1897 in Australia

Decades:	1870s; 1880s; 1890s; 1900s; 1910s;
See also:	Other events of 1897; ; Timeline of Australian history;

The following lists events that happened during 1897 in Australia.

Incumbents[]

Premiers[]

Premier of New South Wales - George Reid
Premier of South Australia - Charles Kingston
Premier of Queensland - Hugh Nelson
Premier of Tasmania - Edward Braddon
Premier of Western Australia - John Forrest
Premier of Victoria - George Turner

Governors[]

Governor of New South Wales – Henry Brand, 2nd Viscount Hampden
Governor of Queensland – Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington
Governor of South Australia – Sir Thomas Buxton, 3rd Baronet
Governor of Tasmania – Jenico Preston, 14th Viscount Gormanston
Governor of Victoria – Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey
Governor of Western Australia – Gerard Smith

Events[]

7 January - Darwin has its highest ever daily rainfall with 296.1 millimetres from its most severe cyclone until Tracy.^[1]
22 June - The second Victoria Bridge is opened in Brisbane by the Governor of Queensland, Lord Lamington. The previous bridge was destroyed by floodwaters
27 October - St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne is consecrated

Arts and literature[]

Walter Withers wins the inaugural Wynne Prize for landscape painting or figure sculpture for his landscape The Storm

Queensland Braille Writing Association was formed in Brisbane - later became Braille House

Sport[]

4 September - Essendon wins the first Victorian Football League premiership.
8 October - The Australasian Athletic Union is established in Sydney.
Gaulus wins the Melbourne Cup
New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield

Births[]

10 February - Judith Anderson (died 1992), actress
6 July - Frank Walsh (died 1968), Premier of South Australia
9 July - Enid Lyons (died 1981), politician
28 July - James Fairbairn (died 1940), politician
6 August - William Slim (died 1970), Governor General of Australia
5 October - Percy Spender (died 1985), politician and diplomat
7 October - Charles Chauvel (died 1959), film maker

Deaths[]

11 June - Henry Ayers (born 1821), Premier of South Australia
11 July - Patrick Jennings (born 1831), Premier of New South Wales
15 August - Lily Poulett-Harris (born 1873), founder of women's cricket in Australia
15 November - Alfred Kennerley (born 1810), Premier of Tasmania
20 November - Ernest Giles (born 1835), explorer

^ Daily rainfall for Darwin

[1] Daily rainfall for Darwin

[1]

v t Years in Australia (1788–present)
18th century	1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800
19th century	1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Timeline of Australian history

v t 1897 in Oceania
Sovereign states	Australia New Zealand
Associated states of New Zealand