Administrator of the Northern Territory – Tom Pauling (until 31 October), then Sally Thomas
Events[]
January[]
This detailed astronaut photograph illustrates flooding in suburbs of the Brisbane area.
December 2010 to January 2011 – Flooding across Queensland continues, the most widespread flooding disaster in Queensland history.[1] The Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley regions are severely affected by floodwaters on 10 January, which would later lead to flooding in the Ipswich and Brisbane regions.
13 January – 278 millimetres (10.9 in) of rain falls in 24 hours at Scamander in north east Tasmania leads to flash flooding in the town, along with St Helens.[3]
14 January – Major floods occur across much of western and central Victoria totally inundating the town of Carisbrook and causing evacuations in many others.[4]
23 January – Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith of the Special Air Service Regiment is awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for his actions in the Shah Wali Kot Offensive in June 2010, part of the War in Afghanistan.[6]
23 January – David Bartlett announces his resignation as Premier of Tasmania citing a desire to spend more time with his family.[7]
27 January – Prime Minister Julia Gillard announces that her government proposes to introduce a Flood levy to assist in funding reconstruction works required as a result of major floods in Queensland and Victoria.[8]
30 January – Tropical Cyclone Anthony makes landfall near Bowen in Queensland's north, bringing wind gusts of up to 155 kilometres per hour (96 mph).[9]
February[]
Downed power pole and lines in Townsville, Queensland
3 February – Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi makes landfall at near Mission Beach, south of Innisfail, Queensland.[10]
4–5 February – Severe thunderstorms related to Tropical Cyclone Anthony affect much of Victoria. Flash flooding affected many places across the state including Mildura in the state's north west and the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne.[11] The town of Koo Wee Rup was evacuated when the Bunyip River reached a height of 7.2 metres (24 ft).[12]
17 February – REDGroup Retail (including the Borders and Angus & Robertson bookshop chains) is placed into voluntary administration with Ferrier Hodgson appointed as administrators.[14]
24 February – Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that the Federal Government proposed to introduce a carbon pricing scheme by 1 July 2012. Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott claims that Gillard broke a promise made during the 2010 Federal election campaign not to introduce a carbon tax.[15]
24 February – AFACT loses its appeal to the Federal Court of Australia affirming that iiNet was not liable for the illegal downloading and peer-to-peer file sharing of films and television programs by its users.[16]
March[]
3 March – The temperature in Perth reaches above 30 degrees for the 26th consecutive day, making it the longest recorded heatwave in the city, beating the previous record set in 1988.[17]
26 March – A state election is held in New South Wales. Kristina Keneally's Labor government is defeated by Barry O'Farrell's Liberal-National Coalition.[18]
April[]
19 April – Floodwaters inundate around 100 houses in the western Queensland town of Roma.[19]
20 April – Asylum seekers at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre riot in protest over delays in processing their applications for asylum, burning down at least three buildings.[20]
May[]
4 May – Virgin Blue Airlines is renamed and rebranded as Virgin Australia.[21]
16 May – The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly elects Katy Gallagher as Chief Minister, following the resignation of Jon Stanhope on 12 May.[22]
29 May 2011: Detective Senior Constable Damien Leeding (CIB) was shot when he confronted an armed offender at the Pacific Pines Tavern on the Gold Coast. Leeding died in hospital on 1 June three days after being shot.[23]
June[]
5 June – Say Yes demonstrations occur in numerous cities across Australia in support of political action on climate change.[24]
11 June – Hundreds of flights are suspended following the ash cloud from an eruption in the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano complex in Chile reaching southern Australia.[25]
16 June – A report by the Victorian Ombudsman criticises the Chief Commissioner of Victoria PoliceSimon Overland's publication of "misleading" crime statistics in the lead-up to the 2010 State election. Overland subsequently resigns as Chief Commissioner.[26]
July[]
25 July – The Gillard Government signs off on an arrangement with Malaysia that will see Australia deport 800 asylum seekers to that country in return for resettling 4000 refugees verified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.[27]
August[]
8 August – A High Court judge orders the government's "Malaysia Solution" to send asylum seekers to Malaysia be put on hold until the full bench of the High Court could assess the scheme's legality.[28]
