See also: 1940 in Australia, other events of 1941, 1942 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

• Monarch ? King George VI
• Governor-General ? Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
• Prime Minister ? Robert Menzies (until August 28), then Arthur Fadden (until October 7), then John Curtin

State Premiers

• Premier of New South Wales ? Alexander Mair (until May 16), then William McKell
• Premier of Queensland ? William Forgan Smith
• Premier of South Australia ? Thomas Playford
• Premier of Tasmania ? Robert Cosgrove
• Premier of Victoria ? Albert Dunstan
• Premier of Western Australia ? John Willcock

State Governors

• Governor of New South Wales ? John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst
• Governor of Queensland ? Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
• Governor of South Australia ? Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey
• Governor of Tasmania ? Sir Ernest Clark
• Governor of Victoria ? Sir Winston Dugan
• Governor of Western Australia ? none appointed

Events

• March 25 ? The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) is formed.
• March 31 ? The Siege of Tobruk begins.
• April 7 ? The Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) is formed.
• May 10 ? A general election is held in New South Wales. The ALP led by William McKell defeats the incumbent United Australia Party and Premier Alexander Mair.
• May 12 ? The Daily Mirror newspaper is first published in Sydney.
• June 30 ? HMAS Waterhen sinks off Libya ? the first Australian naval vessel lost in the war.
• October 3 ? Prime Minister Arthur Fadden resigns following the rejection of his budget by two independent MPs.
• October 7 ? John Curtin is sworn in as Prime Minister after Arthur Fadden's government loses majority support in the House of Representatives.
• November 11 ? The Australian War Memorial is opened in Canberra.
• November 19 ? The light cruiser HMAS Sydney engages the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran in an hour-long battle off the coast of Western Australia. Both ships are sunk, the Sydney going down with 645 crew.
• December 9 ? Australia declares war on Japan, and the Axis powers of Finland, Hungary and Romania.
• December 13 ? A general election is held in Tasmania. The Labor Party lead by Robert Cosgrove is returned to power.

Arts and literature

• William Dargie wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of Sir James Elder, KBE

Sport

• September 27 ? Melbourne wins the 45th VFL Premiership, defeating Essendon 19.13 (127) to 13.20 (98).
• November 4 ? Skipton wins the Melbourne Cup.

• Velocity wins the Caulfield Cup
• Beau Vite wins the Cox Plate
• The Sheffield Shield is not contested due to war

Births

• January 29 ? Maggie Kirkpatrick, actress
• February 2 ? John Cornell, actor and producer
• February 4 ? Russell Cooper, Premier of Queensland (1989)
• March 11 ? Kim Santow, NSW Supreme Court judge
• March 29 ? Michael Thornhill, film producer, screenwriter and film director
• March 31 ? Faith Leech, swimmer
• April 10 ? Wendy Fatin, politician
• April 17 ? Bill Landeryou, politician
• April 24 ? John Williams, classical guitarist
• May 11 ? Ian Redpath, cricketer
• May 18 ? Lobby Loyde, rock music guitarist (d. 2007)
• May 31 ? Julian Croft, poet
• June 4 ? Kenneth G. Ross, playwright
• June 24 ? Graham McKenzie, cricketer
• June 28 ? Harry Quick, politician
• July 31 ? Heather McKay, squash player
• September 1 - Graeme Langlands, rugby league footballer
• September 22 ? Murray Bail, writer
• September 27 ? Gay Kayler, country music singer
• October 3 ? John Elliott, businessman
• October 14 ? David Kemp, politician
• October 16 ? Genevieve Lloyd, philosopher and feminist
• October 25 ? Helen Reddy, singer
• October 28 ? Fred Chaney, WA politician
• November 16 ? Max Gillies, actor
• December 13 ? Dixie Willis, middle distance runner

Deaths

• March 18 ? Harry Boan (b. 1860), founder of Boans department store
• April 1 ? John Chamberlain (b. 1884), cricketer
• April 5 ? Banjo Paterson (b. 1864), bush poet, author and journalist
• April 12 ? James Boyd (b. 1867), politician
• April 15 ? Emily Pelloe (b. 1878), botanical illustrator
• May 4 ? Chris McKivat (b. 1879), rugby union and league player
• May 8 ? Alexander Hay (b. 1865), politician
• June 15 ? John Lynch (b. 1862), politician
• June 24 ? Francis Anderson (b. 1858), philosopher
• July 1 ? Francis Birtles (b. 1881), adventurer
• July 7 ? Randolph Bedford (b. 1868), writer and Queensland politician
• July 27 ? James Ronald (b. 1861), politician
• July 31 ? Ron Barassi, Sr. (b. 1913), Australian rules footballer
• August 1 ? James Drake (b. 1850), member of the first federal ministry
• August 23 ? Jack O'Connor (b. 1875), cricketer
• August 30 ? Gregan McMahon (b. 1874), actor and theatrical producer
• August 31 ? Thomas Bavin (b. 1874), Premier of New South Wales (1927?1930)
• September 1 ? Millice Culpin (b. 1846), politician
• September 5 ? George Marchant (b. 1857), soft drink manufacturer
• October 1 ? John Longstaff (b. 1861), artist
• November 18 ? Chris Watson (b. 1867), Prime Minister of Australia (1904)
• November 19 ? Joseph Burnett (b. 1899), captain of the HMAS Sydney

See also

• 1941
• 1940s