# 1984 in Australia

"none" is preferred when the title alone is adequate; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
The following lists events that happened during 1984 in Australia.

## Incumbents

* Monarch – Elizabeth II
* Governor-General – Sir Ninian Stephen
* Prime Minister – Bob Hawke
** Deputy Prime Minister – Lionel Bowen
** Opposition Leader – Andrew Peacock
* Chief Justice – Sir Harry Gibbs

### State and territory leaders

* Premier of New South Wales – Neville Wran
** Opposition Leader – Nick Greiner
* Premier of Queensland – (Sir) Joh Bjelke-Petersen
** Opposition Leader – Keith Wright (until 29 August), then Nev Warburton
* Premier of South Australia – John Bannon
** Opposition Leader – John Olsen
* Premier of Tasmania – Robin Gray
** Opposition Leader – Ken Wriedt
* Premier of Victoria – John Cain Jr.
** Opposition Leader – Jeff Kennett
* Premier of Western Australia – Brian Burke
** Opposition Leader – Ray O'Connor (until 15 February), then Bill Hassell
* Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Paul Everingham (until 15 October), then Ian Tuxworth
** Opposition Leader – Bob Collins
* Chief Minister of Norfolk Island – David Buffett

### Governors and administrators

* Governor of New South Wales – Sir James Rowland
* Governor of Queensland – Sir James Ramsay
* Governor of South Australia – Sir Donald Dunstan
* Governor of Tasmania – Sir James Plimsoll
* Governor of Victoria – Sir Brian Murray
* Governor of Western Australia – Gordon Reid (from 2 July)
* Administrator of Norfolk Island – Raymond Trebilco
* Administrator of the Northern Territory – Eric Johnston

## Events
### January

* 17 January – Ian Sinclair is elected leader of the National Party of Australia following Doug Anthony's retirement.
* 26 January – Aboriginal leader Lowitja (Lois) O'Donoghue becomes Australian of the Year.
* 27 to 30 January – The final Narara Music Festival on the Central Coast of New South Wales features INXS, Simple Minds, The Pretenders, Talking Heads, Eurythmics and Def Leppard.

### February

* 1 February – Medicare comes into effect in Australia.
* 2 February – Melbourne newspaper The Age publishes phone taps incriminating an unknown judge.
* 14 February – Elton John marries Renate Blauel in Sydney.

### March

* 6 March –
** A bomb blast wrecks the home of Judge Richard Gee in the Sydney suburb of Belrose.
** High Court Judge, Justice Lionel Murphy is named in Parliament as the judge referred to in The Age tapes published on 2 February.
* 24 March – Wran Government re-elected in NSW for a 4th term.
* 26 March – The $100 note is introduced.

### April

* April – A 915g jar of Vegemite is the first product in Australia to be electronically scanned at a checkout.
* 19 April – Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours.

### May

* 14 May – The one dollar coin is introduced in Australia.
* 18 May – In New South Wales gay sex between consenting adult males is decriminalised.

### July

* 4 July – Pearl, wife of Justice Ray Watson killed when their home is bombed. It is believed Judge Watson was the target.
* 16 July – Letters Patent issued for the Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia
* 18 July – National Crime Authority is established.

### August

* August – Brenda Hodge becomes the last person to be sentenced to death by Western Australia, and in the country as a whole, before the complete abolition of capital punishment. Her sentence is later commuted to life imprisonment.
* 1 August – Australian banks are deregulated.
* 7 August – Margaret, 35, and Seana Tapp, 9 are attacked and murdered by an unknown man in their suburban Melbourne home. Seana is also sexually assaulted.
* 21 August – The Federal budget is televised for the first time.

### September

* 2 September – 7 people shot dead and 12 wounded in a bikie shootout between rival bikie gangs the Bandidos and Comancheros in the Sydney suburb of Milperra.
* 5 September – Western Australia becomes the last Australian state to abolish capital punishment for ordinary crimes (i.e. murder). New South Wales maintained it as a punishment for treason and piracy with violence until 1985†, when capital punishment was finally abolished in Australia.

### October

* 1 October – National Film and Sound Archive (Screensound Australia) opens in Canberra.

### November

* 6 November – In a crime that shocks the city, Melbourne schoolgirl Kylie Maybury is kidnapped, raped and murdered after being sent on an errand to buy a bag of sugar.
* 26 November –
** Former NSW Corrective Services Minister Rex Jackson appears in Court on conspiracy charges for the early release of prisoners.
** A good performance by Andrew Peacock in the leaders' televised debate boosts his poll ratings.

### December

* 2 December – Hawke Government re-elected with a reduced majority.
* 7 December – Andrew Peacock and John Howard retain their respective positions in the Opposition.