9 August – The 2011 Census of Population and Housing is held.
28 August – Queensland Police confirm that bones found in bushland on the Sunshine Coast are those of missing teenager Daniel Morcombe. Morcombe had been missing since 2003[29]
31 August – The High Court of Australia rules the Gillard Government's "" for the processing of asylum-seekers is unlawful.[30]
September[]
1 September – Forensic experts confirm that the remains of a person found on the grounds of the former HM Prison Pentridge are those of bushranger Ned Kelly.[31]
October[]
19 to 29 October – Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philipvisit Canberra, Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne.[32]
21 October – Victoria Police officers forcibly remove Occupy Melbourne protesters from Melbourne's City Square.[34]
28 to 30 October – the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is held in Perth.[32]
29 October – In response to industrial action by pilots, ground staff and engineers, Qantas grounds its entire international and domestic fleet.[35]
31 October – Fair Work Australia orders the termination of all industrial action taken by Qantas and the involved trade unions. Qantas flights resume on the afternoon of that day.[36]
November[]
16 November – The President of the United StatesBarack Obamavisits Australia to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the ANZUS alliance.[37][38]
24 November – Harry Jenkins resigns as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Peter Slipper is elected in his place.[39]
25 November – 34 homes are destroyed in Margaret River, Western Australia when a prescribed burn by the Department of Environment and Conservation had "gone wrong" and "escaped" into bushland.[40][41]
30 November – Legislative Assembly of Queensland passed a bill allowing civil partnerships for same-sex couples in Queensland; a similar legislation already exists in Tasmania, Victoria, the ACT and NSW.[42]
December[]
18 December – A boat sailing from Indonesia carrying over 200 asylum seekers sinks off the coast of Java while heading for Christmas Island. At least 160 people are feared dead.[43]
27 April – Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan are awarded the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 83rd Academy Awards for their film The Lost Thing.[44]
15 April – Ben Quilty is awarded the Archibald Prize for his portrait of Margaret Olley. The Wynne Prize was awarded to for Co-isolated slave and the Sulman Prize was awarded to for The artist's fate.[45]
17 August – The National Gallery of Victoria announces it has acquired Madonna and Child with the infant Saint John the Baptist by Italian High Renaissance painter Antonio da Correggio. Purchased at auction for ��3.2 million ($5.2 million), it is the most expensive acquisition in the 150-year history of the NGV.[46]
Science and technology[]
15 September – Researchers from Monash University announce the identification of a new dolphin species, the Burrunan dolphin (Tursiops australis), in Victoria's Port Phillip and Gippsland Lakes.[47]
4 October – American-born astrophysicist Brian Schmidt was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery of the increasing acceleration of the expansion of the universe. A professor at the Australian National University, Schmidt shared the award with Adam Riess and Saul Perlmutter.[48]
Sport[]
7 January – Cricket: England wins The Ashes series 3–1 over Australia.[49]
29 January – Tennis: Kim Clijsters wins the women's singles title at the 2011 Australian Open, defeating Li Na.[50]
29 January – Soccer: Australia is defeated 1–0 in extra time by Japan in the final of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.[51]
30 January – Tennis: Novak Djokovic wins the men's singles title at the 2011 Australian Open, defeating Andy Murray.[52]
7 February – Cricket: Shane Watson wins the Allan Border Medal for the second year in a row.[53]
12 February – Rugby League: The 2011 All Stars match is held at Skilled Park, with the NRL All Stars defeating the Indigenous All Stars 28–12. NRL fullback Josh Dugan of the Canberra Raiders wins the Preston Campbell award for Man of the Match. Preceding the game was the inaugural Women's All Stars match, which the NRL team also won 22–6.
