1999 in Australia

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See also: 1998 in Australia, other events of 1999, 2000 in Australia

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Governor-General – Sir William Deane.
• Prime Minister – John Howard

Premiers and Chief Ministers

• Premier of New South Wales – Bob Carr
• Premier of Queensland – Peter Beattie
• Premier of South Australia – John Olsen
• Premier of Tasmania – Jim Bacon
• Premier of Victoria – Jeff Kennett (until 19 October), then Steve Bracks
• Premier of Western Australia – Richard Court
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Kate Carnell
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Shane Stone (until 8 February), then Denis Burke.
• Chief Minister of Norfolk Island – George Charles Smith

Governors and Administrators

• Governor of New South Wales – Gordon Samuels
• Governor of Queensland – Peter Arnison
• Governor of South Australia – Sir Eric Neal
• Governor of Tasmania – Sir Guy Green
• Governor of Victoria – Sir James Gobbo
• Governor of Western Australia – Michael Jeffery
• Administrator of the Northern Territory – Neil Conn
• Administrator of Norfolk Island – Tony Messner

Events

• 27 March – The ALP government of Bob Carr is re-elected in New South Wales.
• 14 April – A massive hailstorm hits Sydney, with most of the damage being centred on the Eastern Suburbs. It is the second most costliest natural disaster in Australian history, causing $1.7 billion in insured damages.
• 11 May – The biotechnology industry receives a record $800 million in the federal budget.
• 21 May – Eight decaying bodies are found in barrels in a disused bank vault north of Adelaide, marking the beginning of the Snowtown murders case, which were Australia's worst ever serial killings. More bodies were found underneath a house in Adelaide on 26 May.
• 28 June – The GST bill is passed through the Senate, with the help of most of the Australian Democrats, in exchange for exemptions on fresh food.
• 30 June – Tim Fischer retires as federal leader of the National Party & is replaced by John Anderson the next day.
• 27 July – A canyoning disaster at Saxetenbach Gorge near Interlaken in Switzerland. 21 tourists, 14 of them Australian, are killed.
• 26 August – The Prime Minister creates a controversy when he avoids the use of the word 'sorry' when a motion was tabled in Parliament expressing 'deep & sincere regret that indigenous Australians suffered injustices under the practises of past generations'.
• 30 August – East Timor votes for independence from Indonesia. In the violence that follows, Australia is a major contributor of peacekeeping forces.
• 18 September – In a shock result, Steve Bracks & the Labor Party form a minority government with three rural independents to oust the ruling Liberal/National coalition government of Jeff Kennett in Victoria.
• 3 November – The Reserve Bank announce an interest rate increase of 0.25%, the first since 1994.
• 6 November – A referendum is held to determine whether Australia should become a republic & whether a preamble is inserted into the constitution recognising the Aborigines as Australia's first people. The 'no' vote scores 54% on the republic question & 60% on the preamble question.
• 14 November – In response to the growing number of illegal immigrants, most of whom arrived by boat, the government allows police to board vessels in international waters. On 23 November, refugees were barred from seeking asylum in they had lived somewhere else for more than seven days or had the right to live somewhere else.

Arts & Literature

• Murray Bail's novel Eucalyptus wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

The Craic

Television

• 1 February – QSTV becomes an affiliate of the Seven Network, becoming known as Seven Central.
• March – WIN Television WA commences broadcasting to regional & remote Western Australia, ending the long-time monopoly held by Golden West Network.
• The Seven Network becomes the first Australian television network to introduce a watermark on its programs, although the watermark is not allowed to be broadcast on news or current affairs programs or Deal Or No Deal from 2004 onwards.
• 27 November – The last ever episode of Hey Hey It's Saturday goes to air.

