The following lists events that happened during 1916 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 ...

–

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

* Governor-General – The Right Hon. Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson *

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 ...

– Billy Hughes * Chief Justice –

Samuel Griffith Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, (21 June 1845 – 9 August 1920) was an Australian judge and politician who served as the inaugural Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1919. He also served a term as Chief Justice of Queensland and t ...

State premiers

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 ...

–

William Holman William Arthur Holman (4 August 1871 – 5 June 1934) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. He came to office as the leader of the Labor Party, but was expelled from the party in the split o ...

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 ...

– T. J. Ryan *

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 ...

–

Crawford Vaughan Crawford Vaughan (14 July 1874 – 15 December 1947) was an Australian politician, and the Premier of South Australia from 1915 to 1917. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1905 to 1918, representing Torrens (19 ...

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 ...

– John Earle (until 15 April), then Walter Lee *

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 ...

–

John Scaddan John Scaddan, CMG (4 August 1876 – 21 November 1934), popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916. Early life John Scaddan was born in Moonta, South Australia, into a Cornish A ...

(until 27 July), then Frank Wilson *

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 ...

– Sir Alexander Peacock

State governors

* Governor of New South Wales – Sir Gerald Strickland *

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 ...

– Major Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams * Governor of South Australia – Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Galway *

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 ...

– Sir William Ellison-Macartney *

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 ...

– Major-General Sir Harry Barron *

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 ...

–

Sir Arthur Stanley Sir Arthur Stanley (18 November 1869 – 4 November 1947) was a British Conservative politician, humanitarian, and Chairman of the Joint War Organisation of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem in England du ...

Events

* Hotels are forced to close at 6 p.m., leading to the beginning of the "

six o'clock swill The six o'clock swill was an Australian and New Zealand slang term for the last-minute rush to buy drinks at a hotel bar before it closed. During a significant part of the 20th century, most Australian and New Zealand hotels shut their public ...

": 27 March in South Australia; 21 July in Sydney after referendum of 10 June; 11 October in Victoria; during March in Tasmania. *14 February – Liverpool riot of 1916 – troops

mutinied Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among members ...

against conditions at the Casula Camp. They raided hotels in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

before travelling by train to Sydney, where one soldier was shot dead in a riot at Central Railway station. *6 June – The Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia, the forerunner to the

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 ...

is founded. *26 June – William Jackson awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

for his actions in a raid near Armentières, France. *1 to 30 June – Adelaide receives of rain, its highest monthly rainfall since records began in 1839. *19 July – Battle of Fromelles commenced; over the next seven weeks 22 826 Australian casualties occurred. *23 July – Arthur Seaforth Blackburn and John Leak awarded the

for their actions (separate) at the Battle of Pozières. *25 July – Thomas Cooke died in the Battle of Pozières and was awarded the

for his gallantry in the face of the enemy. *29 July – Claude Charles Castleton killed in the Battle of Pozières and for his actions in bringing back wounded men before and at the time of his death, he was awarded the

. *Between 9 August and 12 August –

Martin O'Meara Martin O'Meara, VC (6 November 1885 – 20 December 1935) was an Irish-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Early life ...

repeatedly went out and brought in wounded officers and men from " No Man's Land" under intense

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

and

machine-gun A machine gun is a automatic firearm, fully automatic, rifling, rifled action (firearms)#Autoloading operation, autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as Automatic shotgun, a ...

fire during the Battle of Pozières; for his gallantry he was awarded the

. *30 August – Rescue of the 22 men

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing ...

who remained on Elephant Island. *28 October – The first plebiscite on the issue of military conscription was held; it was defeated. *1 November – a general coal strike began in eastern Australia. *The Labor government under Billy Hughes splits over

military conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

. * 13 November – Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes is expelled from the Labor Party over his support for conscription. *2 December – Sydney Twelve: 12 members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) convicted in Sydney of conspiring to commit arson and sedition. * 23 December –

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Battle of Magdhaba The Battle of Magdhaba took place on 23 December 1916 during the Defence of Egypt section of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the First World War.The Battles Nomenclature Committee assigned 'Affair' to those engagements between forces small ...

