1856 in Australia

← 1855 1854 1853 1856 in Australia → 1857 1858 1859
Decades:	1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s
See also:	Other events of 1856 Timeline of Australian history

Incumbents

Governors

Governors of the Australian colonies:

• Governor of New South Wales — Sir William Denison
• Governor of South Australia — Sir Richard MacDonnell
• Governor of Tasmania — Sir Henry Young
• Governor of Victoria — Sir Henry Barkly
• Governor of Western Australia as a Crown Colony — Captain Charles Fitzgerald

Premiers

Premiers of the Australian colonies:

• Premier of New South Wales — Stuart Donaldson from 6 June to 25 August then Charles Cowper to 2 October then Henry Parker
• Premier of Queensland — office not created until 1859
• Premier of South Australia — Boyle Travers Finniss from 24 October
• Premier of Tasmania — William Champ from 1 November
• Premier of Victoria — Dr William Haines
• Premier of Western Australia — office not created until 1890

Events

• 6 January – French musician and composer Nicolas-Charles Bochsa dies in Sydney.
• 7 February – Tasmanian Electoral Act introduced the secret ballot, which was known elsewhere, in particular in the United States as the "Australian ballot"
• 19 March – The Electoral Act 1856 introduced the secret ballot in Victoria
• 2 April – South Australia introduced the secret ballot
• 11 April – At a public meeting in Melbourne, Dr Thomas Embling repeated the slogan "eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest".
• 22 May – First Parliament of New South Wales opened by the governor, Sir William Denison
• 24 June – Queen Victoria makes Norfolk Island a separate settlement from Tasmania to be administered by the Governor of New South Wales.
• 23 September – The town of Perth, Western Australia is proclaimed a City by letters patent from Queen Victoria.
• 25 November – The first Parliament of Victoria is officially opened by the Acting Governor Edward Macarthur.

Exploration and settlement

• 1 January – The name Tasmania officially adopted to replace Van Diemen's Land which was felt to have too many convict connotations.
• 8 June – Pitcairn Islanders arrived on Norfolk Island; the last convict had left and the island was no longer a penal colony. Queen Victoria granted the island to the Pitcairners as a home. Bounty Day is celebrated each year in Norfolk Island to commemorate the event.
• Suburb of Goodna founded in Queensland, Australia – Originally part of NSW, its 150-year anniversary was celebrated in 2006.

Births

• 8 March — Tom Roberts, artist (died 1931)
• 3 August — Alfred Deakin, Prime Minister of Australia (died 1919)
• 19 September — Arthur Morgan, Premier of Queensland (died 1916)
• 3 December — George Leake, Premier of Western Australia (died 1902)

Deaths

• 1 January — Convict William Buckley dies near Hobart, aged 75.
• 3 May – John Wollaston, Western Australian settler and Anglican clergyman (b. 1790)
• 17 October – William Allen, joint founder of St Peter's College, Adelaide (b. 1790)