1984 in Australia

1984 in Australia
Monarchy	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	Ninian Stephen
Prime minister	Bob Hawke
Population	15,393,472
Elections	Federal, NSW

← 1983 1982 1981 1984 in Australia → 1985 1986 1987
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	Other events of 1984 Federal election Timeline of Australian history

Incumbents

• Queen of Australia – Elizabeth II
• Governor General – Sir Ninian Stephen
• Prime Minister – Bob Hawke
• Premier of New South Wales – Neville Wran
• Premier of South Australia – John Bannon
• Premier of Queensland – Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen
• Premier of Tasmania – Robin Gray
• Premier of Western Australia – Brian Burke
• Premier of Victoria – John Cain
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Post did not exist in 1984
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Paul Everingham, then Ian Tuxworth

Events

• 1 February – Medicare comes into effect in Australia.
• 2 February – Melbourne newspaper The Age publishes phone taps incriminating an unknown judge.
• 6 February – A bomb blast wrecks the home of Judge Richard Gee in the Sydney suburb of Belrose. High Court Judge, Justice Lionel Murphy is named in Parliament as the judge referred to in The Age tapes published on 2 February.
• 24 March – Wran Government re-elected in NSW for a 4th term.
• April - A 115g jar of Vegemite is the first product in Australia to be electronically scanned at a checkout.
• 19 April – Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours.
• 14 May – The one dollar coin is introduced in Australia.
• 18 May – In New South Wales gay sex between consenting adult males is decriminalised.
• July – Pearl, wife of Justice Ray Watson killed when their home is bombed. It is believed Judge Watson was the target.
• 18 July – National Crime Authority established
• 1 August – Australian banks are deregulated.
• 21 August – The Federal budget is televised for the first time.
• 2–7 September people shot dead and 12 wounded in a bikie shootout between rival bikie gangs the Bandidos and Comancheros in the Sydney suburb of Milperra.
• August – Brenda Hodge becomes the last person to be sentenced to death by Western Australia, and in the country as a whole, before the complete abolition of capital punishment. Her sentence is later commuted to life imprisonment.
• 5 September – Western Australia becomes the last Australian state to abolish capital punishment for ordinary crimes (i.e. murder). New South Wales maintained it as a punishment for treason and piracy with violence until 1985†, when capital punishment was finally abolished in Australia.
• 1 November - National Film and Sound Archive (Screensound Australia) opens in Canberra.
• 6 November - In a crime that shocks the city, Melbourne schoolgirl Kylie Maybury is kidnapped, raped and murdered after being sent on an errand to buy a bag of sugar.
• 26 November – Former NSW Corrective Services Minister Rex Jackson appears in Court on conspiracy charges for the early release of Prisoners.
• 2 December – Hawke Government re-elected with a reduced majority.

Arts and literature

• Tim Winton's novel Shallows wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

• Annie's Coming Out
• Razorback

Television

• 30 January – Perfect Match is launched in the 5:30 pm timeslot, bringing in record ratings for that timeslot & ensuring Ten's Eyewitness News won the 6–7 p.m. timeslot.
• 3 February – Australia's first nationally-televised telethon screens on Network Ten. It is a 26-hour effort to raise money for Australia's Olympic athletes.
• 11 February – The Nine Network's Hey Hey It's Saturday moves from Saturday mornings to the 9:30 pm timeslot and renamed Hey Hey It's Saturday Night.
• Christopher Skase purchases TVQ-0
• Network Ten televises the 1984 Summer Olympics from Los Angeles. Also, all stations adopt a uniform on-air look for the first time.
• The first televised federal election debate takes place.

Sport

VFL

• 29 September – Essendon (14.21.105) defeat Hawthorn (12.9.81) to win the 88th VFL premiership
• Brownlow Medal awarded to Peter Moore (Melbourne)

Rugby League

• 23 September – Canterbury Bulldogs defeat Parramatta Eels 6-4 to win the 77th NSWRL premiership.

Other

• 25 March – Robert de Castella is Australia's only competitor at the twelfth IAAF World Cross Country Championships, staged in New York, USA. He finishes in 21st place (34:08.0) in the race over 12,086 metres.
• 10 June – Andrew Lloyd wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:14:36 in Sydney, while Moira Main claims the women's title in 2:46:00.
• 6 November – Black Knight wins the Melbourne Cup.

Births

• 1 January – Michael Witt, rugby league player
• 30 March – Samantha Stosur, tennis player
• 3 April – Allana Slater, gymnast
• 13 April – Kris Britt, cricketer
• 26 April – Petrina Price, high jumper
• 4 May – Kiel Brown, field hockey midfielder
• 10 May – Alana Boyd, pole vaulter
• 31 May – Jason Smith, actor
• 9 July - Alexandra Croak, gymnast & diver
• 24 July - Patrick Harvey, actor
• 30 July - Trudy McIntosh, gymnast
• 17 October – Michelle Ang, actress
• 9 November – Delta Goodrem, singer and actress
• 14 November – Courtney Johns, Australian footballer
• 25 November – Peter Siddle, cricketer
• 28 November – Andrew Bogut, basketball player
• 8 December - Tim Paine, cricketer
• 12 December
  • Sophie Edington, swimmer
  • Daniel Merrett, Australian footballer
• 25 December – Lisa and Jessica Origliasso, singer/songwriters

Deaths

• 10 December – Grace Cossington Smith (born 1892), artist
• unknown – Bob Dyer (born 1912), TV Host