– In the Sinai desert, Australian and New Zealand mounted troops capture the Turkish garrison. *28 December – floods in

Clermont, Queensland Clermont is a rural town and locality in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. At the , the locality of Clermont had a population of 2952 people. Clermont is a major hub for the large coal mines in the region as well as serving agricultural ...

claimed more than 60 lives. *Melbourne, with and Hobart with ,Hobart Ellerslie Road (094029) Monthly Rainfall
/ref> each receive their highest annual rainfall due to a strong

La Niña La Niña (; ) is an oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon that is the colder counterpart of as part of the broader El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern. The name ''La Niña'' originates from Spanish for "the girl", by an ...

Arts and literature

* 6 March – The

Sydney conservatorium of music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the old ...

accepts first students.

Sport

* '' Sasanof'' wins the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...

* The

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 ...

was not contested due to the war. * 26 July – The 1916 NSWRFL season culminates in a grand final victory to Balmain, who defeated South Sydney 5–3.

Births

* 28 February –

Frank Crean Francis Daniel Crean (28 February 1916 – 2 December 2008) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1951 to 1977, representing the Labor Party. He was a minister in the Whitlam Government, in ...

, 5th

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy chief executive and the second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially created as a ministerial portfolio in 1968, althoug ...

(d.

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

) * 14 April –

Don Willesee Donald Robert Willesee (14 April 19169 September 2003) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1950 to 1975. He held ministerial office in the Whitlam ...

, Western Australian politician (d. 2003) * 11 July –

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...

, 21st Prime Minister of Australia (d.

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

) *

29 July Events Pre-1600 *587 BC – The Neo-Babylonian Empire sacks Jerusalem and destroys the First Temple. * 615 – Pakal ascends the throne of Palenque at the age of 12. * 904 – Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of ...

– Sir Rupert Hamer, 39th

(d. 2004) *

27 August Events Pre-1600 * 410 – The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days. *1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England. * 1232 – Shikken Hojo Yasutoki of the Ka ...

– Sir James Ramsay, 20th

(d.

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

) * 11 September – Warren Bonython, conservationist and chemical engineer (d.

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

) *

14 September Events Pre-1600 * AD 81 – Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. * 629 – Emperor Heraclius enters Constantinople in triumph after his victory over the Persian Empire. * 786 – "Nigh ...

–

John Heyer John Whitefoord Heyer (14 September 1916 – 19 June 2001) was an Australian documentary filmmaker, who is often described as the father of Australian documentary film.''Oxford companion to Australian film'' (1999) John Heyer spent the majo ...

, documentary filmmaker (d. 2001) *

25 September Events Pre-1600 * 275 – For the last time, the Roman Senate chooses an emperor; they elect 75-year-old Marcus Claudius Tacitus. * 762 – Led by Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, the Hasanid branch of the Alids begins the Alid Revolt a ...

– Jessica Anderson, novelist (d. 2010)

Deaths

* 19 May –

William Sawers William Bowie Stewart Campbell Sawers (1844 – 19 May 1916) was a Scottish-born Australian politician. Born in Stirlingshire in Scotland, where he was educated, he migrated to Australia in 1865, becoming a grazier with large holdings. ...

, New South Wales politician (born in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

) (b. 1844) *

13 August Events Pre-1600 * 29 BC – Octavian holds the first of three consecutive triumphs in Rome to celebrate the victory over the Dalmatian tribes. * 523 – John I becomes the new Pope after the death of Pope Hormisdas. * 554 – Em ...

– Sir George Turner, 18th

(b. 1851) * 7 November – Henry Brockman, Western Australian politician (b.

1845 Events January–March * January 10 – Elizabeth Barrett receives a love letter from the younger poet Robert Browning; on May 20, they meet for the first time in London. She begins writing her ''Sonnets from the Portuguese''. * January 2 ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1916 in Australia Australia Years of the 20th century in Australia