1995 in Australia

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Incumbents

• Queen of Australia – Elizabeth II
• Governor General – Bill Hayden
• Prime Minister – Paul Keating
• Premier of New South Wales – John Fahey, then Bob Carr
• Premier of South Australia – Dean Brown
• Premier of Queensland – Wayne Goss
• Premier of Tasmania – Ray Groom
• Premier of Western Australia – Richard Court
• Premier of Victoria – Jeff Kennett
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Rosemary Follett, then Kate Carnell.
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Marshall Perron, then Shane Stone

Events

• 30 January – John Howard becomes federal Liberal Party leader and thus federal leader of the opposition after the resignation of Alexander Downer.
• 18 February – Elections in the Australian Capital Territory replace the minority Australian Labor Party government of Rosemary Follett and elect a minority Liberal Party government of Kate Carnell.
• 25 March – Bob Carr leads the Labor Party to victory in the New South Wales state election, deposing the Liberal/National coalition government of John Fahey that had been in power since 1988.
• May – The Australian Grand Prix is moved from Adelaide to Melbourne after the Premier of Victoria spends what is reported to be quite a large amount on securing the rights to the race from 1996 onwards. Protests ensue about what many saw as the turning of public parkland into a private racetrack.
• June–July – Qantas is privatised.
• 1 July – Telecom Australia changes its domestic trading name to Telstra.
• 15 July – The Queensland state election produces a hung Parliament, with Labor holding a one seat majority over the Liberal/National coalition. However, irregularities are reported in the seat of Mundingburra, which was won by the Labor Party. After a recount, the seat goes to the coalition. This, combined with the decision of Gladstone-based independent Liz Cunningham to support the coalition, ensures that the coalition form the government in Queensland.
• 31 August – The cast bronze statue of the dog Larry La Trobe situated on the northern end of Melbourne’s City Square is stolen.
• November – The rabbit calicivirus disease (RCD) escapes from an island testing station in South Australia & quickly spreads into Victoria. It is estimated that the feral rabbit population would be permanently reduced by 60%.
• 24 October – Anna Wood, 15 year old schoolgirl from Sydney, dies after taking ecstasy at a rave. Her death sparks a media firestorm and a national debate over the use of illicit drugs.
• 3 November- After a six month trial, David Harold Eastman is convicted by a jury of the assassination of AFP Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester. He is sentenced to life imprisonment and can only be released by approval of the ACT parliament, Federal Parliament and the Governor-General.
• 4 December – A gas explosion at Kogarah railway station, Sydney kills two people.

Arts and literature

• William Robinson wins the Archibald Prize with Self Portrait with Stunned Mullet
• David Aspden wins the Wynne Prize with Seasons of Drought
• Helen Demidenko's novel The Hand That Signed the Paper wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

• Babe

Television

• January – Today Tonight debuts on the Seven Network, Hey Hey It's Saturday returns, debuts and starts in 1995 without Ossie Ostrich as Ernie Carroll, who was Graham Kennedy's on-screen writer from the early IMT days, retired at the end of 1994.
• Pay television arrives in Australia with Foxtel & Optus Vision launching in the metropolitan areas & Galaxy & Austar launching in regional areas that year.
• May – Kerry Stokes becomes chairman of the Seven Network after reaching 20% ownership of the company.
• STW-9 is purchased by Sunraysia Television after a fierce bidding war with WIN Television.

Sport

• 2 March – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 1994–1995 season, which are held at the Sydney Athletic Field in Sydney. The men's 10,000 metres events were conducted in conjunction with the Zatopek Meet at Melbourne, Victoria on 15 December 1994.
• 31 March – The Super League war begins. Lightning raids begin across the country to sign players on vastly inflated contracts. The Kerry Packer backed ARL responds by signing 50 players an equally inflated contracts on 2 April.
• 7 May – Melbourne Knights dispel their tag of chokers by upsetting defending champions Adelaide City 2-0 in the NSL Grand Final at Hindmarsh Stadium.
• 15 May – The Paul Vautin-coached Maroons win the opening Rugby League State of Origin match 2–0 at the Sydney Football Stadium. The win is all the more amazing as the team is made up largely of relatively unknown players, thanks to most star players having signed with Super League.
• 16 July – Roderic deHighden wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:13:58 in Brisbane, while Julie Rose claims the women's title in 2:38:44.
• 24 September – The Canterbury Bulldogs (playing as the Sydney Bulldogs) defeat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 17-4 to win the 88th NSWRL/ARL premiership.
• 25 September – Opening arguments are heard in the ARL/SL case in the Federal Court, which will decide the future of rugby league in Australia.
• 30 September – The Carlton Blues (21.15.141) defeat the Geelong Football Club (11.14.80) to win the 99th VFL/AFL premiership. It is a record 16th premiership for Carlton.
• 12 November – After 10 years, the last Australian Grand Prix to take place on the streets of Adelaide.

Deaths

• 13 January – Max Harris, 74, poet and author
• 26 January – Ian Tomlinson, 58, triple and long jumper
• 5 March – Gregg Hansford, 42, motorcycle and touring car racer
• 6 March – Olive Zakharov, 75, ALP senator
• 11 March – Isabel Letham, 95, Australia's first surfer
• 29 March – Antony Hamilton, 42, actor, model and dancer
• 2 April – Trevor Ashmore Pyman, diplomat
• 24 April – Stanley Burbury, 85, 21st Governor of Tasmania
• 27 April – Peter Wright, 78, British MI5 officer and author of Spycatcher
• 12 May – Len Beadell, 72, explorer and roadbuilder
• 17 May – Frank Knopfelmacher, 72, philosopher
• 26 June – John Jefferson Bray, 82, SA Supreme Court judge
• 22 July – Harold Larwood, 90, English cricketer
• 2 August – Fred Daly, 82, ALP politician
• 8 August – Harold Stewart, 78, poet and author
• 17 August – Ted Whitten, 62, AFL player
• 18 August – Philip Hodgins, 36, poet
• 27 August – Dick Bentley, 88, comedian and actor
• 30 August – Dame Pattie Menzies, 94, wife of Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies
• 24 October – Anna Wood, 15, victim of water intoxication after taking ecstasy
• 26 October – John Sangster, 66, jazz musician
• 1 November – Sir James Ralph Darling, 96, headmaster of Geelong Grammar School and chairman of the ABC
• 10 November – Jim Willis, 85, botanist
• 5 December – Gwen Harwood, 75, poet
• 8 December – Arthur John Birch, 80, organic chemist
• 12 December – Andrew Olle, 48, ABC TV journalist

Unknown

• Warringah Council becomes the first council in Australia to use dung beetles to pick up dog droppings.