## Arts and literature

* Tim Winton's novel Shallows wins the Miles Franklin Award

## Film

* Annie's Coming Out
* Razorback

## Television

* 30 January – Perfect Match is launched in the 5:30 pm timeslot, bringing in record ratings for that timeslot & ensuring Ten's Eyewitness News won the 6–7 p.m. timeslot.
* 3 February – Australia's first nationally televised telethon screens on Network Ten. It is a 26-hour effort to raise money for Australia's Olympic athletes.
* 11 February – The Nine Network's Hey Hey It's Saturday moves from Saturday mornings to the 9:30 pm timeslot and renamed Hey Hey It's Saturday Night.
* 26 July – French-American-Canadian animated television series Inspector Gadget begins on ABC.
* Christopher Skase purchases TVQ-0.
* Network Ten televises the 1984 Summer Olympics from Los Angeles. Also, all stations adopt a uniform on-air look for the first time.
* The first televised federal election debate takes place.

## Sport
### VFL

* 29 September – Essendon (14.21.105) defeat Hawthorn (12.9.81) to win the 88th VFL premiership
* Brownlow Medal awarded to Peter Moore (Melbourne)

### Rugby league

* 23 September – Minor premiers Canterbury Bulldogs defeat Parramatta Eels 6–4 to win the 77th NSWRL premiership. Western Suburbs Magpies finish in last position, claiming the wooden spoon.

### Other

* 25 March – Robert de Castella is Australia's only competitor at the twelfth IAAF World Cross Country Championships, staged in New York, USA. He finishes in 21st place (34:08.0) in the race over 12,086 metres.
* 10 June – Andrew Lloyd wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:14:36 in Sydney, while Mora Main claims the women's title in 2:46:00.
* 6 November – Black Knight wins the Melbourne Cup.

## Births

* 1 January – Michael Witt, rugby league player
* 10 January – Trent Cutler, rugby league player
* 26 January – Ryan Hoffman, rugby league player
* 7 March – Jacob Lillyman, rugby league player
* 22 March – Tara Simmons, musician (died 2019)
* 30 March – Samantha Stosur, tennis player
* 3 April – Allana Slater, gymnast
* 10 April – Peter Veness, journalist (d. 2012)
* 13 April – Kris Britt, cricketer
* 20 April – Ashleigh Rudder, synchronised swimmer
* 26 April – Petrina Price, high jumper
* 3 May – Jacqui Dunn, artistic gymnast
* 4 May – Kiel Brown, field hockey midfielder
* 10 May – Alana Boyd, pole vaulter
* 15 May
** Samantha Noble, actress
** Beau Scott, Australian rugby league player
* 31 May – Jason Smith, actor
* 3 June – Todd Reid, tennis player (died 2018)
* June 14 – Jay Lyon, actor, musician and model
* 9 July – Alexandra Croak, gymnast & diver
* 20 July – James Mackay, actor
* 24 July – Patrick Harvey, actor
* 30 July – Trudy McIntosh, artistic gymnast
* 4 September – Adam Marshall, politician
* 20 September – Jason Chatfield, artist, comedian
* 3 October – Jarrod Bannister, athlete (d. 2018)
* 8 October — Laura Wells, International Plus Sized Model and Environmentalist.
* 17 October – Michelle Ang, actress
* 30 October – Cameron Ciraldo, rugby league player and coach
* 9 November – Delta Goodrem, singer and actress
* 13 November – Jamie Soward, rugby league player
* 14 November – Courtney Johns, Australian footballer
* 25 November – Peter Siddle, cricketer
* 28 November – Andrew Bogut, basketball player
* 8 December – Tim Paine, cricketer
* 12 December
** Sophie Edington, swimmer
** Daniel Merrett, Australian footballer
* 25 December – Lisa and Jessica Origliasso, singer/songwriters

## Deaths

* 9 January – Bob Dyer, television host (born in the United States) (b. 1909)
* 21 January – Alan Marshall, writer (b. 1902)
* 17 May – Nigel Drury, Queensland politician (b. 1911)
* 26 May – Hilda Abbott, Red Cross leader and wife of the administrator of the Northern Territory (b. 1890)
* 19 June – Sir Phillip Lynch, Victorian politician (b. 1933)
* 21 June – Denis Murphy, Queensland politician (b. 1936)
* 6 July – Mina Wylie, swimmer (b. 1891)
* 13 August – Clyde Cook, actor (b. 1891)
* 29 September – Hal Porter, author and playwright (b. 1911)
* 6 November – Kylie Maybury, murder victim (b. 1978)
* 20 December – Grace Cossington Smith, artist (b. 1892)