27 February – Rugby League: 2010 NRL premiers the St. George Illawarra Dragons defeat Super League XV champions the Wigan Warriors 21–15 in the 2011 World Club Challenge, held in Wigan.
1 March – Soccer: North Queensland Fury are dropped from the A-League, after being unable to meet the financial requirements of Football Federation Australia.[54]
13 March – Soccer: Brisbane Roar FC defeat Central Coast Mariners FC 4–2 on penalties (2–2 after extra time) to win the 2010–11 A-League Championship. Brisbane win the Premiership/Championship double.[56]
27 March – Motor racing: German driver Sebastian Vettel win the 2011 Australian Grand Prix for Red Bull Racing, finishing 22 seconds ahead of British driver Lewis Hamilton.
22 May – Netball: The Queensland Firebirds win the 2011 ANZ Championship defeating the Northern Mystics 57–44 in the Grand Final at Brisbane.[59]
6 July – Rugby league: Queensland win a record sixth consecutive Rugby League State of Origin title, defeating New South Wales 34–24 in front of 52,498 fans at Lang Park to win the series by two matches to one.[60]
9 July – Rugby union: Queensland win the 2011 Super Rugby championship, defeating the Christchurch-based Crusaders 18–13 in front of 52,116 fans at Lang Park; a record crowd for Australian provincial rugby.[61]
10 July – Netball: Australia win the 2011 Netball World Championships held in Singapore, defeating New Zealand 58–57 after extra time.[62]
24 July – Cycling: Cadel Evans wins the 2011 Tour de France. Evans is the first Australian to win the Tour de France.[64]
30 July – Australian rules football: Geelong hands Melbourne the second worst marginal defeat in AFL/VFL history, winning by 186 points.[65] Twenty-four hours after the siren blew at Kardinia Park, Dean Bailey was sacked as Demons coach after three and a half seasons at the helm.[66]
3 September – Athletics: Sally Pearson wins the Women's 100 metres hurdles at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics at Daegu, South Korea.[67]
4 September – Rugby League: The Melbourne Storm win their first legitimate minor premiership following the final main round of the 2011 NRL season. The Gold Coast Titans finish in last position, claiming the wooden spoon.
12 September – Tennis: Samantha Stosur wins the 2011 US Open, her first Grand Slam singles title.[68]
26 September – Australian rules football: Dane Swan (Collingwood) wins the 2011 Brownlow Medal.[69]
1 October – Australian rules football: Geelong wins the 2011 AFL Grand Final, defeating Collingwood 18.11 (119) to 12.9 (81).
2 October – Rugby league: The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles win the 2011 NRL Grand Final, defeating the New Zealand Warriors 24–10. It is the Sea Eagles' most recent premiership win.[70]
22 October – Horse racing: Pinker Pinker wins the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.
1 November – Horse racing: Dunaden, ridden by Christophe Lemaire and trained by , wins the 2011 Melbourne Cup. The French-trained horse won in a photo finish over Red Cadeaux—the narrowest victory in the history of the race.[72]
12 November – Commonwealth Games: The Gold Coast is announced as the host of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[73]
12 November – Athletics: Sally Pearson was named as the woman IAAF World Athlete of the Year for 2011.[74]
Deaths[]
1 January – Sonia Humphrey, 63, television presenter and journalist
2 January – Robert Trumble, 91, writer and musician[75]
9 January – Ernest Henry Lee-Steere, 98, businessman[76]
9 January – Makinti Napanangka, late 1980s, Australian Papunya Tula artist[77]
^Parker, Gareth (23 January 2011). "VC Hero killed Taliban". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 24 January 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
^Beck, Maris; Carey, Adam (5 February 2011). "Floods cause traffic chaos". The Age. Archived from the original on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
^O'Connell, Ronan; Jones, Christiana; Mercer, Daniel; Bailey, Megan (7 February 2011). "Houses razed in firestorm". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 9 February 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2011.