1982 in Australia

1982 in Australia
Monarchy	Elizabeth II
Governor-General	Zelman Cowen, then Ninian Stephen
Prime minister	Malcolm Fraser
Population	15,184,247
Elections	SA, TAS, VIC

← 1981 1980 1979 1982 in Australia → 1983 1984 1985
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	Other events of 1982 Timeline of Australian history

Incumbents

• Queen of Australia – Elizabeth II
• Governor General – Sir Zelman Cowen, then Sir Ninian Stephen.
• Prime Minister – Malcolm Fraser
• Premier of New South Wales – Neville Wran
• Premier of South Australia – David Tonkin, then John Bannon
• Premier of Queensland – Joh Bjelke-Petersen
• Premier of Tasmania – Harry Holgate, then Robin Gray
• Premier of Western Australia – Sir Charles Court, then Ray O'Connor
• Premier of Victoria – Lindsay Thompson, then John Cain II
• Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Post did not exist in 1982.
• Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Paul Everingham

Events

• 3 April – After almost 27 years in power, the Liberal/National coalition government is voted out in Victoria & is replaced by the ALP
• 11 May – High Court upholds the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 in Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen, effectively extending Commonwealth power.
• 15 May – In the middle of the Franklin Dam dispute, the Labor government of Harry Holgate is voted out in Tasmania & replaced by the Liberal Party, led by Robin Gray.
• 12 October – Elizabeth II opens the new building of the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
• 6 November – Elections in South Australia see the voting out of the Liberal/National coalition, led by David Tonkin & the election of the ALP, led by John Bannon
• 14 December – The Tasmanian Wilderness Society, led by Bob Brown, stages a blockade of the Franklin Dam site in Tasmania which continues into 1983. On the same day, UNESCO agrees to list the Tasmanian Wild Rivers as a World Heritage Site.
• 17 December - Random Breath Testing is introduced in NSW
• One of Australia's worst ever droughts strikes the country.

Arts and literature

• Rodney Hall's novel Just Relations wins the Miles Franklin Award

Film

• The Man from Snowy River
• Monkey Grip
• The Year of Living Dangerously

Television

• 18 January – Sons and Daughters premieres on the Seven Network.
• 28 June – The Nine Network premieres its new breakfast TV show, National News Today, which is later shortened to Today
• Nine, Seven & the ABC conduct stereo test transmissions

Sport

• The South Melbourne Swans move to Sydney & become the Sydney Swans.
• 21 March – Robert de Castella represents Australia at the tenth IAAF World Cross Country Championships, staged in Rome, Italy. He finished in tenth place (34:20.5) in the race over 11,978 metres.
• 28 March – The Newtown Jets & Canterbury Bulldogs fight out the only (to date) scoreless draw in NSWRL first grade history.
• 24 July – The Swans (13.12.90) defeat the North Melbourne Kangaroos (8.10.58) to win the Australian Football Championships Night Series. It is the first major trophy for the Swans since they moved to Sydney.
• 25 July – Robert Wallace wins the his second men's national marathon title, clocking 2:16:02 in Brisbane, while Barbara McKerrow claims the women's title in 2:50:28.
• 25 September – Carlton Blues (14.19.103) defeat the Richmond Tigers (12.13.83) to win the 86th VFL premiership. It is the second consecutive premiership for Carlton & the last grand final appearance to date for Richmond.
• 26 September – Parramatta Eels defeat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 21-8^ to win the 75th NSWRL premiership. It is their second consecutive premiership.
• 30 September – 9 October – The 1982 Commonwealth Games are held in Brisbane, Queensland
• 2 November - Gurner's Lane wins the Melbourne Cup.
• 18 December – The Kangaroos complete a tour of Great Britain & France undefeated for the first time.

^-Scored under outdated scoring system.

Births

• 18 February – Courtney Act, drag queen and singer
• 25 April – Victoria Mitchell, long-distance runner
• 25 May – Justin Hodges, rugby league footballer
• 17 July – Eve van Grafhorst, one of the first Australian children to be infected with HIV via a blood transfusion (died 1993)
• 21 July – Jason Cram, Australian swimmer
• 30 July – Yvonne Strahovski, actress
• 7 August – Abbie Cornish, actress
• 24 August – Damian Istria, gymnast
• 25 August – Nick Gill, Australian rules footballer
• 7 September – George Bailey, cricketer
• 13 October – Ian Thorpe, swimmer
• 9 November – Eloise Wellings, long-distance runner
• 22 November – Xavier Doherty, cricketer
• 13 December – Anthony Callea, entertainer

Deaths

• 11 February – Albert Facey, autobiographer (born 1894)
• 14 June – Arthur Coles, businessman and philanthropist
• 15 November – Dick Randall, public servant (born 1906)