Sport

• 14 February – Stadium Australia is opened to the public for the first time.
• 6 March – A world record crowd of 104,583 attend the first rugby league matches held at Stadium Australia. The Newcastle Knights defeat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 41–10 & the Parramatta Eels defeat the St George Illawarra Dragons 20–10 in what is also the joint venture team's first match.
• 18 March – First day of the Australian Track & Field Championships for the 1998–1999 season, which are held at the Olympic Park in Melbourne, Victoria. The 10,000 metres was conducted at the Zatopek Classic, Melbourne on 5 December 1998. The men's decathlon event was staged at the Hobart Grand Prix on 25-27 February.
• 5 May – South Melbourne become National Soccer League Champions for a record equaling 4th time, defeating Sydney United 2–1 at Olympic Park.
• 6 June – Tony Lockett becomes the greatest goalscorer in VFL/AFL history by overtaking Gordon Coventry's long held record of 1299 career goals when he scores career goal number 1300 against the Collingwood Magpies at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Tony Lockett announces his retirement on 14 August.
• 20 June – Australia wins the 1999 Cricket World Cup, defeating Pakistan in the final.
• 11 July – Shaun Creighton wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:16:03 in Brisbane, while Carolyn Schuwalow claims her second women's title in 2:41:39.
• 27 July – Foundation clubs the Balmain Tigers & Western Suburbs Magpies vote to form the game's second joint venture team, the Wests Tigers. The team start playing as a joint venture in 2000.
• 13 August – The Adelaide Thunderbirds defeat the Adelaide Ravens 62–30 in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy netball grand final
• 28 August - Victoria Park hosts its last VFL/AFL match when the Brisbane Lions (13.16.94) defeat Collingwood (8.4.52)
• 29 August - Waverley Park hosts its last VFL/AFL match when Hawthorn (23.15.153) defeats the Sydney Swans (11.2.68)
• 18 September – In one of the classic matches of Australian rules football, the Carlton Blues (16.8.104) defeat the Essendon Bombers (14.19.103) in the preliminary final.
• 25 September – The Kangaroos (19.10.124) defeat the Carlton Blues (12.17.89) to win the 103rd VFL/AFL premiership. It is the first all-Victorian grand final since 1995 & the first time the cup has not been won by the Adelaide Crows since 1996.
• 26 September – A new world record crown for rugby league is set when 107,961 people attend the first National Rugby League grand final held at Stadium Australia. In one of the most memorable & controversial grand finals in history, the Melbourne Storm, in just their second season of existence, defeat the St George Illawarra Dragons 20–18. The final outcome is determined when a penalty try is given to Melbourne's Craig Smith. Melbourne's win means that both the AFL trophy & NRL trophy have been won by teams from the same city for the first time.
• 3 October – In the third year of the split in the organisation of the Bathurst 1000 the traditional race was held for the last time and won by Paul Morris as the Bathurst 500 was declared after just 310 of the scheduled 500 kilometres due to unrelenting rain. It was a justification for Morris and the BMW team after being disqualified from victory two years ago.
• 10 October – South Sydney supporters rally through the streets of Sydney to protest against the rationalisation of the NRL to 14 teams for 2000.
• 15 October – The South Sydney Rabbitohs are put in lockdown for 2000.
• 2 November – Rogan Josh wins the Melbourne Cup.
• 6 November – Australia wins the 1999 Rugby World Cup, defeating France 35–12 in the final.
• 14 November – Steven Richards successfully defended his FAI Bathurst 1000 crown with co-driver Greg Murphy for Gibson Motor Sport. It was the third and final win for the GMS team.

Unknown Dates

• Australia wins the 1999 Netball World Championships, defeating New Zealand in the final.

Births

• 20 July - Princess Alexandra of Hanover (b. 1999)
• 7 December - Bethany Whitmore, actress
• 26 January - Jemima Tilly (1999)

Deaths

• 6 February – Don Dunstan, former Premier of South Australia (b. 1926)
• 24 April – Arthur Boyd, painter (b. 1920)
• 21 May – Colin Hayes, champion trainer of thoroughbred racehorses (b. 1924)
• 6 June – Anne Haddy, actress (b. 1930)
• 25 June – Sir Peter Abeles, businessman (b. 1924)
• 28 July – Doris Carter, athlete (b. 1912)
• 23 September – Ivan Goff, screenwriter (b. 1910)
• 27 October - Harry Kadwell, rugby league footballer (age 96)
• 29 October – Eric Reece, Premier of Tasmania (b. 1909)