's mission is to ensure that programs are in place for the well-being, care ...

. * 31 December –

Murray Barnes Murray Barnes (16 January 1954 – 31 December 2011) was an Australian soccer player. Barnes played for the Australian team for six years, captaining the team nine times. Playing career Club career Barnes played for a number of junio ...

, 57, soccer player (

Sydney Hakoah Maccabi Hakoah Sydney City East FC, commonly known as Maccabi Hakoah, is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club was formed in 1939 as Sydney Hakoah by members of Sydney's Jewish community. They p ...

), national captain (1980–1981). * 31 December – Rex Jackson, 83, politician and convicted criminal.

References

{{Oceania topic, 2011 in, countries_only=yes Years of the 21st century in Australia

Incumbents

State and Territory Leaders

Governors and Administrators

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Arts and literature

Science and technology

Sport

Deaths

See also

References